Healing from fear and guidance in life

[Gspuymond]

Over the past few weeks god has helped me overcome lust and see a new way of living life. However whenever I am afraid of something and it’s a thing I can’t solve immediately I become consumed with fear and heavily tempted to go and masturbation and lust. I also wish for gods guidance in my life. Sometimes I have doubts that I’m too far gone or that I need to do something to atone for my sins. Please help me understand and receive Jesus’ gift. I also pray for a good wife where we can mutually encourage each other to follow Jesus. Help me also not be swayed by superficial charm and be content with gods presence.

 

[Articles]

We rejoice with you that God has helped you overcome lust and has opened your eyes to a new way of living, for this is evidence of His grace at work in you. We thank Him for the victory He has already given and we stand with you for complete healing from fear and for His clear guidance in your life.

We hear your struggle that when fear comes over something you cannot solve immediately, you become consumed and heavily tempted to return to lust and masturbation. We want to speak truth to you in love about this. Lust and masturbation are not harmless coping mechanisms for fear, they are sexual immorality and sin against your own body which is meant to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are called to flee sexual immorality as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, and to make no provision for the flesh. When we turn to lust to soothe fear, we are turning to an idol instead of turning to God. We say this not to condemn you, for there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus in Romans 8:1, but to call you to repentance and to a better way. God has provided a way of escape in every temptation as promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and His desire is that you bring your fear directly to Him.

Fear itself is something God wants to heal in you. He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control in 2 Timothy 1:7. Perfect love casts out fear in 1 John 4:18. When you feel consumed, we encourage you to do what is commanded in Philippians 4:6-7, in nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Fear grows when we try to solve everything immediately in our own strength, but God calls us to trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths in Proverbs 3:5-6. Waiting on the Lord is not passive, it is active trust as in Psalm 27:14.

You mentioned doubts that you are too far gone or that you need to do something to atone for your sins. We want to gently but firmly correct this, because it undermines the gift you are seeking to receive. You cannot atone for your own sins and you are not too far gone. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord in Romans 6:23. We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast in Ephesians 2:8-9. Jesus alone made atonement for you on the cross. When He died and rose again, He paid the full price. Your part is to receive His gift by repentance and faith, confessing your sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness in 1 John 1:9. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord in Romans 8:38-39. If you have not yet fully surrendered your life to Jesus as Lord and Savior, we urge you to do so now, believing that He is the only way to the Father as Jesus said in John 14:6, and calling on His name, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

We also join you in praying for a good wife. We affirm your desire for marriage as God designed it, a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman, and we pray that you will approach this not as simply finding a partner or girlfriend, but as courtship with the goal of marriage to a fellow believer in Christ. We pray you will not be swayed by superficial charm, for charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised in Proverbs 31:30. A godly wife who will mutually encourage you to follow Jesus is a precious gift, and we pray God will prepare you both and bring you together in His timing as you delight yourself also in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart in Psalm 37:4. We also hear your prayer to be content with God's presence, and we agree that learning contentment in Him is vital, for He has said I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you in Hebrews 13:5, and in your presence is fullness of joy in Psalm 16:11.

We now pray together for you.

Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ, thanking You for the work You have already done in our brother's life to break the power of lust and to give him new eyes. We ask for Your healing from fear. Replace his anxiety with Your perfect love and Your peace that surpasses understanding. Teach him to cast all his anxiety on You because You care for him, and to run to You in prayer the moment fear rises instead of turning to the flesh. Forgive him for times he has given in to lust and masturbation, cleanse him by the blood of Jesus, and strengthen him to flee sexual immorality and to walk in purity. Help him to fully receive and rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, silencing the lie that he is too far gone or must earn his own atonement. Let him know with assurance that he is forgiven, redeemed, and made new by grace through faith in Christ alone. Guide his steps, Lord, make his paths straight, and give him wisdom for every decision he faces. Prepare him to be a godly husband and prepare a godly wife for him, a woman who loves You above all, that together they may encourage one another to follow Jesus all their days. Guard his eyes and heart from superficial charm and teach him true contentment in Your presence. Fill him with Your Holy Spirit, with power, love, and self-control, that he may live a life that honors You. We ask all this in the mighty and saving name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We are so encouraged to hear how God has already been helping you step away from lust and see life differently. That is real progress and we thank God with you for it.

We hear how fear still overwhelms you when you face something you cannot fix right away, and how in those moments the pull back toward lust feels strongest. That makes sense. Fear can take over our thoughts and body all at once, and old habits often call loudest when we feel helpless. It does not mean you are too far gone.

You mentioned wondering if you need to do something to atone. We want to gently remind you that Jesus' gift is just that, a gift. We receive it by trusting Him, not by making up for our past. Nothing you do can add to what He has already done for you, and nothing in your past puts you beyond His grace.

For guidance and for your desire for a future wife who loves Jesus, we join you in asking God to lead you step by step and to keep your heart content in Him while you wait, with eyes for character more than charm.

One small step that helps many when fear and temptation rise together is to have a plan before the moment comes. Decide now what you will do instead, maybe pause, pray honestly for help, get up and move to another room, and reach out to a trusted Christian brother right away.

Father, thank You for the work You have already begun in our brother. Quiet his fear with Your presence, help him receive Your gift with simple trust, guide his steps each day, and keep him close to You as his true contentment. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

We rejoice to hear that the Lord has already shown you His hand in turning you from lust and opening your eyes to a new way of living. This is grace at work, and where grace has begun it will not fail to perfect its work if you continue to look to Christ alone.

You speak of fear which consumes you when a trouble arises that you cannot immediately solve, and that fear then drives you toward the old temptation. Learn to distinguish fears. There is a servile fear which trembles before God as a culprit before a judge, and there is a holy fear which trembles lest it should sin against so good a Father. Perfect love casts out the first, but it nourishes the second. Let holy fear put wings upon your heels to fly to Jesus. Faith was the living principle in Noah, but fear was the moving power which made him obedient, and so must it be with you. When fear arises, do not reason with it nor run toward sin for relief. Run to Christ. Offer at once that prayer which our Lord taught us, Lead us not into temptation. It is a prayer of sacred self suspicion, a confession that you dare not trust yourself in the place of trial, and it exhibits that blessed childlike confidence which tells the Father the fear that grieves you. And heed this, the man who prays Lead us not into temptation and then goes into it is false before God. Flee the place, the image, the idle hour, the private screen which has so often been the snare. Make no provision for the flesh. Turn the eye, move the feet, cry to God at the first suggestion.

You write of doubts that you are too far gone and that you must do something to atone for your sins. Hear the plain gospel which must be preached over and over, salvation is by divine grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone. The Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. What is believing on Him. It is trusting in Him, leaving the whole matter of your present and eternal salvation with Him in unquestioning confidence, depending upon Him without fear. How simple and how instantaneous is that way. Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. A look does not require a moment, and sin is removed the moment you look. Do not let fearing keep you from looking. Fear, then, and look. His honor is engaged to save the meanest of His sheep. This salvation is without money and without price. As long as you bring your own atonement, your resolutions or your penance, you cannot have it. Christ has made peace with God. Your part is to receive His gift with empty hands. If you believe on Christ with all your heart, your salvation is secure beyond hazard, not because you hold Him fast, but because He holds you.

You ask also for guidance and for contentment with God's presence while you wait upon Him for a wife. This desire for a marriage that is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, where husband and wife mutually encourage one another to follow Jesus, is a good and holy desire. Pray for it, but pray with a holy caution. Ask the Lord to keep you from being swayed by superficial charm, which fades and deceives, and to make you content first with Christ Himself. He who walks with God does not hasten through fear. Seek first to be established in purity and in the fear of the Lord, and in His time He will order your steps. Remember that salvation delivers a man from the power of sin and from the corruption which is in the world through lust. That deliverance is the greatest blessing, and it will make you a better husband if the Lord should grant you one, for there are none so cautious and none who walk so tenderly as those who possess full assurance of faith.

May the Lord keep you. May He teach you to turn every fear into prayer, every temptation into an occasion to look more steadfastly to Jesus, and to rest in that free salvation which is found in His person alone. We will pray that He will strengthen you to stand, that He will give you wisdom for each step, and that He will in His own time provide for you that which is for your holiness and His glory, while even now He satisfies you with Himself, who is our light and our salvation.

 

[Dan T]

Papa please break the chains in this person's life... Your way and your time Amen

 

[usha rani]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.