For many people, worry and fear is a constant state of life. They worry about their children, their spouse, their finances, their job, their health, and on and on it goes. Worry is fear based, which is a spirit of the enemy. The enemy whispers to you in order to get you on his territory so that he can torment you to never enjoy peace in your life. Peace should be normal for every Christian but we know so many in the church who call themselves Christians, who are are fearful everyday. They think about what could happen that could be bad. They come up with many scenarios how they could lose their home or farm, how they won’t have enough money to pay for their bills, how they may lose their spouse if this or that happens.
It is so critical to be aware where your thoughts are coming from. Anything that causes you to fear, worry, become angry, take an offense of otherwise lose your peace, is always from the enemy. FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. The enemy is real and will whisper to you in your mind and if you do not shut him down, you will be tormented, sometimes for a lifetime. Depression is nothing more than allowing the enemy to whisper to you over and over again, causing you to think about how bad things are instead of rebuking the enemy to go and refocusing your mind on things that the Bible says.
Philippians 4:4-9 NKJV states
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
So when you capture the thoughts from the enemy, and think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and good report, then you will never fear, worry or become depressed. It is so important for people to walk in the fullness of their authority in Christ every day and to command the enemy to be silenced in their minds. If you have given the enemy the right to harrass you with tormenting thoughts, then you will walk in fear for a lifetime and never know His peace.
People who are very controlling, manipulative, deceiving, sexually selfish, twisting the truth and prideful are hosting the spirits of Jezebel and Leviathan. The base for those spirits is the spirit of fear. They did not receive unconditional love from their father (and / or mother) and felt rejected, unloved, controlled, criticized, etc and began to hear the whispers when they were growing up. The fear based spirits then controlled them to control other people in their lives, causing them to have broken relationships for a lifetime. Once the person recognizes that they are dealing with those spirits, repent before the Lord, and command the spirits to be gone, then they are able to walk in more peace than they ever have felt before. They can hear the voice of the Lord more clearly then ever before. They are not driven out of fear.
So it is critical to not allow the enemy to whisper to you and then continue to dwell on those thoughts that are toxic. Take your authority and command the enemy to be gone from you. Praying in tongues will not allow the enemy’s thoughts to purvey because you cannot hear the enemy and pray in tongues at the same time. Playing praise and worship music is also another way of focusing on good things and not spiraling down the road of worry and fear. In my book Keep Your Peace On I explain things to do in order to walk in peace 24/7. I personally will not allow the enemy to speak but just a few words to me before I now recognize that it is the enemy’s voice and then will shut him down and refocus my thoughts on things that are good.
It is also important to choose your friends wisely. If you are constantly around a person who is fearful, spewing words of anxiety and worry, then you will be affected. Bad company corrupts good character. You simply cannot spend a lot of time with people who will speak negative words. It is important to spend time with people who lift you up and speak life giving words. So speak life, be positive, and take control of all your thoughts. Keep your peace on!