Prayers for fear of death

Bible verses about fear of death

When I was younger I was always afraid to die. You have so much things in your head. Where are you going to go? What will it be like? Now that I’m older and I’m saved by the blood of Christ I stopped fearing death. What I have struggled with at times though is the suddenness of death.

The unknown factor. If Jesus asked me do you want to go to Heaven now I would say yes in a heartbeat. But, for a while sudden death did seem scary to me.

I brought this problem to God and He showered me with love. I’m justified by grace through faith in Christ. To die is gain. I want Christ! I want to be with Christ! I’m tired of sin!

As Christians we don’t grasp Heaven as we should. We don’t grasp Christ as we should, which can lead to fear. Faith is believing that Christ died for our sins.

He paid the price in full and we have hope that we will be with Him. What a great comfort it is that God lives inside believers. Think about it! God is living inside you right now.

Picture the most comforting best place you have ever been to. If you put Heaven and that place on a scale it’s not even a comparison. Look forward to being in God’s Kingdom with your father.

You will never be sad, in pain, fear, or feel dull again. Nothing can take away a believers glory in Heaven. Christ has set believers free from death. He died so you wouldn’t have to. The people who should fear death are unbelievers and people who use Christ’s blood as a license to live sinful rebellious lives.

For believers always remember that nothing can take away God’s love for you. There is nothing wrong with praying for a deeper sense of God’s love for you.

Quotes

• “When you erode the fear of death with the knowledge that you already died , you will find yourself moving toward a simple, bold obedience.” Edward T. Welch
• “To go back is nothing but death: to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward.””  John Bunyan
• “Let your hope of heaven master your fear of death.”  William Gurnall

What does the Bible say?

1. 1 John 4:17-18 This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him. There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

2. Hebrews 2:14-15 Because God’s children are human beings–made of flesh and blood–the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

3. Philippians 1:21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

4. Psalm 116:15 The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die.

5. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

The glory that awaits believers.

6. 1 Corinthians 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

7. Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

8. John 14:1-6 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Holy Spirit

9. Romans 8:15-17 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!” God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.  Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory.

10. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Pray to God about what bothers you.

11. Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

12. Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Peace

13. Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

14. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

15. Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

We will be with Christ

16. Philippians 3:20-21 But our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. By his power to rule all things, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body.

17. Romans 6:5 For if we have become united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Reminders

18. Romans 8:37-39 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

19. 1 John 5:12 The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

20. Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

21. John 6:37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.

22. Romans 10:9-10 If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.

Trust

23. Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

24. Psalm 94:14 For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.

Example

25. Psalm 55:4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

biblereasons.com

A Prayer for When You Fear Death
By Greg Laurie

“The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1

Have you ever been stung by a bee? It’s not a fun experience. But though it’s painful for the person being stung, it’s fatal for the bee.

When a honeybee stings a person, it can’t pull its little barbed stinger back out. This is a one-time experience for them. They had better think carefully about who they are going to sting, because once they do it, they are not going to survive.

When a bee stings you, not only is the bee’s stinger left in you but also part of its abdomen and digestive tract, as well as nerves and muscles. This massive abdominal rupture kills the bee shortly after it stings.

That is what happened when Jesus died on the cross. In his enduring hatred for God’s Son, Satan thought it would be a great idea to have Jesus betrayed, arrested, beaten within an inch of His life, and then crucified and put to death on a Roman cross. The devil said, “This is my moment. I am going to sting Him. I will have a role in His death. When He dies, that is the end of Him.” Everything went according to Satan’s plan, and like a bee, he flew off thinking he had succeeded.

But everything went according to God’s plan as well, and the sting of death was its own defeat.  As 1 Corinthians 15:54–55 says, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Where is the sting of death for the believer? It is ripped out, because at the cross, Jesus took the stinger out of death. This is a great truth. As Christians, we no longer need to fear death because our souls will live on forever with Christ.

Dear Lord, we will face many terrifying events throughout this life, but may we never forget that the ultimate victory belongs to you. Through your sacrifice, death has been defeated. As we continue to walk in your truth, help us to set our eyes on Heavenly things.   

Amen.

Editor’s Note: The following is an abridged version of Removing the Sting by Greg Laurie. Top read the full devotional, follow this link.

www.crosswalk.com

The top two fears are death/dying and public speaking according to Statistic Brain Research Institute. I can address both of those, I thought, as I love speaking and having lost a son, the fear of death for myself is gone. I know where I’ll be and it’s lovely.

So I said sure – I’ll write a post about overcoming the fear of death and dying for your overcoming fear series, Valerie.How in the world does one overcome the fear of death and dying? For me, it was the loss of my 20-year-old college-aged son, Kyle. I no longer feared death or dying – for myself – after losing him.

But how do you overcome the fear of death or dying…are you asking yourself that question?

God is good even when circumstances are not. God’s so gracious; He gave me a beautiful dream the morning of Kyle’s service. In the dream, I saw Kyle dancing with Jesus, then the picture below two days later. May I share that simply erased all fear of death for Kyle and for myself as it comforted me so exquisitely.

God’s word promises He will comfort those who mourn. I can attest to the truth of His Holy Words about comfort. God actually says we are blessed. His presence is sufficient for all situations, including the loss of someone near and dear to you.

His presence is sufficient for all situations, including the loss of someone near and dear to you. Click To Tweet

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 (NIV)

If you have loved and lost, take comfort. Look into the Word of God, seeking solace. It abounds!

The three things that impacted me most powerfully, enabling me to face death and dying fearlessly for my son and myself, follow. I pray these steps guide you into a fearless place as well.

1-The Word of God.

The Bible is full of comforting words. I used BibleGateway.com to perform word searches to find scripture to fill my heart and mind with Biblical truth. Words like comfort, mourn, death, dying, hope, life, light, etc. were searched so I could find solace in the Holy Word of God.

2-Renew my mind daily.

The Bible instructs us to renew our minds daily, so I did. How I felt could only be changed with new insight. The Scriptures not only gave me God’s Truth, they renewed my mind. As I renewed my mind, comfort came – in bucket loads!

3-Look to others who have loved, lost and are living joyfully again.

I realized as I looked within myself, my world remained very dark, scary and alone. I felt compelled to look up outside of myself. Doing that, I realized the longer I looked down at my feet, the longer I felt defeated and afraid – of everything.

Looking up allowed me to see a little bit of light shining into my dark situation. Following that light let me see others who had lost loved ones and were living full, joy-filled lives. And I wanted what they had, so I inquired what made a difference for them.

The common thread woven through all the stories was faith and belief in God, the God of all comfort.

When we believe in God and trust that He has our loved one in Paradise, we are comforted. Click To Tweet

When we believe God will hold our hand and walk us into His green pastures, we are comforted, consoled and cared for in such a way that our heart skips a beat with joy.

And that, my dear friend, is when two steps forward and one back are not a setback in your life. That’s when we begin to dance with Jesus, one loving step at a time – forward two steps, back one, repeat, all the while lovingly held close to the heartbeat of God and His Son, Jesus.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, Psalm 30:11 (NKJV)

So do not mourn. Do not fear death. God’s Word promises He will turn it into dancing and gladness. Click To Tweet

That’s how this woman moved from frozen in fear of death to becoming a woman in AWE of God. Would you like to experience such an abiding awe for God that you too no longer fear death?

Today my sister let me know that Dad wants no more intervention, no more tests, no more medical steps. Dad said, “Let nature take its course.”

The course? Cancer. Metastasized. Body parts protruding into places they should not be, yet there they are, body fluids misbehaving, pain packing a one-two punch. Yes, death is staring us in the face and it’s ugly.

Yet Dad knows where he will go – the Heavenly streets paved in gold.

He knows His Lord God Almighty. So I praise God that He will hold Dad’s hand. I pray pain will be removed. I pray that I truly have overcome the fear of dying and that you do too.

I shall follow these three steps myself to see God’s plan for my dad, to renew my mind daily and to see others who have loved and lost, yet are living a joy-filled life, worshiping our Holy Lord God Almighty.

I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 1:18

This is the Good News! Christ lived and died for us, overcoming death so we can live eternally with Him. What do we have to fear?

And I shall linger a little longer with my dad. Oh, yea, with my Heavenly Dad too. Now I know why God dropped the word linger into my spirit for 2016.

May the dance of life – eternal life – begin as I face the fear of death head-on, lingering in God’s comforting Word and walking hand-in-hand with Jesus. Or is that dancing, two steps forward, one back? Would you join me, please?

Susan B. Mead, author, survivor, and an individual who has dealt with multiple losses, is an empathetic, powerful, sought-after speaker with real answers. Susan is a Senior Ordained Chaplain, Certified by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, for individuals and groups suffering trauma.

Susan’s best-selling book Dance with Jesus: From Grief to Grace, is available on Amazon.

Susan tweets @SusanBMead, posts scripture graphics daily on Facebook and Instagram, blogs and hosts the DanceWithJesus blog linkup each Friday at SusanBMead.com. Get connected!

Susan, your post brought such a sense of peace and calm to me! I know your strong faith will be an inspiration to others who are afraid of death/dying or who are struggling in grief. Thank you for your message of hope to those who are hurting! Your book was so good, I read it in one sitting!  I appreciate your friendship and participation in this series.

I would love for you to visit the previous posts in the facing fear series:

1. The Unexpected Cure for Fear: Fighting Fire with Fire

2. How to Face Your Fears One Step at a Time

3. When the Fear of Separation Feels Overwhelming

4. How Can You Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking?

5. You Can Be Free of Fear

Would you do me a favor? If you enjoy these posts would you like my FB page? I would love to be able to reach more people with the good news of Christ!

www.valeriemurray.com

Prayers for the Dying – Overcoming the Fear
Are you intimidated to offer prayers for the dying? Death is close at hand and you are there to bring comfort. Can you do it? Do you know how? The very fear you have and the grief you feel is also in the heart and mind of the one who is facing death. Don’t fight that, but embrace it and share it. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” As you mourn with someone who is dying or with someone who’s experiencing the death of someone close to them — you give them comfort, you uplift, you are blessed because you are blessing someone else, and you too will experience comfort.

Prayers for the Dying – Clinging to Life
As you offer prayers for the dying, you may see a struggle in their spirit to live. The health of our spirit is interestingly tied to our struggle to cling to life. The sick and the weak, those with little left to hang onto in the physical realm; will still cling to their life when their spirit is strong. Fighting a fight that seems like a losing battle; the dying will take any kind of quality of life that is offered them.

What are they truly clinging to? What is life? Jesus said He is life (John 14:6); He gives life abundantly or to the full (John 10:10); He said that His words are spirit and they are life and that the flesh is of no avail (John 6:63); and He promises that all who believe in Him have eternal life (John 6:47). The life that we truly cling to and struggle to have is found in Jesus right now; and is fulfilled just beyond the horror of death.

Death comes when the struggle to cling to the flesh gives way. The dying will come to accept the journey that their spirit needs to take. And Jesus knows that journey. He went through it. He conquered it for you and for me (John 11:25). Jesus alone is the judge of who inherits eternal life. So leave it in His loving, righteous, gracious, and worthy hands.

Prayers for the Dying – Offering Hope
There is hope and good news that you can offer in your prayers for the dying. The good news is that death is now swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). We have hope because of Jesus! The return of Jesus to gather His people to Himself and the promise of eternal life is our hope. The Bible often reminds us of how we should long for its coming and cling to its promise to keep us going when life is difficult. For the believer, death is the gateway into the promise of eternal life as we shed our earthly bodies to enter into the presence of God (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).

”Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3-9, ESV)

Offer this hope to the dying so they can find peace. Jesus will meet them right in their moment of death just as He did the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43. Our faith comes up against the fear of death and brings comfort and even joy.

”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

Prayers for the Dying – A Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, With heavy hearts we come to You. You are Almighty Creator God; holy and full of grace and love. Our hearts are heavy because of a life that is leaving us. Death engulfs us Lord. Fear is waiting to take us down. Thank You Father, that because of Jesus, You know our pain and sorrow intimately. Thank You that Jesus knows the way through this dark shadow. Take the hand of our dear sister/brother and make Yourself known. Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Keep that which is Your own and take it into eternity to be with You. In Jesus, death is but a shadow. Jesus has swallowed up its sorrows and pain. Thank You Jesus for the cross. Thank You Jesus for the resurrection. Lord, we are before You, confessing that You are Lord of all; the gate keeper to eternal life. Your grace and love abound even as our sin seems ever increasing. Take our hands Lord and lead us through. We lay our fears at your feet. Your promise is that You — and You alone — will come to take us home. As it says in Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (ESV).

Thank you for the comfort we find in Your presence. Through the Holy Spirit we know Your presence is with us. Send us Your peace Lord; the peace that passes all understanding. Don’t let us waiver and doubt. Give us a faith that is everlasting. We release our lives into Your hands. As we wait and watch, we know Lord that none of us will escape this journey through death. Teach us how to embrace it with faith. Give us strength to hold up those who are stepping closer to seeing You face to face. Take away the fear in the heart of our loved one who will soon see You; let them find peace in Your grace, comfort in Your love, and strength in Your mighty power over death. Comfort us as our grief seems to over power us.

You are a good, just, righteous, and loving Father. Don’t let us grow bitter in this shadow of death. But pierce our hearts with a joy that we can not fathom or understand. A joy that is above all that is corrupted here on earth. Jesus you wept over death and so too, we weep. But it is a grief and a mourning that holds joy on the other side. You are conqueror of all; and so we trust You. We trust that You will do what is right, what is loving. Whether in death or in life Your will is accomplished and You are sovereign. May we know Your presence, Lord. Keep us ever aware of Your loving hand guiding us through all things. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Learn More About Dealing With Death

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

– We have all

sinned

and deserve God’s judgment.

God

, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him.

Jesus

, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He

died

for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was

buried

, and

rose from the dead

according to the

Bible

. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your

Savior

, declaring, “

Jesus is Lord

,” you will be saved from

judgment

and spend eternity with God in heaven.

What is your response?

Yes, today I am deciding to follow JesusYes, I am already a follower of JesusI still have questions

www.allaboutprayer.org