How Does Fear Affect Us Spiritually? The A-B-C Series on Ancestral Influences

Healing Ancestral Wounds

By Gena Barnhill @BarnhillGena

We all have experienced the emotion of fear at some time in our lives. Fear alerts us to danger so that we can respond by fighting or fleeing. God designed this as a protective mechanism.

However, the enemy uses the spirit of fear to keep God’s children in bondage and focused on what they believe they lack instead of on God’s blessings and goodness. The spirit of fear often co-labors with other spirits to inflict harm. This is different from the emotion of fear God created to protect us in dangerous situations.

The spirit of fear may produce:

  • intense worry
  • intrusive thoughts
  • a focus on what we believe we cannot do
  • a sense of powerlessness
  • concern with exposure and feeling unprotected

Fear may manifest in physical changes such as:

  • increased heart rate
  • rapid breathing or shortness of breath
  • sweating or chills
  • muscle trembling
  • butterflies in the stomach area
  • frozen, unable to move

Fear was a constant companion for most of my life until I learned in my middle adult years that Jesus gave me the resources to fight against it, and I could walk in victory in Christ. Jesus said in Luke 10:19: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” 

How Does the Spirit of Fear Affect Us? The A-B-C Series on Ancestral Influences #generationalcurse #fear #healing Share on X

Partnering with Fear 

The spirit of fear wreaked havoc in my family line. We assumed fear was something we had to live with and worked diligently to keep it suppressed. We didn’t understand by doing this we were partnering with fear. We unknowingly chose to agree with the spirit of fear and the lie that we were somehow inadequate or flawed.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

When we prayed with others, we frequently heard prayer recipients express fear of:

  • being alone
  • authorities
  • being wrong
  • conflict
  • death
  • failure
  • the future
  • inadequacy
  • infirmity
  • man
  • poverty
  • punishment
  • the unknown

The Enemy is Relentless 

After I drew closer to the Lord and gained spiritual maturity, fear resurfaced. The enemy uses the same tactics over and over. Since fear worked earlier to keep me in a state of agitation and worry, I am sure the enemy believed it would work again. After all, the spirit of fear had been active in my family line for generations.

Yes, I gave into fear again thinking,  Oh no, I am back at square one. I am never going to be free from fear. But I quickly recognized this was a lie, and I was not back at square one. I held onto the Lord’s promise in Luke 10:19 and declared that I no longer partnered with fear and fear needed to leave in Jesus’s name. I believe demonic forces attack us in areas where we have experienced breakthroughs to convince us we will never be free.

Shame, Fear, and Control 

The spirit of fear often works with the spirits of shame and control. This triad is a powerful stronghold. In my adult years, I realized keeping a lid on family secrets was an effort to cover my family’s perceived shame. The shame resulted in fear over the possibility of exposure and embarrassment, which could lead to rejection. Fear then opened a door for the spirit of control to operate. In this case, control involved managing people and situations to keep shame and secrets hidden.

When we experience challenges and are aware that fear is trying to gain entrance into our lives, we have two choices.

  1. We can give in to fear and worry and focus on what if…

or

  1. We can thank God that we have another opportunity to gain strength and build our character. Perhaps this difficult circumstance is preparing us to be resilient in the future while we walk into our destiny. 

What Can We Do?

Recognize God’s Provision: Psalm 91 promises God’s protection. Our Lord will deliver and cover us when we feel threatened so evil will not harm us, and we can walk in victory. I like to start each day reading Psalm 91 and standing in agreement with God’s assurances in this Psalm.

Awareness of the enemy’s tactics, including an understanding that the enemy will attack areas where we received freedom, is the first step in breaking the power of fear in our lives. We command fear to leave us in Jesus’s name and not pass on to our future generations.

F– Face our fear instead of trying to ignore it or bury it. Identify the fear so we can take it to the Lord for Him to heal and bring freedom.

E– Enter into God’s grace and protection. He is our refuge. Abide in His presence.

A– Ask the Lord if we are believing a lie from the enemy. Ask the Lord for His truth, and ask Him how He sees us.

R– Renounce, Reject, and Receive. Renounce and reject the underlying lie that led to fear. Declare that we are no longer partnering with the spirit of fear, and ask the Lord for forgiveness for yielding to fear. Forgive the people who partnered with fear and influenced us. Ask the Lord what He would like to give us to replace fear. Receive His blessings and walk in victory and freedom in Christ.

 

How has this helped you recognize a recurrent pattern of fear?

Be sure to leave your thoughts on our Facebook Group Healing Prayer Discussion.

Looking forward to your input.

Blessings,
Gena

In case you missed the rest of the Ancestral Influences Series, here is the link to the Archives:

https://simpleeffectiveprayer.com/category/healing-ancestral-wounds/