Three Steps to Overcome the Spirit of Fear

Second Timothy 1:7 is one of my favorite scriptures when it comes to overcoming anxiety and panic attacks. When I was asked to speak on this scripture I realized God gave us a remedy for all kinds of fear in just this one verse.

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

When Paul spoke this to Timothy it was to encourage him because people like them were getting killed for preaching the gospel. Paul was reminding Timothy that he doesn’t have to let the Spirit of Fear control him because Jesus conquered death already. His life and his death was secured in Jesus.

Paul wasn’t telling Timothy not to be afraid. He was telling him not to let the spirit of fear have any authority over him. Being afraid is a good thing. God created fear to save our lives.

Fear triggers the flight response in our bodies, which tells us something isn’t right so get out of there.

Three Steps to Overcome the Spirit of Fear - www.cswisdom.com

However, when the Spirit of Fear sets in, it’s goal is to destroy our lives. Paul didn’t say God has not given you fear. He said God has not given you the Spirit of Fear.

When we speak of the Spirit of a thing, we’re talking about the personality and character of a thing, how it operates, what power and authority it holds, whether for good or bad. We’re talking about the influence it has over us.

The Spirit of Fear torments us. It keeps us from fulfilling our destiny. It keeps us tied to the past instead of moving forward. It keeps us stagnant. It keeps us from loving ourselves and others the way God intended.

It brings on hopelessness, like nothing good will ever happen to us or when it does it won’t last. It makes us selfish and selfish people can’t love anyone else. It makes us unstable in our minds, which causes us to be unstable in all of our ways. It causes us to be like Job, expecting the thing that he feared the most to happen to him.

The Spirit of Fear eats at us little by little, causing us to grow weaker and weaker until we no longer want to fight. When that happens it completely controls us. We begin to see we are fearful of things we were never afraid of before like people who become claustrophobic out of nowhere.

But like anything in the Word of God, there is always a remedy to the problem. Paul gives Timothy a 3-Step Process for getting rid of the Spirit of Fear.

Step 1: Walk in the Spirit of Power

The first thing God gives us is the Spirit of Power. The Greek word for power means, “inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature; the power for performing miracles; to be capable and strong.”

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior we received the Holy Spirit to guide us in our new way of life. With the Holy Spirit comes power according Acts 1:8. So His power resides in us and all the things Jesus did we can do.

The Spirit of Power gives us the ability to destroy the Spirit of Fear. The first thing to do is to decide that is what we want. We don’t have to allow fear to rule our lives anymore. We don’t have to stay stuck. Then we must tell that spirit to go in Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. It doesn’t have any rights in our lives. Finally, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reign boldly in us.

This will allow us to walk into the next step.

Step 2: Walk in the Spirit of Love

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.”

When we get rid of the Spirit of Fear, we are free to love ourselves and others in a genuine way. We’re free to be like our Father in heaven who is Love.

When we operate out of the Spirit of Love we’re not thinking about what we’re going to get in return when we do something. We’re not looking back thinking about all that we gave or the ways we’ve helped others, only to get slapped in the face for it. We’re not mistreating people or refusing to help them based on what someone else did to us in the past. When we do that we are actually walking in the Spirit of Fear.

Instead we’re everyone a chance in the Spirit of Love because we know our Father has done it and we want to be like Him. We’re doing it because we want others to know they are loved in spite of just like God loves us in spite of.

So we must daily ask ourselves if what we did was in the right spirit. Were our motives right or were we afraid of the outcome? Were we afraid of their reaction?

If we’re not sure, the last step will help us to be more consistent.

Step 3: Walk in a Sound and Disciplined Mind

Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by renewing our minds so that we can prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

In order to keep our deliverance from the Spirit of Fear we have to renew our minds daily. We have to meditate on the Word of God day and night until it transforms our thinking.

We have to focus on the good like Philippians 4:8 says,

“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things.”

We have to consciously push away negative thoughts, especially the ones that make us afraid in the slightest way. When negative thoughts come replace it with a positive one and keep repeating that to yourself throughout the day.

When we do this we will create a secure and stable mindset. We will have self-control and become disciplined in our thinking and in our ways. We will be restored to our senses and the Spirit of Fear will no longer have a foothold in our lives.

Remember, no matter what you go through God always has a remedy for you in His Word.

Give Me Your Thoughts

What is something you’ve overcome by applying the Word of God to your situation?

Maybe you needed healing or a business idea. Maybe you needed to overcome some form of addiction or anxiety like I have.

Whatever it is, I’ll love to hear about it. Just comment below.

19 thoughts on “Three Steps to Overcome the Spirit of Fear”

  1. Hello
    Im thankful for the article..
    I recently found out im vitsmin d deficent it has caused alot of issues sleelessness some nights then when i dont sleep it makes me depressed im supplimenting but its made me fearful about being depressed and then sleeping i will get afraid of trying to sleep..
    I quote scriptures but im weary …
    I just want to be normal again.

  2. Fear has taken most part of my life and i am now aware. I want to overcome it in the name of Jesus. Pray for me I really need it.

  3. I am Blessing, I am still struggling with fear and it’s really affecting me, don’t no what to do again.

    1. What got me over most of my fear is quoting the scriptures. “God has not given me the spirit of fear. He has given me the spirit of love, the spirit of power and the spirit of a sound and disciplined mind. Therefore, fear must leave me and be replaced with love, power and a sound and disciplined mind. God has restored my soul, my inner man, my peace. This is the truth and the truth sets me free. It makes me whole because God’s word cannot go out and return to Him void. It must accomplish what it was sent forth to do.” You must meditate on God’s word and let it saturate your entire being until it becomes a part of your immediate response to fear. Please keep me updated.

  4. Ariana DeCrescentis

    Dawn, I just want you to know that this entire article that you put together is a reflection of my life. I have recently been experiencing emotional trauma and feel that there has been a spiritual battle around me. I have been depressed, negative, emotional and close to giving up. I put myself in a cage to protect my emotions, but it only made things worse. I am focused on not being hurt, disappointed or giving my hopes up, but I’ve set myself up for a life of unhappiness because hope seems so…. useless. It has gotten to the point where my husband thought he felt and saw something staring at us in our hotel room. When that happened I immediately felt the power of God, but it was more like Anger. No one messes with my family! I took control of my emotions, took control if my environment and spoke the name of Jesus. After this happened,I immediately knew what I was dealing with because I have dealt with it before and felt its presence. I believe God took control of the situation by allowing the spirit of fear to reveal itself to my husband. I felt his fear, asked him what he saw and felt the spirit if God take over. After all of this, I ran into this article, and I’m shocked. My mom is a hoarder, my dad is a compulsive buyer, and my sister’s and I have addictive personalities. This spirit has been attacking me and my family for a long time. I am starting to consider generations. My grandma and grandpa on my moms side where divorces and remarried. My grandma is still alive but never cared to have a relationship with me or my sisters. My grandpa died from old age and my grandmother-in-law hid it from the family to inherit his possession. My grandparents on my dad’s side where raciest and mean people, they didn’t even like children. My grandfather was asked to Join the KKK and no one knows his response. He died from a heart attack at the age of 55 before I was born. My grandmother died from a stock when I was 9 years old. Alot of this was revealed to me this year and my husbands family just disowned his grandfather for kicking us out if his house. As you can tell alot of negative things have been happening and it’s been hard to maintain a sound mind, fully love myself and my loved ones, and even realize that God had instilled in me the power to overcome fear. Please pray.

    1. I will pray for you. Just keep speaking the Word of God over your situations. He can carry you when you’re too weak to walk this out. Some times you may have to just moan and let Him fill in the blanks. He knows all and sees all. I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this at one time.

  5. I’ve been having this spirit that raises up and me with force to over take me and it feels so overwhelming and it moves through my body and i don’t understand it. I know that i have anxiety and become fearful I been praying and asking for deliverance and sometimes it feel like its left me then before i know it’s back. I’ve bleed the blood of Jesus of me when this happens, I have fasted, I’ve cried out to the Lord for deliverance, I’ve read his word on pulling down of strongholds.

    1. Unfortunately, some times we have to fight a long battle in order to win the war. The enemy always goes away for awhile. Then he comes back trying to stir up mess all over again. That’s his job. Your job is to keep speaking the Word of God over your situation. Look at some of my responses to the other people’s comments. Take charge and command the spirit of fear to leave by using God’s Word. It does work. Constantly meditate over it and begin to thank God for His deliverance, even in the midst of the situation.

    1. I have prayed for you. How are things going now? You must focus on the Word of God and digest His word daily until it’s your immediate response to the slightest inclination of fear trying to creep up on you. God’s Word works.

  6. P.S…I am still very rusty with Worldly things, for instance I’m trying my best to stop cussing/cursing…but I am sooo much better than I was and I owe it all 2 God, Yeshua and my Bretheren. Just thought I better mention that. Lol. Have a wonderful Day.

    1. I have been going through anxiety and panic attacks lately. They have become so out of control that I’m taking medication to calm me down. Thank you for the scriptures they have really help to me. I know it’ll take time But I know God is there to help me.

      1. God really is there to help you. Ask God to calm your nerves and any time you feel the slightest anxiety quote the Word of God over you and make it personal. For example, “God has not given me the spirit of fear. He has given me the spirit of love, the spirit of power and the spirit of a sound and disciplined mind. Therefore, fear must leave me and be replaced with love, power and a sound and disciplined mind. God has restored my soul, my inner man, my peace. This is the truth and the truth sets me free. It makes me whole because God’s word cannot go out and return to Him void. It must accomplish what it was sent forth to do.” You must meditate on God’s word and let it saturate your entire being until it becomes a part of your immediate response to anxiety and panic. I’ve been there. God’s word works!

      2. I have been having fear and anxiety since I had hypertension about two months ago though will soon be off my medication. My mum died of it a few months ago and it scares me. The fear doesn’t seem to leave my mind. This is not good for me at all. Get very anxious when I want to take my readings daily. I feel like I am caged. I want to be free, excited like to used to be again.

        1. Hi Gbubemi,
          I’m sorry you’re going through this. Remember, you must make a choice to believe the Word of God because it can set you free. Constantly recite healing scriptures over your life out loud so you can hear it. Then stand and believe God. Keep doing this until you are set free.
          In His service,
          Dawn

  7. Hi there Dawn!! My name is Kimberly Dawn and I am on my Walk, too. I know that we All may not agree with each other about everything we discover and try to relay, but I can always see when God is working through His Children. Thanx 4 putting His teachings out here. I think you are truly called to spread His Truth. I saw a post 2day from 8 years ago on Alan Rudnick’s site, when I was doing research and you spoke eloquently and used scripture to back your thoughts. It was Beautiful, Sista. We are all shades, backgrounds and cultures that originated from one God (minus the Marked Ones?). Many have strayed but THANK GOD we can find our way back on His Path. And I thank you, as well. Keep it coming!! Someone’s always listening and quite possibly trying 2 figure things out 2. God Bless you!!!!

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