495. Celebrating God's Grace, How to Overcome Anxiety

In today's Podcast, Tawana shares another excerpt from her upcoming book and reveals three common Anxieties the enemy uses against us.  Tawana also gives us practical steps on how to identify the fears and overcome them so we can walk strong with Freedom in Jesus.     *** Content Taken from Tawana's upcoming book.  Not authorized for reprint without consent from Tawana Lowery or Women World Leaders.   Hello… and Welcome to Women World Leaders Podcast  I'm your Host… Tawana Lowery ·       Women's Empowerment Coach ·       And Global Ministry Leader   1.      And I'm VERY excited you joined today… ·         Because we're going to explore what the Father wants us to know about himself and who we are as Powerful Ambassadors of his Powerful Kingdom…  ·         So let's get started…  2.      If you've been a follower of Jesus for more than 10 minutes… then you've already discovered that the enemy does not want you to be an effective ambassador of the Fathers Kingdom!! 3.      That's why he works triple overtime to stop us!!  4.      And his method of choice is FEAR…  a.       Fear is his stomping ground. b.      And he's always inviting us to join in the drama!!! 5.      But what really fuels his fire (no pun intended) is when we are Clueless  about it!  6.      He loves to hide it in the form of something we might not recognize as Fear.  a.       That is especially true with regards to Anxiety.  b.      Many times, we don't recognize the fear issues associated with our Anxiety because we're so distracted by the Anxiety itself.  7.      Interestingly enough… the dictionary actually describes Anxiety as an abnormal or overwhelming sense of fear.  That can be triggered by a host of issues such as financial worry, relationship concerns, or just the perpetual uncertainty of life.  8.      But Rabbi Paul admonishes us in Philippians 4:6-7 to…  "NOT be anxious about anything! But instead, surrender the anxiety to the Father in prayer so we can receive his Shalom… His perfect peace!   9.      So… if you've been struggling lately with Anxiety in a particular area (or in a lot of areas) then get ready for breakthrough! Because in this Podcast I'm going to Expose 2 Common Anxieties that many of us deal with.    Plus, I'll also share the practical steps we can take to Overcome it and walk strong in Freedom.  So, the first is called "Abandonment Anxiety."   1.      For those of us who've experienced the pain of being abandoned (whether by a spouse, a parent, or others), the mere thought of a repeat episode can trigger Severe Anxiety or even panic attacks.   2.      I can totally empathize with this…  a.       I battled with overwhelming Abandonment Anxiety for several years because of my experiences from childhood into my 40s.   3.      But I am happy to report, I discovered the way of escape that set me totally free…  ·         I accomplished it by casting the imprint of my experiences onto the cross of Yeshua my Savior.  ·         Although what others did was hurtful and wrong, I had to own how those experiences were impacting me and the lies they tempted me to believe.  ·         I had to Confess how my abandonment encounters had prejudiced my heart towards the living God.  ·         In other words…. I was fearful that my heavenly Father would treat me in the same manner.  ·         Jesus died to destroy the manifest works of the Devil… And my past experiences with people were manifesting as debilitating fear… even towards God.   4.      After I crucified the fear and the experiences on the cross, it opened my heart to receive the free gift of Faith from the one who promised to Never Ever leave me or Abandon me. 5.      Maybe you've had a similar experience that's created Abandonment Anxiety in your life.  6.      If so, you can experience the same freedom I did with these practical steps…  ·         First. ask God to expose the source of your Abandonment Anxiety. We serve the God who speaks and he will speak to you right now. ·         Then ask him to reveal how those experiences may have prejudiced your heart towards his promises and blocked you from the ability to rest in his unfailing love.  ·         Next, forgive those who abandoned you.  ·         Crucify the experiences and the fear on the cross of Jesus.  ·         And ask the Father to resurrect you as with a new heart and mind to receive Faith and assurance in his unfailing Love.   Okay… Let's wrap up with another Common Anxiety. And this one is probably the least detected… but can have the greatest adverse impact on our faith walk and spiritual maturity… It's called… "Assimilation Anxiety" 1.      As we know… God is continually calling us into new things that feel very unfamiliar… just as he did the saints before us.   2.      In order to keep in step with what God is calling us into… ·         We are frequently called to walk into the unknown and away from the familiar.  3.      As expected, it can produce a great deal of fear… ·         Many of us are afraid of the unknown.  4.      But maybe it's not Fear of the unknown that hinders our walk. ·         Maybe it's simply an idol for the familiar, for the comfortable and for the path of least resistance that creates the fear. ·         Maybe we're simply afraid to release the idol because we've believed it has the power of life and death.    5.      The dangerous component is that our idol for the familiar creates a a stronghold that makes us resistance to Assimilate into the new things Gods has in store.  6.      This is the reason we are admonished throughout the scriptures to forget what lies behind, and to be aware of the new things that are springing up. 7.       Although God never changes… he strongly desires to change us from glory to glory, from faith to faith… from abounding to more abounding.  ·         His desire is that we keep in step with the spirit… ·         That we follow the Grace… ·         And that we do what we see the Father do. ·         This is the example Jesus gave us.   8.      And that means breaking free from Assimilation Anxiety. ·         That means confessing our fear of not having control. ·         That means allowing God to have control of our thoughts and imagination about the future.   9.      Often times when considering something new… our minds begin to rehearse all the things that could go wrong. ·         We start imagining failure. ·         Not realizing we're aligning our imagination with the lies of the enemy!! ·         Then our emotions and decisions simply follow suit. ·         Next thing you know… we're stuck… and can't understand why.   10.  Sometimes it's hard for us to imagine that God has something better than what we can produce for ourselves.   11.  But the truth is… God always has something better than what we are afraid to release.   12.  I was out walking one evening during a season of massive uncertainty. And while I was praying I heard the Lord say…  "Tawana… you're Never going to have the life you dreamed of. But can you believe that I love you enough to give you something better?   13.  Wow… not exactly what you want to hear from God when you're asking for assurance. ·         But… he was assuring me of something… ·         I just wasn't something I had considered before.     14.  Although his statement was extremely unexpected… ·         He was trying to help me understand the importance of letting go of my idol for the Small Familiar so I could receive the Big New Future he had planned from the foundation of the world. ·         Truthfully…. I was unaware how the fear had developed into an idol until the spirit of truth spoke truth to my heart.   15.  Once the Fear was outta the bag… I had to repent of the idol for the familiar so I could receive the NEW THING that was about to spring up! ·         I had to release the Assimilation Anxiety that was stopping me.   16.  When you think about it… the Scriptures are overflowing with promise about the goodness of God that is always waiting for us. ·         Psalm 23 ·         Jeremiah 29:11 ·         And many, many more.     17.  However…. We can't receive his restful assurance until we release the fear… and the idol for the familiar.   18.  Only then can our hearts and minds Assimilate into the good things… the new things… and the better things that await.   19.  Maybe you're facing a call into the unknow and away from the familiar. Maybe your struggling with Assimilation Anxiety.   20.  If so… then we can use the same practical steps we reviewed with the other anxieties to break free and move forward.   ·          Step one… Confess or truth tell about the Idol and the fear. ·         Admit that you have it. ·         It's not going to surprise God. ·         In fact… he rejoices when we walk in truth. He LOVES it. ·         Next, let's ask the Lord to reveal how the idol was formed… ·         AND the lies it has tempted you to believe…. about him, about yourself, and about your future. ·          Now… we'll ask forgiveness for believing the lies and for putting our trust in an idol for the familiar instead of faith in Jesus. ·         Next, take the lies and the idol to the cross to be crucified. ·         Lastly… we will ask to be resurrected in Christ Jesus so we can receive a new heart, a new mind and a brand-new life.    AMEN!!!   Well… It's been an absolute pleasure spending time with you today. And I hope this simple message has helped shed light on common fear and anxieties that try to stop us…AND… how to overcome them by the Blood of the Lamb and the Power of the Cross.   Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast! ·         Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God's extravagant love and your courageous purpose.  ·         Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry.  ·         From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders.  All content is copyrighted by Tawana Lowery and Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.