How to Pray Against Fear

Fear is a big part of our lives. Surrounded by the constant threats of war, sickness, violence and more, our nation needs God. How do you pray when there is so much to fear? In this prayer of Elisha, we see the antidote to fear and once again realize that when we press, prayer reaches every single situation.

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Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Welcome to the press podcast. So glad that you are here.

And hopefully you've been encouraged by these podcasts. If you have, like, share, subscribe, please. And also, we're going to give you the tools necessary to start a small group Bible study around these podcasts.

The approach is much like doing a book club, wherein everybody reads the same book and then you come together and discuss it. In lieu of reading the book, per se, you would listen to the podcast, bring your group together to discuss it. Because in the short time that I'm doing these podcasts, 15 minutes here or 12 minutes there, there is no way that we're covering every aspect of what these particular passages and stories in the Bible have to offer.

Coming together as a small group would be an amazing way to build upon what you're getting out of the podcast and get more and give it as well. So make sure you check out PressToPray.com to be able to download the small group guide that we're putting together. Or you can also grab it in the YouTube description.

All right. So here today we are in 2 Kings chapter 6. And I'm excited. This is a new character, if you would, for us.

His name is Elisha. Now, the past two weeks, we've been talking about Elijah. Elijah with a J. But this is Elisha with an S-H.

And Elijah was a great prophet, but now he has gone on. He did not die. That is one of the most amazing facts about Elijah.

He never died. The Bible says he was taken. He went up.

He was raptured. That is actually the definition of rapture. But when he was raptured, Elisha was able to get the mantle, the legacy, if you would, of Elisha and get it in double.

You really need to read that story if you've never read it. It's in 2 Kings chapter 2. As I said, we're not going there today. But you begin to understand God did more for Elisha than he even did for Elijah.

And we've heard some of the awesome things that he did for Elijah. But this week, let's look at one he did because Elisha asked him to. In this chapter, 2 Kings chapter 6, the king of Syria is opposing the children of Israel.

The Bible says, Then the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down. So what's happening here, unlike Elijah at the time, when we looked at Elijah last week, he was at odds with Ahab.

But for Elisha, that is not the case here. He is actually on good terms with the king, good enough terms that when the king of Syria is planning to make war against the children of Israel, the Bible says that he would say in secrecy, We're going to get them at such and such place. This is where I'm going to stay.

This is the plot. And the Lord would give it to Elisha. Whatever this king was saying in private, the Lord was telling Elisha, even though he wasn't there, so that he could convey it to the king of Israel.

I love this one because I believe the Bible shows us what a prophet is really supposed to be. Someone who speaks on behalf of God foretells or sees beforehand what is coming. Elisha was a true prophet.

He didn't need cleft notes. He didn't need to look up their Facebook page first or their Instagram. He didn't need somebody to tell him what's going on with them.

No, he served the kind of God that I serve, the kind of God that I hope you serve, the God that hears in secret, but can tell you what the enemy's plotting and make it plain before you no matter what they try to do. And this is the case. And so he's telling this and the king of Israel is able to elude the king of Syria.

And the Bible says it wasn't just one or two times. It kept happening to the point that in verse 11, the heart of the king of Syria was sore trouble for this thing. And he called his servants and sent it to them.

Will you not show me which of you is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, none, my Lord, O king. But Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tell the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed chamber. In other words, he thinks that somebody's actually betraying him.

Like one of you has to be a double agent. You're not really on my side. And the servant had enough sense to say, no, it's Elisha.

I love that Elisha had such a reputation for following God. Whatever he was doing, however he was serving, it was not a secret because even the enemy knew God was with him. And they didn't just know God was with him.

They knew where to find him. The king says to the servant, go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him saying, behold, he's in Dothan.

They found him really easily. He's not hiding. He's not scared.

Therefore he did their horses and chariots and a great host. And they came by night and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city both with horses and chariots.

And his servant said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? So in the middle of the night, this Syrian king decides we're going to surround Dothan, the place where Elisha is staying. I don't know what made him think he was going to sneak up on Elisha or why he even thought his trying to sneak would matter, but he still tried it in the middle of the night. Our God is an awesome God.

When you have confidence in him and you know there's no strategy of the enemy that can defeat you, you don't have to panic. You can go to bed at night. You don't have to watch your windows.

You don't have to watch your doors. I'm not saying leave everything open, but I'm saying it doesn't matter. I have seen God so many times on accident where he left the front door open even, but he kept the house.

Why? Because it was his house. The Lord knows how to protect what is his. It is not our doors, our windows or our alarms that keep us safe.

And Elisha knew it's none of that. He was not worried. God was already telling him what this man was going to do on behalf of the king of Israel.

I don't know if the Lord told him what he was going to do when it came to surrounding Elisha, but it didn't matter. And I say it didn't matter because you can see the indifference in the way Elisha is about to pray. Because his servant has just seen, hey, we're surrounded.

Master, he said, how shall we do? What are we going to do? What do you want us to do? How shall we react? And he answered, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. No sweat. Who cares? Let them surround us.

It actually didn't even matter that the enemy was everywhere. When you serve God like that, there really is nothing the enemy can do to you to threaten you. And here we even see Elisha being stronger than his predecessor, Elijah, because Elijah feared Jezebel, but Elisha does not even have that in him.

And that's not a bad thing talking about Elijah and noting Elisha's growth. No, the one who comes after should be better than the one who laid the foundation. I want my children to be better than me and my mother wanted me to be better than her.

We want to get better with every round. That is the way it's supposed to be. And that is what you see here with Elisha.

You don't see him panicked. You don't see him passing out. You don't see him worried about being surrounded because he has another vision.

And so when his servant says, what are we going to do? He says, fear not. He's seen something that his servant's eyes can't see and the Syrian king can't see. He's seen where God is in the fight.

Sometimes you just got to be able to look past what's actually surrounding you, what's actually happening, the naysayers or just the people with the questions who are trying to stand with you, but they don't even understand what you're seeing. And you've got to just know where God is in this fight. Elijah didn't pray that he'll know where God's in the fight.

He said, okay, if you're going to stand with me, you need to be able to see too. And so Elijah prayed and this is the prayer for today. Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elijah prayed unto the Lord and said, smite this people, I pray thee with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

There's two things, two prayers happening here. The first prayer, if you're going to row with me, if you're going to stand with me, you need to see what I see. And Elisha prayed, let him see God in this.

Lord, let him see you. Let him see what I'm seeing. Open his eyes.

Everybody can't see it the way you're seeing when you see it by faith. Everybody can't see it the way you're seeing when you're fighting in the spirit. Do we just throw them away? Not necessarily.

But if they're going to stand with you, God opened their eyes. You can't fight with me and you're as blind as they're about to be. We have to both know where God is in this fight.

Today, I challenge you, ask God where he is in the fight. If you can't see him, get with somebody who can see better than you. When we're walking with God and when we're following him, I've never seen the righteous forsake.

He doesn't abandon those who are doing right. And Elisha was walking with him. It may look like he's surrounded.

It may look like the king is coming after you, but God doesn't forsake the righteous. His ear attends to their cry. He knows how to answer and be there, and he doesn't have to do it in a way that you expect, you expect, or you expect.

But when you open your eyes, you'll see he's been fighting for me and plotting for me, and he's still with me, and God is with us. I pray that we don't fight from the standpoint of being defeated or surrounded. I pray not just the prayer of what he's seeing here when he's praying for the young man to see, but that we grasp hold of the first part of Elijah's demeanor, where he even says, fear not.

In 2020, so much happened. It felt like the world was just being threatened as we know it. People were terrified to go around one another.

We didn't want to gather. Some were challenging the narrative of the day, and they were being blasted for going to church, for gathering, for not taking a vaccine, all kinds of things. And I don't want to make the issue any of that, but at the bottom of the whole era or whole time of COVID was fear.

And I remember talking to God about my fear, because I wasn't exempt from that. But I also am of the mindset, I refuse to live afraid of anything. And so when I felt it on me, in me, and I knew I was wrestling with fear, there were a few things I did.

One, I cut off the news. Why? Because there was no good news, and it didn't help me in any way, shape or form. I needed to change what I was hearing, because what I was hearing was affecting what I could see.

All I could see around me was the possibilities, the fear of what might be. No, I had to cut off what I was hearing. And as I began cutting off what I was hearing, I began to pray more.

And as I connected with God, and honestly connected with Him, I let Him deal with the fear that was trying to take over me. I remember our church opened up. It really didn't close long.

I think we were out maybe two weeks. So we opened at a time where people were very angry with us for doing that. We made social media news, let's put it like that.

And people are going live, talking about us. People are coming through our church parking lot, threatening us, all of this. And that didn't bother me.

That wasn't the part I feared. What I had to work through is, God, where are you in all of this? And because of the noise all around me, I couldn't hear Him. So because I couldn't hear Him, I had fear.

So what I had to do, cut off the news, pray more. And then I began to just tell God, yes. I'll never forget the day I decided I was going to church no matter what, even if I got sick.

I didn't care. Because I needed to be in the presence of the Lord more than I needed to be home so I could be, quote unquote, safe. I didn't feel safe at home.

My safety has always been in the presence of the Lord. And what I see out of Elijah is a man who understands my surroundings do not define my safety. He wanted the young man to be able to see that your surroundings do not define your safety either.

Today, we pray God open our eyes so that no matter what comes next, we are secure in who we're with. And yes, I didn't even hit on the second prayer much concerning the blinding of the eyes of those that came against him. But isn't it amazing that in one moment he prays two opposite prayers, opened his eyes, shut theirs, and God does both.

We serve a great God. You should go and check out the rest of this story and see how it ended. Our God knows how to deliver His people.

And it is a great thing to serve such a great God. And I pray today that spiritually our eyes are opened and that we realize we have a God we can trust. I pray that you know prayer reaches every single situation.

Be blessed. Join the movement. Join the community.

Like, share, and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook. Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and were wondering, how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice.

It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you. It's Too Quiet, a book about prayer.

It's designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com