Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.” Today I will talk about faith and fear, and how they impact prayer. Faith and fear are opposites. To explain, I will use an example I often share when attempting to explain “The Blessing.” To know what “The Blessing” looks like, I often give an example of “The Curse.” Let’s get to it.
Let’s say you had a cousin named Jimmy. Jimmy was alone at home in his house when all of a sudden a tree came crashing through the roof. There was no storm, no wind, and no clear reason why this happened. The house was damaged to the point where Jimmy had to move out. He moved in with his mother, your aunt Rose. That night a tree came crashing down on Rose’s house, once again, without explanation. So Jimmy and Rose moved in with Rose’s sister (also your aunt) Sarah. That night a tree came crashing down on Mona’s house. Do you get the picture? So Jimmy calls you and asks if he and your aunts can move in with you until their houses are fixed. What would you say? Probably No! At least not for Jimmy. Why? Because there is obviously something on Jimmy that is following him everywhere he goes. Just like you can understand that, “The Curse,” you can understand “The Blessing.” When you walk in God’s blessing, He sees to it that favor, advancement, acceleration, promotion, increase and divine success follow you everywhere you go.
Let’s use that same logic with faith and fear. Faith is a practical expression of your confidence in God and His Word. Faith is not hope. Hope is open-ended. Hope is not connected to anything. You can hope and wish for whatever you want, but faith is tied to God and His Word. Faith adds substance to your hope. Faith is based on something God said: in the Bible or to you (in a dream, a vision, through the Holy Spirit, through someone else, etc.). Faith is an action word. Faith boils down to the actions you take based on the confidence you have in what God promised. Paul told us that faith comes by hearing and hearing (continually) the Word of God (Rom 10:17). The more Word of God you hear in any given area, the more your faith is built up in that area. Guess what? Fear works the same way. Faith boils down to the confidence you have in God and His Word. Fear boils down the confidence you have in satan and his words. If you repeatedly hear negative words, words that did not come from God, you are going to build up your confidence (or fear) in those words. This is why it is critically important that you protect your eye and ear gates. What you allow through your eyes and ears, whether from GOd or from satan, will get down in your heart!
Let’s say you start reading the Word of God and you see that God wants you to live a long and prosperous life. What will happen? The answer is simple. You will build up your faith for living long and strong. But what if you start reading negative statistics about persons of your race and gender? What if you read that a high percentage of people of your age, sex and ethnic background die at the age of 60? What will do you with that information? What if you then find out three of your uncles and aunts died at 60? Never mind the fact that the cause of death had nothing to do with the previous materials you read. The enemy will use that against you. Why? Because just like faith moves God, fear moves satan. Satan will use anything and everything he can to get you to fear. The Bible says that fear has torment, but perfect love casts out all fear (1 Jn 4:18). If the person in this case is not careful, the devil is going to torment them with this information. When they turn 59, they will start making preparations to die. Why? Because they have confidence (fear) in the evil report. This is very dangerous, because once you are in fear, you are no longer in faith. You have lost your confidence in God. There is no way to be IN FAITH and IN FEAR at the same time. Fear cancels out your faith, but the good news is that faith cancels out your fear.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- Dr. Creflo Dollar said, “Fear tolerated is faith contaminated.” Both faith and fear come down to confidence. If you have confidence in God and His Word, and your actions are based on that confidence, it is called faith. If you have confidence in satan and his words, and your actions are based on that confidence, it is called fear. Faith or fear, which will you choose?
- Faith is what makes heaven work. Likewise, fear is what makes hell work. Faith is the currency of God’s kingdom — how you make an exchange. Fear is the currency of satan’s kingdom — how you make an exchange. Say, “I declare that I will not be making any exchanges in satan’s kingdom, because I refuse to fear!”
- If you want to pray in faith, you are going to have to fill your heart with the Word of God. If you fill your heart with evil reports, you will have no faith. But if you fill your heart with God’s Word, your faith will be strong and your prayers will be answered. Because you will be praying in accordance with God’s will.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. I protect my eye and ear gates. I refuse to allow negative information to get down into my heart. I do not meditate on negative things. I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night. Fear has no power over me. I have no fear. NO FEAR HERE! I am Your child, Father. Therefore, I fear nothing! You are rock, my strength, my refuge and my fortress. I have nothing to fear. Your Word says that fear leads to torment and that there is NO FEAR in love, because You are love. Well, I am IN YOU and You are IN ME, therefore, there is NO FEAR IN ME! Living this way, I am able to pray from a position of faith every second of every day, and my prayers are answered because I pray in accordance with Your Will! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
