David Holdaway - No More Fear: Living a Life that is Free From Fear

No More Fear

David & Jan Holdaway

Life Publications

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the Elim Church in Aberdeen which I was privileged to serve as pastor for fifteen years. We saw God do some amazing things as we experienced a breath of revival. The truths of the following pages became real among us in healed minds and bodies and transformed lives.

Copyright David and Jan Holdaway 2002

Updated and revised 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Short extracts may be used for review purposes.

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Cover design by Graham Alder

Life Publications

But now, this is what the Lord says, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you.

Isaiah 43:1

Introduction

If you have ever battled with fear or been worn down by worry, then I have written this book for you. After more than twenty five years of helping people deal with their fears and anxieties I have tried to make the following pages as helpful and practical as possible.

The Bible says, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, Galatians 5:1 and that Jesus has come that we may have life in all its fullness, John 10:10. This means that God doesnt only want us to learn to cope with our fears or spend our life constantly having to overcome them. We need to know how to conquer, but one of the subtle traps of the devil is in getting us to live on the defensive.

The Israelites fought and won battles in the wilderness but did not enjoy the Promised Land. We can spend all our life fighting and winning battles with anxiety and fear and at the same time be worn out and never enter what God has for us.

Fear will always cause us to live on the defensive. Our goal, therefore, must be to live a life that not only copes with or even conquers fear but is free from its control.

Fear is mentioned in the Bible more frequently than pride, lust, bitterness, jealousy, anger, selfishness and greed. The most frequent command of Jesus in the Gospels is to fear not.

One of Americas most famous newspaper counsellors is Ann Landers. As the worlds most widely read columnist she receives on average 10,000 letters every month, almost all of them burdened with lifes problems. When asked if there was one issue people suffered with more than any other she replied, Fear.

In a report about fears titled trapped by a web of phobias the Daily Mail newspaper stated;

Britain is becoming a nation in fear, as dark terrors rise out of our subconscious and make an ever increasing number of people sit shuddering alone or locked away. More than 16 million of us apparently suffer from an anxiety disorder or phobia that affects our lives in some way. They can strike anyone, regardless of age or sex. There are more than 400 distinct phobias recognised by doctors. One internet site ( www.phobialist.com ) catalogues more than 1,000 phobias. There is some evidence, however, that phobias are more likely to develop in people who are intelligent and highly educated.

It went on to say,

There is also research which shows that the age at which anxiety strikes is coming down; 20 years ago most people who approached the Phobic Society were in their 40s or older, but now they are more likely to be younger.

If you battle with fear, then realise you are not alone. But why is fear such a powerful controller in our lives? What is it and how does it operate and more importantly how do we overcome and live free from it? This is what this book is all about.

I first penned these pages several years ago. After hearing so many comments of how they had helped people I decided to republish the book. I have added a few new chapters and extra insights that I trust and pray will enable and empower you to live a life with no more fear.

May God bless you as you read.

David and Jan Holdaway.

Chapter 1

Why Am I So Afraid?

Fear is not an unknown emotion to us.
Neil Armstrong

Charlie Brown, I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time.
Charles Schulz

It was late at night and we both heard the noise. It sounded like someone walking above our bedroom. My wife Jan and I had been married only a few months and we lived in a lovely little place not far from the Bible college where we were both studying. This cottage, however, was somewhat isolated in the countryside and built in such a way as to have access to the attic from the outside. There had been a considerable number of burglaries in our area and there were constant news reports of a violent attacker at work. As we lay in bed reading, pitch dark outside, we heard a running sound on the floorboards above us. Then there came a banging and scraping noise.

I prayed out loud feeling more than a little panicked. We waited and listened and then I barricaded the bedroom door as the noises grew louder. All the imaginations that had gathered listening to the news of crime in our area began to come together like dark thunderclouds before a storm unleashes its fury.

There was another loud bang and that was it. I phoned the police. I could have gone and investigated myself but I rationalised it was better not to leave my wife unprotected. This didnt take much selfpersuasion. Twenty minutes later the police and a police dog arrived.

They searched everywhere and concluded it was mice running under the floorboards on the ceiling directly above us. Imagine how I felt, mice, small, furry little animals but in my mind I thought thieves, rapists, murderers. Midgets had become giants, harmless little creatures had become ferocious beasts and what was nothing to worry about had grown to be all consuming terror. Afterwards my wife and I laughed. We shared it with others and guess what, they laughed as well.

Where Does Fear Come From?

The Painful Past

Behind the scenes of a major circus the elephant trainer was asked, How is it you can stake down a huge ten ton elephant with the same size stake that you use for a small baby one weighing only a few hundred pounds? Thats easy, said the trainer. When they are babies we stake them down in just the same way as their parents. They try and pull away maybe 10,000 times before they realise that they cant possibly escape. At that point their memory takes over and they remember for the rest of their lives that they can never escape the stake even though as grown elephants they could easily break free.

People can be like that, something said or done in the painful past and zap a stake of fear and control is driven into our minds. Something happens at school and a stake is driven in. We grow up gaining our degrees and promotions but there are areas of our life still held in bondage to a stake driven into us from our past.

Fear can become a selffulfilling torment. Even such a godly man as Job, after hearing what had happened to his children, cried out, What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me, Job3;25.

Maybe there was something in his past that caused him to think like this, or perhaps it was the heartache of a worried parent for the welfare of his children. We dont really know, but what we do know is that many fears have their roots in mindsets and belief systems that are a product of lifes hurts and insecurities.

When Life magazine carried a feature on Elvis Presley they titled it, Down at the end of Lone Street. It documented how the man people thought had everything spent the latter years of his short life of just 42 years in a nightmare world of depression, despair and drugs.