5 Steps to Conquer Fear and Unbelief

One night when our daughter Hannah was four, we were explaining to her the difference between something real and something fake.

We would ask her about this, ask her about that, and she’d tell us if it was real or fake.

Apples: real. Mermaids: fake. And so on.

Then my husband, Ashley, gave her a trick question. He asked, “Is the devil real or fake?”

I still remember her looking out the window, while her little mind worked through the question. She finally said, “Dad, the devil is real, but his weapons are fake.”

That was a clearer revelation than many adults in the body of Christ have about the devil. He is real, but his weapons are fake!

 He Lost and He Knows It

As I mentioned before, the number one fake weapon the devil uses is deception. That’s his go-to tool. His favorite gun. His sharpest knife. His skill in its use is unsurpassed. However, because of Jesus, it’s useless against us when we recognize who we are!

The devil is afraid of the children of God because he’s already been defeated by our Father. He has no authority over us, no power. The only thing he can do is bomb us with lies and hope we allow one to detonate.

Our authority in Jesus terrifies him. When we understand what Jesus has done, what He accomplished on that cross, we become deadly to satan’s schemes. We know the truth and the truth defeats deception every time.

Dead to Deception

When we start seeing through the devil’s lies, he can’t trick us anymore. Lies don’t work. Deception fails. And satan fears. He knows we have authority over him. The only thing he has over us is deception and, when it fails, so does he.

Fear has no part in who we are as born-again believers. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He has placed His very nature, His character, into us through the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. All those godly attributes are mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23, and fear isn’t mentioned once.

It’s simply not who we are.

God did not design us to be in fear. Once we start to understand who God created us to be, we become deadly to the plans of the enemy. Our security in Christ stops us from handing the devil our authority. Instead, like Romans 8 shows, we become more than conquerors.

A Fearless Inheritance

In Romans 8:14, it says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” If you’ve given your life to Jesus, you are a son or daughter of God. In verse 15, it tells us that as His child we do “not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear.”

Instead of the spirit of fear, we’re given “the spirit of adop- tion.” This means we can rightly call upon God as “Abba, Father,” which is like saying, “Daddy God.” It’s personal and very paternal.

 In this adoption, we learn, “The Spirit Himself bears wit- ness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).

This is a powerful statement. It means everything Jesus gained at the cross is now ours when we’re born again. Like I mentioned previously, we were in-Christed. We are now in Christ and He lives in us, which means living with peace, with faith, and without fear.

We are joint heirs with Christ, which is such an amazing blessing it deserves a “Praise God!”

When we skip down to Romans 8:37, it says we are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Through our rela- tionship with Jesus, we reap the spoils of the price He paid. We gave Him our pain, suffering, sin, and fear, and He went to the cross for us and exchanged it all for His righteousness, health, healing, peace of mind, and faith.

This is why the Gospel message is so overwhelming. When we start to understand what God has done for us through Jesus, it almost seems too good to be true!

Testing for Fear

How do we know when we’re in fear or in faith? That might seem like a strange question, but it’s one I get asked frequently because fear can often be quite subtle and downright sneaky.

For example, someone may come forward for healing. They say they’re believing in faith. However, when you listen to their prayers, they’re actually full of fear. They’re praying frantically. These aren’t faith-filled prayers, they are fear-filled. They’re crying out to God in crisis-driven prayers.

One of the characteristics of faith, however, is peace. If we do not have peace, then our prayers are coming from a place of fear. Our motivation is fear.

Jesus Confronts Fear

Instead of being driven by fear, I want you to receive everything God has for you. To understand the difference between praying in faith and praying in fear, let’s look at how Jesus identified fear and overcame it.

In Luke 8:49, we meet Jairus, who is also mentioned in Matthew 9 and Mark 5. “While He [Jesus] was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him [Jairus], ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher’” (brackets added for clarity).

Jesus was actually on His way to Jairus’ house. Jairus had asked Jesus to come and lay hands on his sick daughter. So, the Savior was on His way, but got delayed. On the journey there, He met a woman with an issue of blood.

Now, if I’m Jairus, I’m standing there thinking, Come on! My daughter doesn’t have much time! I would understand that this woman needed help, too, but we’re talking about my baby girl here. She’s at home dying! I would be getting impatient, getting frustrated, trying to hurry Jesus up.

Jesus, however, never panics. Not when a man was filled with a legion of demons, or when Lazarus’ friends urged Him to hurry before it was too late, or when his disciples were sure they were going to die in a boat-sinking storm.

Jesus was never affected by any crisis. Instead, He always remained calm. His will is to bring healing, but He didn’t run frantically into those situations. He operated in consistent peace because Jesus knew His authority.

He also knew how it would all end. He knew, even if Jairus’ daughter died, He could raise her from the dead.

Then the report came. Jairus’ daughter had died. This man received the worst news of his life. His nightmare had become a reality. Jesus delayed, and his baby girl was gone.

I haven’t been through the exact same situation, but I have been given the report by doctors to take my daughter home to die. That kind of news moves you at a heart level. I don’t care how spiritual you are, you would battle to stay in a place of peace hearing a report like that.

However, just like our daughter’s story, Jairus’ daughter’s story is a good one, too.

In verse 50, Jesus heard the report and answered, “Do not be afraid; only believe and she will be made well.” The same moment is captured in Mark 5:36 as, “Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing” (AMPC).

Fear’s Stopping Power

Jesus hears a fearful report and tells everyone to keep on believing. Don’t be seized with alarm. Don’t be paralyzed by fear. Keep on believing. He’s addressing the effects He knows fear can have on our mortal hearts.

In the Old Testament, we see that paralyzing nature of fear in the story of Lot and his wife. As they were escaping Sodom and Gomorrah, they were told not to look back. But Lot’s wife looked. She saw the destruction of the city and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Now, I’m not suggesting this could happen to you, but fear does paralyze.

Ashley experienced paralyzing fear firsthand during a frightening moment a few years back. Here’s his harrowing tale:

Years ago, I was out late and happened to drive past the church where I was currently employed. When I glanced over, I noticed the front door was wide open. It was about 11 o’clock at night. No one was working at that hour. So, everything should have been locked up tight.

I took a deep breath and pulled into the parking lot. If someone had broken in, I needed to find out.

 Inside, the church opened to a vast auditorium. A vast, dark auditorium. The light switch was on the other side of that pitch-black room. To get there, I had to walk across the auditorium without a flashlight, all while knowing someone could attack at any moment.

As I’m making my way across the auditorium, keeping my head swiveling and my eyes searching the shadows for movement, I noticed the pastor’s office door was also ajar. And there, behind the door, was the shadow of a man.

Let me tell you, in that moment, I couldn’t move. Suddenly, my brain went into a tailspin. What should I do? Should I rush through the door? Run away? Confront whoever lurked behind the door? Get out of there and call the police?

It felt like I stood there deliberating for an eternity, but it was probably only thirty seconds. A long thirty seconds. All of which I stood there without being able to take a single step forward or backward.

In the back of my mind, I could see all the nightmare scenarios playing out. The person behind that door could be dangerous. He could have a gun. He could attack. This might be the last few seconds before my life changed forever, or even ended.

 I had no idea what awaited me in that next minute. The threat. The unknowns. I couldn’t see past them to make a decision.

Finally, the adrenaline kicked in, and I burst forward. I yanked the door completely open to tackle the man and, instead, tackled a robe.

Yeah, it was a robe.

I don’t know what it says about me that I saw my life flash before my eyes because of a church door that was poorly latched and a vicar’s robe, but I experienced how immobilizing fear can be.

Seized with Alarm

Fear not only torments our minds, but it also affects our physical bodies. Adrenaline kicks in and, suddenly, we’re crazed with that fight or flight impulse.

Once fear takes over, our bodies stop responding to our commands and, instead, respond to our fear. I’ve seen people scared of heights, for instance, who lock up the moment they’re faced with that fear.

Jesus addressed this response when Jairus received his heartbreaking news. He didn’t breeze past it or brush it aside. He gave specific instruction on how we should respond to that panic when it wells up inside us.

Let’s look at Luke 8:50 again to explain: “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”

The tense this was written in is called the present, imperative tense. It means a continuous action or command. In other words, Jesus wasn’t simply saying, “Oh, there, there Jairus. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.” What Jesus was actually saying was, “No! Don’t you fear. Don’t you do it. Don’t give it one inch. Stop it right now, and never do it again.”

He spoke forcefully and bluntly to Jairus because He knew this father was in the middle of the war between faith and fear at that very moment. He was stopping Jairus from ever planting that seed of fear.

Belief in the Negative

Why is unbelief so detrimental? Because unbelief is basically belief in the negative.

Unbelief is based in fear. If we don’t check our fear, if we don’t contain it, if we don’t go to war against it, that fear will result in unbelief. And that unbelief will hinder us from receiving everything God has for us.

We won’t be able to operate in the spiritual gifts. We won’t hear God’s voice. We will doubt His love. And, like Eve, we’ll hand over our authority to the enemy.

That is why Jesus was so pointed in stopping Jairus’ fear before it could get a foothold. Jesus was stern out of His love for this grieving father.

It’s that same love He has for us, too, and that same passion He has against our fear. He has many blessings and gifts prepared for us, and He doesn’t want us to miss out on any of them.

Shut Unbelief Out

On the journey to Jairus’ house, Jesus tells him not to be afraid but believe. Now, they’ve arrived at his home, and the daughter who has recently passed is inside.

In Luke 8:51, it says, “When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.”

Scripture says He shut everyone else out. All these people were mourning, but He shut them out. You’d think He’d want to minister to everyone, right? Instead, He kept them outside. He was focused. He was there to bring a young girl back to life, and He knew how toxic fear can be.

Inside that home, Jesus knew there wasn’t enough room for both fear and a miracle.

We can also frequently find ourselves in environments of fear. We may not even fear initially, but when we’re around others who are fearful, eventually that fear can take root in us, too. Their reactions, their grief, their pain—we can start carrying that weight with us.

At Jairus’ house, Jesus wasn’t being insensitive to the feelings of the others. He wasn’t being uncaring or uncompassionate.

He was giving them a different perspective on death and shutting the door to unbelief.

In another situation, Jesus took a blind man outside of town before praying for him (Mark 8:22-25). He walked him to the outskirts because that town was so writhing with unbelief. Unbelief was everywhere. That town reeked with the stench of it. Jesus said His mighty works there were of no effect because of that unbelief (Matthew 11:21).

We can shut the door to unbelief. We can throw it out of town. We can hit fear head on and stop it in its tracks.

Jesus accomplished this by removing fearful people from the environment and stopping them from entering. He created an atmosphere of faith.

Fear and the Five Senses

“All wept and mourned for the girl,” Luke 8:52 tells us. The people were distraught, wailing and grieving and carrying on, completely overcome with the circumstances.

One of the characteristics of fear is that it focuses on the five senses: what it can see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. It considers only what’s happening in the here and now, only the natural things.

Faith does the opposite. It goes beyond the five senses and operates in the spiritual realm. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as being, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Jesus looked beyond the five senses, beyond the natural realm. He knew the girl was dead. He saw the mourning. But He viewed the situation through eyes of faith.

By emulating Jesus, we can see beyond our fearful, natural circumstances and live in a place of belief where we can receive what God has for us. Like the blind man in the unbelieving city, Jesus led him beyond that environment and that’s where he received his sight.

Go Beyond the Temporary

Fear will always highlight what is naturally lacking in us. Whatever it is, whatever resource we lack, that’s where fear will shine its spotlight because fear can only operate in what it sees.

But faith goes beyond that. It enters the supernatural where God’s abilities and God’s resources operate and are available. While fear only sees the temporary, faith sees the eternal.

When you’re facing a fear, here’s something that will help you see past the natural. Get right into that fear’s face, toe to toe, nose to nose, and shout, “You’re temporary!”

One of fear’s biggest weak points is that it’s subject to the natural world and, therefore, subject to change. Remind that fear who it is. And you will start to remember who you are in Christ.

In Luke 8:53, it says the people laughed at Jesus. In the verse prior, He had told them not to weep. “She is not dead, but sleeping.” He came face to face with their fear and, instead of believing, they clung to their natural realm and laughed.

So, He shut that unbelief outside. And that’s when the miracle happened. “But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately” (Luke 8:54-55).

Not mockery, not unbelief, not even death could stop the Son of God. Goodbye death. Hello life.

How to Shut Out Unbelief

You want to do this. I know you do. You want to take your unbelief, march it outside your house, slam that door, and slide the deadbolt. You want to live in faith, but how is that possible?

1 . Recognize the connection

We must recognize the relationship between fear and unbelief. They’re buddies. They’re friends. They never go anywhere without the other. If you have one, you certainly are struggling with the other. So, see them for what they are: your enemies working together against you.

2 . Doubt the circumstances

You need to stop doubting God and start doubting your circumstances. Unbelief seeps in when we’ve bought more into satan’s lies than we have the truth of God’s Word.

3 . Notice your senses

Consider how much of your fear is based on what you’re experiencing with your five senses. You may be living in uncertain circumstances, but circumstances change.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul describes his troubles as “light afflictions,” even though Paul’s afflictions weren’t particularly light! They included everything from being shipwrecked, to being jailed, to beatings, and yet he called them light because they were “working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

He saw beyond the natural realm to the spiritual, faith-filled one.

4 . Shut down lies

Rebuke the lies that are creating those moments of panic, anxiety, and torment. When we respond to our circumstances, our body responds with reactions all its own. We think we’re reacting to what we’re sensing, but fear clouds our perception. In reality, we may be physically reacting to something that isn’t even true.

5 . Consider the unseen

Like the Apostle Paul, look to the things that are not seen. In 2 Corinthians 4:18, he says, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The things you are seeing (or feeling, tasting, hearing, smelling) are temporary, but the things you do not see are eternal. When compared to what the Lord says through His Word about who we are in Christ, everything else is but a vapor. Whether it’s a sickness, a lack, an addiction, or a heartbreak— all are temporary.

The Evil of Unbelief

As born-again believers, fear is no longer part of our nature. We shouldn’t tolerate it. We shouldn’t learn to live with it. It is not our normal. Fear, once allowed, leads to unbelief and hinders us from receiving everything God paid for.

Hebrews 3:12 tells us, “Be attentive, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, and you depart from the living God” (MEV).

In this verse, God is connecting evil with unbelief. Let’s not miss the significance of this!

God understands sin is harmful to us, and He understands unbelief is harmful to us. He is warning us that an unbelieving heart will cause us to depart from the living God. When moving away from God, we will move toward lies.

When God led the children of Israel to the Promised Land, spies were sent in to survey the area and report back. In Numbers 13:1-14:10, we read about the spies being dispatched and then returning.

During their investigative mission, they took note of the giants in the land. Upon returning, instead of trusting God, all but Caleb and Joshua warned their people of all the dangers. These men only looked at the circumstances, instead of looking to the strength, power, and promises from God. And God called it an “evil report” (Numbers 13:32).

Remember, these are the people who had beheld the miracles of God with their own eyes. They witnessed the plagues. They walked on dry ground through the Red Sea. They were walking with God right beside them and, as soon as a few giants showed up, it was, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Don’t Miss Out

We do this, too. God works miracles and blessings in our lives. He walks with us. He comforts us. He actively participates in our needs. Then, fear arises, and we forget it all. Instead, we focus only on what’s wrong, on the threat, and we miss out on what God planned.

For the children of Israel, their fear of the giants hardened their hearts and they actually became disobedient. Because of their unbelief, God sent them into the wilderness for forty years until the bodies of that faithless generation were buried.

Instead of seeing the Promised Land, they lived the rest of their days in the desert. Instead of living with rich soil, soft grass, and cooling shade, they walked the burning sands.

They died in that wilderness, never beholding that Promised Land, because of their unbelief.

We don’t want to miss out on anything God has for us due to unchecked fear. Jesus was quick to call out fear and stop it immediately. That’s the example for us, too. To stop fear, we have to first see it, confront it, and allow Jesus to lead us to victory over it.