Has fear ever struck your heart and mind from out of nowhere? You’re happily enjoying a special moment, and the next second, fear has gripped your heart so tightly that you can’t breathe?  If you’ve been left feeling paralyzed, wondering what just happened to you and how to recover – you’re not the only one. Trust me.

I used to think it was just me. But as I started to share how the enemy would attack me – my friends would confide in me that they too, had been tormented with fearful thoughts, over and over again. Friends, the Bible has laid it all out for us on how we can defend ourselves and overcome these attacks! God wants us to have complete freedom from fear. I’ve experienced it over and over. Now it’s your turn.

Back in December of 2017, I was blessed to participate in a time of prophetic ministry during our women’s group at church. It’s always one of my most favorite meetings because it’s full of exhortation and encouragement. (1 Corinthians 14:1-5)

I always pray that I’ll get a word – either directly, or that my spirit will quicken when hearing someone else’s. I also had the thought though, that maybe someone would get a word for my newborn daughter, happily sitting in my lap. Imagine my surprise then, when one of the prophetic team members walked up, asked her name, and said he had a word for her! He mentioned that during worship, he locked eyes with her and immediately heard from the Holy Spirit. She was only 8 weeks old at the time but has always been a very alert baby, so I’m not at all surprised that she made eye contact!

The word was amazing. It was powerful. So powerful in fact, that during the middle of it, the enemy attacked me. He attacked me with terrible, scary thoughts of accidents and disease.  My heart started racing and a feeling of utter panic gripped me. I immediately rebuked the devil so that I could hear the rest of her prophetic word.  It all happened in a split second. That’s how the enemy works. It was like a scorpion stinging – lightning quick.

As I reflected on it later, I realized that the prophetic word must be so true, and so powerful, that the enemy didn’t even want me to hear it, much less believe it. But I’ve got his number.  I recognized his sneaky tactic and called him out on it.  Yes, it was a real attack. And it was also a bunch of lies.  Remember, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. So of course he wouldn’t want me to hear an encouraging word about my eight week old daughter.  God led that prophetic team member to speak those words over her as a confirmation of her life and purpose, as a way to guide me in raising her, and to bring peace to my heart any time I had the normal momma worries about a new baby.  Of course the enemy would want to thwart God’s plan to strengthen my faith!

Here’s the kicker: he tried to do the very.same.thing to my husband.  The next night, as I played the recording of the prophetic word, the enemy tried to scare him as well.  But God! I mentioned how I was clearly attacked, and my husband welled up with tears and said the devil had attacked him as well. Ya’ll!! Despite the fact that I’d already gotten wise to his battle plan, he still tried it with my husband. The enemy really isn’t all that smart. He’s just not. He has no power, just a bunch of lies. He’s really not that creative. He’s just plain mean and evil – and utterly powerless. Once you equip yourself to identify the devil’s attacks – you will see right through the facade.

I know I’m not the only one that the devil attacks with fear tactics. So I want to encourage you today on the importance of making God your refuge and your fortress. I know that sounds lovely and holy and all,  but you’re probably sitting there thinking – that’s great, but how do I actually do that?

Here are the steps I’ve taken over the years  – both in the middle of an attack, and also to prepare me for daily battle:

– Declare  Psalm 91  Read the whole psalm out loud and declare it over your family over and over again until the truth of it settles deep within your soul. There’s something amazingly powerful about the Word of God being spoken out loud. Own this Psalm for you and your family. It’s yours. Claim it and speak it and feel God’s peace with it.

– Breathe  Phillipians 4:6-7 – Allow God’s peace to guard your heart and mind. Meditate on this verse.  Hand over your burdens. The tradeoff is peace and respite for your anxious soul. Over and over again I have given my worries and anxieties to God.  When I did that in the moment of the spiritual attack, He immediately guarded my heart and mind with His peace. My racing heart calmed immediately. I was reminded of God’s promises and saw through the enemy’s lies. That’s supernatural peace ya’ll.

– Worship  Psalm 5:11 You can’t sing praises to God and be afraid at the same time. It’s just not possible. When you worship the Lord with song, you put your focus on Him. You turn your heart to Him. Don’t be deceived by how simple this seems to be – it’s incredibly powerful to lift your voice to God to praise Him! Sometimes we don’t know what to pray, or what verse to meditate on. Put your favorite worship songs on, and sing. One of my favorites for this purpose is of course No Longer Slaves – you can’t help but feel the fear melt away as you sing the chorus “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God” over and over again.

– Train 2 Corinthians 10:5  Train yourself to take every thought captive and check to see if it lines up with the Word of God.  If it does not – cast it aside to the pit of hell and replace it with the truth of God’s Word.

– Live Ephesians 6:10-18 –  Put on the full armor of God.  Recognize that we are in a spiritual war, and every day the enemy wants to battle us. God has provided us with armor – but we must choose to put it on every day.  Part of the prophetic word that Lindynn received was shown in a vision – the team member saw her fully covered in the armor of God. And that was a wonderful confirmation for me, because every morning without fail, I pray and put the armor of God on each member of our family. It’s not just some pretend thing in the bible ya’ll. It’s real. Don’t start your day without putting on this protection provided by our Father! (See how I do this daily here)

Trample – Luke 10:19 – We have been given authority to trample serpents and scorpions. So DO it! God gave us this power, we just have to USE it! That’s what I did. I used the power of God’s word to trample on the enemy when he attacked me.

– Continue to train yourself for spiritual battle. Equip yourself with spiritual tools and skills to identify the attacks and rebuke them.  How do you do that?

• Get in the Word as often as you can
• Pray continually
• Read books like Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer
• Utilize resources like the 21 Day Freedom Journey
• Listen to free Freedom Trainings online
• Attend Freedom events like Kairos

Once you start seeing the enemy’s attacks for what they are – you will learn to quickly identify them and see through them.  Fear is one of his most frequently used tactics. Remember, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of sound mind. When fear hits you out of nowhere – it’s likely an attack from the devil. If it is – take that thought captive. Rebuke the enemy by the power given to you in the authority of Jesus Christ. And replace the lies and fear with God’s Word, and allow His peace to calm your heart and your mind.

Update:  A few days after writing this, the enemy attacked again. That’s what He does ya’ll. He doesn’t give up – especially when you win a battle and are preparing to equip others on how to win as well. Remember, he isn’t smart so he will just try the same tactics again and again.  That’s why it’s vital to be prepared. But sometimes, we get blindsided. And in this case, I was.  One evening, fear about my sweet baby girl gripped me so tightly that I was literally shaking and trembling and starting to cry. Thankfully my husband saw it and I told him my thoughts, and immediately prayed over me and helped me break it. Sometimes when you’re in the midst of an attack, you can’t hardly recognize it, because you’re so twisted with fear. So the last vital step is:

Reach out – Matthew 18:20 – you do not have to fight your battles alone. Don’t even try! The enemy would love to see you isolate yourself. Call a trusted friend, someone whom you know will provide Godly counsel. Say the fears out loud. Bring them into the light. The enemy will try to make you feel silly for telling someone your fears. Evil hides in the darkness. Bringing things to the light helps us identify the lies for what they are. Pray together to rebuke the enemy and the lies. As Matthew 18:20 says, “where two or three are gathered in His name, I am there”. And God is perfect love, which casts out fear. 1 John 4:18 Trust in that. Believe and trust that His presence eliminates all fear!