Fear has been weighing me down for the past year, filling my mind with lies. I have not been trusting, but constantly worrying. I was waking up every morning anxious for what the day would hold. This quickly escalated into daily worry about the news notifications I would receive from FoxNews and CNN. Those notifications have not stopped. In fact, they are more and more frequent. And more and more disheartening. What has changed is my response.
Be anxious for nothing.
But in everything,
with prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
This is the verse that I have clung to for the past year. Each of those lines is filled with comfort, truth, life, confidence, and peace.
Friends, we cannot give Satan this foothold into our lives. Our fear for tomorrow takes our eyes off of Jesus and places them on ourselves and the pity of our situations. Satan wants us to make this about us. He wants us to worry. He does not want us to trust in our Sovereign God. He wants us to be fearful of tomorrow. He wants our thoughts to be confused and anxious.
“Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers,” (1 Peter 4:7).
We must fill our minds with truth. Preach the Gospel to yourself. Connect with the body of believers. Unplug from technology and get alone with God. Rally your family together and pray. Choose that thing that will bring you life. Love each person with whom you come in contact. Be bold and have the hard conversations with the people God has placed in your inner circle. Reevaluate your priorities. Ask that person for forgiveness. Be anxious for nothing, but pray.
“If MY people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land,” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
And so we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn from our sins, and run as hard as we can toward Him. We pray for healing, for peace, for protection, for strength and endurance for our brothers and sisters around the world who face persecution and torture. Oh, that God would give those fighting for their lives reassurance, hope, and stamina to press on!
We pray for faith — that we hold fast to the truth He has revealed to us in His Word, that we will not doubt that God is still good, and that He is the Great Shepherd. He is righteous. He is just. He is loving. Full of grace and mercy. We trust that He is in control, working in the lives of people affected, working all things together for good.
We pray for salvation. Salvation for the leaders of ISIS.
We pray for salvation for those being recruited by terrorist groups.
We ask God to open the eyes and hearts of the leaders of every nation in this world.
We pray for salvation among refugees, those being tortured, and the families of those who have lost loved ones.
We FIGHT on our knees.
We cling to the hope we have in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
We fill our minds with truth, not allowing our thoughts to be filled with fear.
We rejoice in the goodness and graciousness of our Lord.
We keep Jesus as our source of joy and hope.
We stand firm as we call on the name of our Lord.
Jesus,
We know you have already won this war.
We will fight these momentary troubles that are preparing for us an eternal glory beyond all comparison.
We seek Your face, coming boldly to Your Throne of Grace.
We cling to the promises You have made in Your Word.
We fill our minds with truth.
We walk in victory and not in fear.
We know You are good; You are our Protector.
We cling to the hope we have in You.
We will run this race You have marked out for us.
We will praise You for You are our salvation.
We press on for Your name to be made known and glorified.
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD (PSALM 27:13-14)
Kelsey Gold serves on the board of Young Women for America at Liberty University.