When you are afraid

Prayers for Fear

“Fear not” appears all through Scripture, and almost never alone: it comes attached to a reason, and the reason is always God Himself. I am with thee. I have redeemed thee. I go before thee. These prayers borrow that pattern, meeting real fear with a real Presence.

A prayer when I am afraid

Father, I am afraid, and I am done pretending otherwise. You never asked me to be fearless; You asked me to trust You while afraid. What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee: let that be true of me in this hour. You are my light and my salvation; walk into this fear with me and be bigger than it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A prayer for courage to face what is ahead

Lord, something is coming that I cannot avoid, and I have been dreading it for days. Your Word says You go before me; that means You are already there, on the other side of the thing I fear. Give me the courage that comes not from my odds but from Your company. Be strong and of good courage, You said. Make it so in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A prayer against fear that torments

Father, this fear has moved in and started keeping me company, narrating worst cases, waking me at night. Your Word says You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So this spirit is not from You, and I do not have to host it. Fill me with what is Yours until there is no room for what is not. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A short prayer to say into fear

Lord, You are with me. That was Your answer to Joshua, to Isaiah’s Israel, to the disciples in the storm, and it is Your answer to me now. I do not know how this turns out, but I know who is in it with me. Perfect love casteth out fear, so love me brave, Father, one hour at a time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

From Scripture

Verses for this prayer

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Isaiah 41:10

The command not to fear rests on a stack of first-person promises. God’s presence is the argument.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

Psalm 56:3

David does not deny the fear; he decides in advance where it will send him. Trust is the destination, not the absence of fear.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

2 Timothy 1:7

Paul’s reminder to a timid young pastor: fearfulness is not your inheritance. Power, love, and a sound mind are.

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

Spoken to Joshua before an impossible assignment. God goes ahead of you into the thing you fear.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

1 John 4:18

Fear and love compete for the same space. Being loved perfectly, and knowing it, is what finally evicts torment.

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain.

Common questions

Questions about this prayer

Why does the Bible say “fear not” so often? +

Because God keeps meeting people who are afraid. The command is almost always paired with a promise of presence: fear not, for I am with thee. It reads less like a demand for composure and more like a parent taking a child’s hand.

Is fear a sign of weak faith? +

No. The most faithful people in Scripture were afraid: Moses, Elijah, David, the disciples. Faith is not the absence of fear; it is what you do with it. Psalm 56:3 models it exactly: what time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.

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