Talk to God About Your Fear

How many times have you heard believers confess to one another, “My biggest problem in evangelism is fear. I am so afraid of being rejected”? The problem is that they often tell scores of believers their fear but too rarely confess it to Christ. The difference should be obvious. As helpful as telling others may be, there is no one on earth who can lend the aid He can. He ought to be the first we express the difficulty to, not the last.

As we do so, what we are specifically asking God for is courage or boldness. The courage that makes us go ahead despite our fears. The courage that makes us speak up, not clam up. The courage that produces the “I want to” evangelize not just the “I should.”

After all, as we observed, that is what the apostles did in Acts 4. That is what Paul does in Ephesians 6. In fact, what is striking about the Ephesians 6 passage is that when Paul discusses his fear in evangelism, he does it not to complain or make excuses but simply to ask them to pray for him. We must first and foremost talk to God about our fears, not just to people.

As we do so, we must pray in faith. Nowhere in Scripture does God promise to answer prayer. He only promises to answer the prayer of faith. As we ask God in faith to give boldness we can do so with excitement and expectation because the Person we are talking to is the One “who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). If you ask God for boldness, He will provide.