I pray most when I am under pressure. Calm prayers rarely unsettle the body, but fearful ones do. Gratitude has never made me sweat like blood in a garden of my own mortality. Trials have.
So what do we do in these moments? We pray as the Psalms teach us to pray. Let me point out four ways to pray when you fear, so that you might trust in God and not let fear pin you in a corner.
First, tell God the truth about how you feel
David shows the way in Psalm 55 when he prays:
“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, ‘Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.’” (Ps 55:4–6).
David’s heart feared and trembled because a friend of his betrayed him (Ps 55:12–14, 20–21). He describes himself as utterly restless in his anguish: “I am restless in my complaint and I moan” (Ps 55:2).
Fools tell you that believers cannot fear and tremble. The deceived tell you that they never find themselves restless in their hearts.
But the wise know that life has its trials; that scary things do creep in the night; and that God has given us natural fear so that we might flee from danger.
Yet there is another fear that the Bible forbids. It is a fear caused by not knowing the future and not trusting God to care for us. This is the fear Jesus warns us against when he says, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself” (Matt 6:34).
And still yet we are told to fear God (Prov 1:7). When trials and tribulations come, we may encounter that built-in natural fear that warns us of danger, but we cannot give in to the fear that evinces a lack of trust in God. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps 23:4).
Even so, we must tell God how we feel, no matter the kind of fear we have. And then:
Second, name the evil that befalls you
David did not lack words for evil. He named it:
“My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords” (Ps 55:20–21).
“Fear is the mind-killer.” It defangs our defenses because it makes us afraid of what might be. While we should fear a fire on a stove for natural safety, we cannot let the fear of a possible fire in the future dominate our hearts.
We must not be afraid. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Ps 56:3–4).
Into his hands, then, we commit our future.
The key to neutralizing the frightening thing is to call it for what it is. Darkness cannot withstand the light (John 1:5). Truth overcomes the lie.
So what if a friend has betrayed you? What can flesh do to you?
So what if you may lose your job? That happens to millions; they survive. And God clothes the fields with beauty; will he not take care of you? (Matt 6:28–30).
So what if pain comes your way? “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt 10:28).
As Epictetus teaches, fear is often more real in the mind than in reality. What we fear in imagination seems huge until we encounter it in person. Then it is reduced to its true strength. Yes, real; but no, not fatal, usually.
Name evil, and so defang it.
Then, trust in God fully
As David tells us, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps 55:22).
Wickedness often harms us. It is real, sometimes brutal. But whatever burden we receive from evil without, we may turn it over to God. The LORD will sustain us. We will not be moved or shaken.
Ultimately, God will rescue us from death itself. As the Sons of Korah remind us, the path of the wicked lies in Sheol, that is, death (Ps 49:13–14). “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me” (Ps 49:15).
It is in this narrow sense that Psalm 91:10 says, “No evil shall be allowed to befall you.” Or, as Irenaeus later put it, no evil ultimately befalls the Christian. This is true when we trust in God fully, because God will ransom our souls from Sheol, unlike the wicked whose “form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell” (Ps 49:14).
Death is not the end. It is the last enemy (1 Cor 15:26). It will be swallowed up (1 Cor 15:54). While nothing here should make us ignore suffering as unreal, it should help us see the final score of the game.
Remember to say: “I will trust in you” (Ps 55:23). And: “In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Ps 56:4). The body and flesh may fail, but God remains with us forever (Ps 73:26).
Last, know God cares about you when you suffer
Lest I be accused of idealism in suffering, let me also remind you how much your real and genuine suffering matters to God.
My favorite verse in the Psalms is Psalm 56:8: “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” I remember listening to J. Vernon McGee on the radio many years ago saying, “God has put your tears in his bottle.” He remembers every moment of your suffering. Nothing is unremembered.
The body may not keep the score, but God does.
He knows every slight, every pain, every trial, every tribulation. Every tear you have shed God has counted. He knows your heart better than you do; he knows your pain. Out of this compassion, God himself took a human body to himself so that he might suffer for your sake (Heb 2:10, 2:14–18). He tasted death so that you might have life (Heb 2:9; John 10:10).
The body may not keep the score, but God does.
Your tears could drown a continent, but God has transformed them into waters of creation. His love—wider than the seas—has chased you down (Ps 139:7–10). As one pastor has said, God became a wiggling baby to get close to you. This is true. For us and for our salvation, God the Word became human so that he might share in our flesh and blood (John 1:14; Phil 2:6–8).
Conclusion
When you fear, tell God how you feel. Name the evil that terrifies you. Trust in God fully to care for you. And know that your pain is not idle. God keeps the score, and he will make every injustice right again. That is how you pray when you fear.
