3 Proven Ways to Banish Fear and Activate Your God-Given Gifts

Don’t allow your God- given gifts to be withheld from expression in this life because of fear. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)

The Greek word here for fear is deilia, which is most accurately translated as “timidity.” This is a word we can easily relate to. To experience timidity or intimidation means being deterred from action due to fear. But the more important aspect here is that a spirit is the ultimate origin of intimidation. It’s a spiritual force, and if we don’t address fear on a spiritual level, its roots are not fully cut off.

I know all about this because I battled this spirit for many years. I assumed it was a weakness in my personality. But during a set of church meetings in the early 1990s, I discovered I was completely wrong in my assessment.

These meetings were scheduled to last for only four days in a small-town church, but instead they turned into a three-week move of God. Every night, the building was packed to capacity, and many were saved, healed, and delivered. The gift of God in my life to preach was in high gear. It was remarkable. People traveled as far as ninety miles to attend the nightly services. I distinctly remember going into the empty sanctuary during the daytime, and it seemed as if God’s presence had settled in the building.

But one evening in the final week, all this changed. Some of the worship leaders had criticized my ministry the night before. What they said was relayed to me by one of the church leaders just before that evening’s service. The comments seemed opinionated, yet harmless. The pastor dismissed their remarks. We then prayed and went into the sanctuary, as we’d done for so many services. However, I couldn’t shake the worship leaders’ words from my thoughts. My focus shifted from preparing for the upcoming service to critiquing my message from the previous evening.

That evening, everything seemed dry. I tried to minister as I’d done for the previous two weeks, but I was confused, couldn’t keep a thought, and hated being on the platform. I wanted to escape out the back door. I felt powerless, like a teenager in a high school speech class, miserably failing to communicate before my fellow students. There was no anointing, no presence of God on me. It was horrible. I closed the service early and returned to where I was staying.

I found myself upset with God. Why didn’t He help me? Why was this service so different? Why did I feel abandoned? I thought, That message and ministry time was pathetic. Nobody will come back tomorrow night. In fact, I don’t want to go back tomorrow.

I went to bed hoping the next day would be different.

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Japheth Mast