April 23, 2023

                 YOU ASKED FOR IT: OVERCOMING FEAR AND ANXIETY

  April 23, 2023

Charles Billingsley

Do you often wake in the middle of the night with a recent troubling situation at the front of your mind, bringing you to instant full-blown alertness? Perhaps it’s a family matter, or something going on at work. As you try to get back to sleep, you recognize you are mentally dealing with a whole barrel of “What can I do? How can I fix it? Can I do this… or that…” rather than giving it to God. You pray, but you’re afraid God doesn’t care quite as much about the situation as you do (wrong!). You later get up to face the day, and although not quite so dark as the 3 a.m. scene, your worry goes with you. How do you overcome this scenario? Listen well as Charles Billingsley tells you how to end this cycle and replace it with faith! As Matt Redman writes in the praise song, “Fear cannot survive when we praise You!”

Focal Passages: Prov. 9:10; Matt. 10:28-31, 6:24-34; 2 Tim. 1:7; Phil. 4:6-7.

Why is there so much fear and anxiety in our world?

  • Read 1 John 4:18. In your lifetime, how have the situations which cause worry and fear escalated? What are some of the changes going on in the world that provide a place where Satan can bring debilitating worry and concern? Would you say you are one who is consumed by fear? What love is John writing about in this verse?
  • What are some of the reasons you have a tough time giving a situation to God? When you do, how can you rest in peace that He will “fix” it according to His perfect will?

Is some fear okay?

  • Read Pro. 9:10. What type of fear are we to have in our relationship to God? Was there anyone when you were younger whom you had a healthy respect for—fear—but loved as well? Read Deut. 13:4. How would you paraphrase this verse? What does it mean to “hold fast to Him”? Is your faith in holding close to God strong?
  • What is meant by “the presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison it creates is optional” (Max Lucado quote)? How can the prison be avoided?

Am I the only one who feels this way?

  • If you could condense your fears into one word, what would it be? Why do the “unknowns” in life fill us with fear? Can you give some examples? When the first thought of a certain fear comes into your mind, what is your first response? What would change, if, instead of letting the thoughts take root, you immediately turned them into warfare prayer?
  • Read 2 Tim. 1:7. Since God has told us to not fear anything, where does the fear that grips your heart come from? Why does he want to see you immobilized by anxiety? What happens to your Christian testimony if you camp out with worry and fear?

What does God say about fear, worry and anxiety?

  • Does anyone remember how many times God has told us not to fear? A verse for each day of the year! What does that tell you?
  • Read Deut. 31:6. Which is bigger, your faith or your fear? Can you say you really believe God if your fear controls you? Is worry sin? How can you get free? Read 1 John 1:9.

How can I defeat my fear?

  • DECIDE WHOSE YOU ARE: Read Matt. 6:24 and Rom. 6:16. Why does God say we will be slaves to the one whom we obey? If your choice is to trust God to take care of a situation, or fret and worry about it, why is it so hard for you to choose? What is usually your choice? How can you get rid of one of these masters? Which one will it be?
  • DECIDE WHO YOU ARE: Read Matt. 6:26-27. You made a choice to serve God when you accepted the salvation in Jesus Christ. Whose child did you become at that time? What about your faith has changed?
  • DECIDE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO: As you worry, little by little, are you forsaking the choice you made at salvation? What is Satan robbing you of? Will you let that continue?

How do I overcome my fear?

  • Read Matt. 6:33-34. What does God tell us? What are “all” these things? If worry (fretting, anxiety, fear) is sin, (which it is), what is the first thing you need to do? What do you replace the fear with? Read Phil. 4:6-7. It is almost impossible to give thanks in the midst of tragedy, so what thanksgiving can we substitute for despair?
  • Worry is almost like an addiction, so how can you begin to break the habit? Will God give you the next correct step you are to take? What will keep you from taking it? Can you trust God as Someone who loves you more than you can imagine (including an earthly father)? Can you leave the “fixing” to Him, and keep telling Him you care about the situation, but are glad He’s working on it?
  • What are some ways you can discipline yourself to express gratefulness and to worship as you go through the fears of life? How does it help to know about 9 out of 10 things you worry about will never happen?

Close:

This very needed sermon has the tools to replace worry and fear in your life with joy and peace if you will take the steps Charles has supplied and put them into practice. All of us either are, tend to be, or have someone in the family who is a chronic worrier. See it as sin and you will be on the way toward overcoming it. Treat it like any sin that needs to be removed from your life, but especially as one that can quickly destroy your peace and joy from Christ. If you need help after studying this sermon, please write to [email protected], and someone will get back to you!

By Sandy Day                                                                                                                                                 April 23, 2023

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