Tag Archives: fear of failure

Charles Stanley – Dealing With Fear

 

Philippians 4:6

Not only is anxiety uncomfortable; it also leads to negative consequences. For example, reasoning becomes cloudy when permeated with worry. So an anxious person will have trouble making wise decisions. Fear of failure may also lead to procrastination or lack of productivity. Apprehension can devastate personal and spiritual growth, relationships, and work. So conquering fear is important.

These four steps can help:

  1. IDENTIFY THE FEAR. Ask yourself, What are the circumstances surrounding my feelings? What triggered them? What message am I telling myself?
  2. TURN TO THE LORD. Remember that God loves you and desires a close relationship with you. He is in sovereign control of your situation, so bring your apprehension to Him.
  3. REBUKE THE FEAR. You have authority and power in Jesus’ name to reject what isn’t from Him. Meditate on Scripture passages such as Matthew 10:31 and Proverbs 1:33. Let God’s truth replace any wrong thinking.
  4. CLING TO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER. Take your focus off your circumstances, and look to the One who promises His help. The Bible gives this assurance: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

Circumstances are external and often beyond your control. But your response originates within. It’s amazing how fears diminish in the Father’s presence.

Charles Stanley – Suffering a Faith Failure

Charles Stanley

Numbers 13-14

When you hear the term “faith failure,” what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, the expression immediately drums up uncomfortable thoughts of a spiritual stain on your Christian walk. Try as we might, however, we simply cannot or will not go through this life without failing from time to time.

Most troubling to Christians are those instances when we allow other factors to get in the way of what we know God is telling us. Can you remember a time when you knew the Lord wanted you to do something, but for some reason, you decided upon a different course of action? When we allow anything to short-circuit our obedience to the heavenly Father, we can be certain that we have just had a faith failure.

One of the key reasons for spiritual missteps is the simple issue of fear. Now, we never have to be afraid of losing our salvation once we are secure in Christ; instead, what I’m talking about here is the fear of failure. We simply do not want to fall on our face in the challenge God sets before us. So, rather than meet the call head-on, we run and hide. In our minds, it is better not even to bother trying than to try and fail.

Is that the attitude God desires? Of course not. Our heavenly Father hasn’t given us a spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7 nlt); He desires boldness and veracity in our faith. Don’t bow down to the idol of apprehension. The God who calls you is strong enough to keep you. Whenever He assigns you to a task, you can be sure He’ll empower you to achieve it.

 

Joyce Meyer – Our Confidence Is in Jesus

 

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. —Philippians 4:13

Satan does not want you to fulfill God’s plan for your life because he knows that you are part of his ultimate defeat. If he can make you think and believe that you are incapable, then you will not even try to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Even if you do make an effort, your fear of failure will seal your defeat, which, because of your lack of confidence, you probably expected from the beginning. This is what is often referred to as the “failure syndrome.” The devil wants you and me to feel so bad about ourselves that we have no confidence in ourselves.

But here is the good news: We do not need confidence in ourselves—we need confidence In Jesus! I have confidence in myself only because I know that Christ is in me, ever present and ready to help me with everything that I attempt to do for Him.

A believer without confidence is like a jumbo jet parked on the runway with no fuel; it looks good on the outside but has no power on the inside. With Jesus inside us, we have the power to do what we could never do on our own.

Once you learn this truth, when the devil lies and says, “You can’t do anything right,” your response to him can be, “Perhaps not, but Jesus in me can; and He will, because I am relying on Him and not on myself. He will cause me to succeed in everything that I put my hand to” (See Joshua 1:7).

Or should the enemy say to you, “You’re not able to do this, so don’t even try, because you will only fail again, just as you have in the past,” your response can be, “It is true that without Jesus I am not able to do one single thing, but with Him and in Him I can do all that I need to do” (see Philippians 4:13).