When You Are Afraid Just Do This

1 Samuel 7:7
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 7:8
They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”

We live in a world where we experience fear all the time. We fear for our life. We fear that we will lose money. We fear that a loved one will die. We fear that we will fail. We fear that we will be rejected. We fear that we will meet an accident. We fear that someone is scheming against us and will succeed. We fear that God will punish us and send us to Hell. We fear that we will live poor and die poor. We fear that we may never make it in life like others. We fear that urgent needs will arise and we won’t be able to afford it. We fear that the funny feeling we have may turn out to be a serious terminal illness. We fear that we will be proved wrong after having held a certain argument for long. We fear that our clothes don’t look good. We just have too much fear…don’t we?

The problem with fear is that at times it occupies all your mind and you are unable to do anything else. Fear can disable you from functioning. Fear can blind you from seeing opportunities and solutions. Some people are so afraid to try even when they stand next to a great opportunity. The fear of failure makes them prefer the status quo. Some people would have been very rich except for the fear that held them back. Some people would have moved to better careers and consequently a better life, but they were too afraid to leave a poor job. Some people are still single because they were afraid to make a commitment or even make a move towards the potential partner. Fear is why you are still here and not there where things would be better. Unless we deal with fear, our situation will never get better, it will remain the same or worse. How do we deal with fear?

Our text today addresses how to deal with fear. Israelites under the leadership of Samuel had just renewed their relationship with God. Israelites were now assembled to worship God at Mizpah. Then suddenly their fierce enemies the Philistines surrounded them ready for an attack. Israel was disadvantaged. They were surrounded. They had been surprised. Their enemies were more than them. Their enemies were more skilled than them. Israel had no opportunity to strategize for war or even to run away to safety. Israel stared at death by the sword, death by arrows, death by spears, death by being clobbered, death by gang rape, and others being taken to death causing slavery. Israelites were afraid.

Israelites addressed their fear by telling their leader Samuel to continuously pray for them. Do not stop crying to God on our behalf. The first thing to do when you are afraid is to turn to God. God is the greater power. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is too big for God. Nothing can overwhelm God. Run to God. Trust God. Hide in God. Make God your insurance and assurance. When you are afraid just turn to God in prayer!

Whatever causes your fear cannot be greater than God. Whatever causes your fear cannot be too much for God. Whatever causes your fear is big and dangerous for you but not for God. Therefore turn to God. Be in constant communication with God. Resolve that you will die or lose while in touch with God.

The second thing was that the prayers were to be continuous. Do not stop praying… The prayers were continuous so that the mind remains focused on God. Unless we focus our mind on God, the mind will stray and magnify the bad situation to look worse. The mind can play dangerous games on us. The mind can rationalize and tell you that things are so bad and you can do nothing about it. To beat your mind, pray continuously. Pray until the negative perceptions of the mind cease. Pray until the mind shuts up and lets God be God. Pray continuously until the fear goes and you can see possibilities that fear had blinded you from. When you are afraid just pray continuously.

God knows our needs and doesn’t need our prayers for Him to help us. One prayer is enough for God to know what we need and respond. In fact, God knows even before we pray. Therefore prayer does not benefit God, it benefits us. We pray more, not to convince God, but to win our hearts to turn to God. Prayers move us to God, they do not move God to us. Praying and crying should give us relief that we need physically and psychologically, but it is empty and useless in convincing God. God is not moved by tears. God will not change His mind or act a certain way because you cried in prayer. Cry in prayer for physical and psychological relief only.

The more you pray, does not mean you are convincing God much more. More prayers are good for our sinful selves. More prayers help us to keep focused on God who offers solutions. We pray more until we get the courage to do what we must do. We pray more until we overcome fear. We pray more until we are convinced that God is with us. More prayers is a war against fear. Once fear is conquered, we will be able to do what we must do. More prayers are a war against fear and unbelief. We need to pray more!

While more prayers were going up to God, an answer came. God thundered and all Philistines were thrown into confusion and they started running away. This was an opportunity for Israel to attack and win against the Philistines. They did not continue with more prayers, they went into action. To only pray without action is not faith but foolishness. Pray as you do something about your situation. Pray and act your part. Don’t just pray!

When afraid we take small actions as we pray. Small actions are safe enough for us to try. Small actions lead to small success. The small success emboldens us to do more to address the problem. The small success with prayers focusing on God will make us do more. We will gradually move from small actions to medium action to big actions. With a gradual move, fear will diminish. Therefore pray more, begin with small actions and progress, fear will die along the way. Do not just pray and wait for a perfect moment or day. In this part of life, perfect ain’t coming any day soon. Therefore when you are afraid, turn to God, pray continuously, and act gradually in the small safe opportunities you see. When you are afraid just do this!

When you are afraid, turn to God, pray continuously, and act on the opportunities that open up. Do not just pray, take medication. Do not just pray, exercise to cut weight. Do not just pray, invest. Do not just pray, apply for jobs, and go for interviews. Do not just pray, go for that only date you have been invited and you are feeling is below your standards. Just go and find reasons to truly turn down a second date. Do not just pray, study. Do not just pray, do what you must do. When you are afraid, turn to God, pray continuously, and act on opportunities that open up however small.

Dear God, I am afraid of so many things. It is becoming a life made of fear. No resolution has been acted on because fear sneaks in as rational thinking. Save me from fear dear God. Save me from fear. When I am afraid remind me to turn to You. When I am afraid remind me to pray continuously. When I am afraid empower me to take small steps and act on opportunities that open up. Help me overcome fear, in Jesus’ name, Amen!