When Fear Enters the Room

Dangers of Ministry – E4

When I first started out taking my relationship with God seriously, I had a lot of questions. I remember whenever I asked my pastor some questions, he will deliberately say, “Go and ask God,” – this implied that he (my pastor,) does not have all the answers, and I should be confident enough to ask God my questions directly and build the ability to hear from God myself or train my spirit to discern what God is saying about the situation. Many believers simply lack the confidence that God can speak directly to them; or we are unskilled in knowing what His gentle nudge feels like. In time, discernment matures, confidence grows, and you learn the texture of His voice.

Somewhere along the way, something shifted for me. It wasn’t as simple as going back to God anymore. I began to doubt my ability to hear God. Before making certain decisions, I felt the need to “check” with another person. Before acting on conviction, I sought confirmation – not from God, but from a man (even though that man was a man of God). 

In my previous article, I shared that for a long period of time, most of the decisions I made were out of fear. Now, I’ll share with you how I got to that point.

Growing up in a Christian family, there was no doubt that I was exposed to the realities of biblical doctrine. However, my attention had never been drawn to what demons were doing, what witches were doing, and how (if I was not spiritually strong,) I could become their prey. For a period of about four or five years, many of the teachings I sat through were borderline horror scripts. To mention a few titles: “mysteries of the witchcraft pot”, “dangers of the palm tree”; to emphasize the context, I learnt about how there are demonic orchestrations in EVERY aspect of life: the beach, the roads, waakye joints, families, plants; I could go on and on. The most important thing that was conspicuously absent in these teachings was where Jesus comes in, and the role His redemptive love and power plays in the grand scheme of things.

I was well equipped with knowledge, without the wisdom to use that knowledge for the advantage of the Kingdom of God. So, instead of taking this knowledge to God to find out what His mind is concerning these things, I stopped eating waakye, was too scared to braid my hair with hair extensions because, who knows whether that was from the marine kingdom, etc. I’m sure you get the drift.

The issue was not the messages alone, but that none of the messages were geared towards empowering us with the truth of what God’s word says about these realities. I mean, no one is saying that demons and witches don’t exist – but what is God saying about how we should approach them?

I noticed dependency on the author of these preachings. It appeared he was the only one who could deliver us by the power of God from all the witchcraft initiations we had all unconsciously submitted ourselves to, for lack of awareness and vigilance. People went as far as bringing hair pieces to him to pray over, before they use the hair to braid their hair. Fear had ensnared us, and by our ignorance in the right way to respond to these teachings, we were powerless.

Spiritual warfare cannot be done without a firm belief in Christ and an understanding of what our identity in Christ is. Practically, we have been adopted in the family of the King of the Universe, and by proxy, we wield the authority of Jesus Christ. We invoke the authority in His name, and continue in right standing with Him, by growing in knowledge of Him and fellowship with Him. By Jesus’ sacrifice, He won all victories for us. It is our duty as believers to enforce this victory in prayer.

“In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He Shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Colossians 2:15.

“Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.” Luke 10:19

That’s where the warfare is – the enemy doesn’t give up easily, though he is already defeated. If we are unaware of his already defeated stance, we get intimidated by his efforts and wiles. This is why fear-based spiritual instruction produces bondage. It’s the typical “for lack of knowledge, my people perish” scenario. (Hosea 4:6)

Authority flows from relationship, not from panic.

Fear is a tool of the enemy. It is no wonder that the Bible admonishes us: “do not fear”, so many times. It steals peace, and cripples us of the ability to hear God for ourselves and act in faith. When Christ is not central, the man of God becomes central. Creating room for fear and control.

Psychologically, individuals who crave control or admiration often begin by elevating certain members, praising their loyalty, giving them access, proximity, or special roles; making them feel chosen or spiritually significant; a term called love-bombing. This creates emotional bonding, dependency, and a desire to maintain approval. In church spaces, love bombing can look like: “God showed me you’re special” or “you’re different from the others,” or “there’s a unique call of God on your life – I can help you,”. The recipient feels seen, valued, selected and subtly attached.

The next step is when the leader positions themselves as the primary interpreter of God’s will. Sometimes, without saying it directly, it is implied that they can “see clearly, and others don’t”, or “God entrusted this to me, and not you”, “if you don’t follow me, you will fail,” – it will become control masked as protection in their own minds.

Once dependency is established, fear becomes enforcement. You will hear things like, “be careful not to step out of my covering,” “there are consequences for misalignment from me,” “God is angry with you”. The person shifts the responsibility of "punishment" back to God, making resistance to them feel spiritually unsafe.

Any system that makes you afraid to hear God for yourself has already crossed a dangerous line. Just because one may be intelligent, does not mean that they do not fear missing it with God. Desire for mentorship and respect for authority structures can make anyone vulnerable to this form of manipulation. Also, repeated exposure normalizes extremes. In high-authority spiritual environments, questioning can feel like rebellion.

Fear produces paralysis and dependence, but conviction produces clarity and movement.

We can get fear out of the door by returning to the simple things. Go back to the word of God after every sermon you listen to – examine the scriptures for yourself. Ask the Holy spirit to enlighten you, to teach you, to help you to shed off old mindsets and take on His new way of thinking. Ask God questions! He is a father that craves connection with us. Build a community that is not restricted to one voice. Pay attention to how your community handles accountability. Are you encouraged to hear God confidently? Search within yourself – ask the Holy Spirit to expose the hidden things in you: is your obedience fuelled by fear? Then Something is wrong.

Shut the door through which fear came in.

Christ never required fear to secure obedience.