"4 Steps To Overcome Fear?” In 1 Ki 19:1 -18

“4 STEPS TO OVERCOME FEAR?” in 1 Ki 19:1 -18

Good evening Brothers and Sisters, welcome to Upperlight Meeting. The title of my message is

Fear is irrational and can be a powerful force to reckon with.

Sometimes it comes suddenly, at other times it gradually builds up over time. But we all have experience fear before. It can be paralyzing and control a person to a point that he/she cannot function at all.

Here are some common fears are below

Fear of being alone - autophobia,

Fear of confined or crowded spaces - claustrophobia,

Fear of water - hydrophobia,

Fear of animals - zoophobia, and the list goes on.

What are your fears? Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of what other people think, fear of the future. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing your job. Fear of people finding out something you have done or not done.

Today we will look at 4 steps to overcome our fears. When fear comes, we need to activate these steps.

We can learn from this story what are the steps we can take to overcome fear before fear overcome us. In 1 Kings 19 records an occasion when Elijah, a mighty prophet was overcome by fear and ran for his life. And we will see how God came to help his servant during his time of weakness.

This great prophet of God who was victorious in a spiritual battle with 450 prophets of Baal on Carmel – a mighty prophet who called fire down from heaven

and caused rain to come after years of drought. But now he runs away from Jezebel. He was running from a wicked and demonic queen

1. Run to God (1 Ki 19:3 & 8)

v.3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Elijah was running for his life and running from Jezebel – this is what fear will do to anyone who succumb to it.

We asked the question that he could defeat 950 false priests and prophets, could he not defeat this wicked queen?

Some possible reasons: was that he was drained physically, emotionally and spiritually after his confrontation with the false prophets on Mount Carmel. After that he was discouraged and depressed because he expected a mighty revival of Israelites to turn back to Jehovah worship and to have great social and religious reforms to take place.

The absence of such visible results after the confrontation with the enemies of God, may have caused him to be discouraged and depressed. The attack of fear on him came at a time of his vulnerability.

The Lord took care of his servant when he was down and out by sending supernatural bread and water to continue on his journey. Here we see the grace of God to come to us when we needed it most.

v.8 Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

The lesson which we need to learn is to run to God instead. Don’t run away out of fear. But run to. Where to run when you are fearful. We run to God, only when we take refuge in the Lord, then we can find true safety and security.

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Ps 18:2

2. Feed on The Word (1 Ki 19:6 & 7)

v. 5-7 All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

When a person is physically, emotionally and spiritually tired, hungry and thirsty, he can be vulnerable.

We get our spiritual food by spending time feeding on the Word of God and in the Spirit. The refreshing water of the Holy Spirit comes when we become lost in praise and worship, prayer and speaking in tongues. It will renew our strength and help us to be edified.

The importance of feeding on the Word of God cannot be overemphasized. We must develop the practice of regularly memorizing and meditating the Word of God.