Peter Tan-Chi - True Prayer Drives Out Fear
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Summary
The sermon «True Prayer Drives Out Fear,» based on Psalm 27, teaches that authentic prayer overcomes anxiety by following David’s model: (1) Anchoring in God’s character (declaring who God is—Light, Salvation, Defense); (2) Seeking God’s presence above all else (prioritizing intimacy with God over blessings); (3) Keeping waiting in faith (actively trusting God’s timing and promises despite circumstances). Fear arises from lack of control and trust; true prayer replaces it with faith, leading to peace and confidence in God’s goodness and plan.
True Prayer Drives Out Fear
Today’s topic is «True Prayer Drives Out Fear». Say that with me. Together. True prayer drives out fear.
How many of you do worry from time to time? Raise your hand. You worry, right? Can you whisper to your neighbor today what you are worried about, okay? Be honest. What are you worried about? What are you anxious about?
So how do you deal with this? Well, believe it or not, the Bible has a lot to say. Let’s read Psalm 27. This is a prayer from David, okay?
Now, before he prays, I want you to notice the outline of his prayer. Let’s begin reading. «The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread»? (Psalm 27:1)
He wrote this not in the context of living in the palace. He wrote this when he was running away, when he was fighting. What do I mean? Let’s read. Next verse.
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, (This is a real problem.) My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell-» David was faced with real enemies, with real problems. He was not imagining.
«Though a host-» The word 'host' is like an army, a big, large number of people. «Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, in spite of these I shall be confident». (Psalm 27:2-3)
Principle 1: Anchors in God’s Character (A-S-K: A)
What made David not scared is called the principle of how do you pray. What do I mean? Our outline today, based on the book of Psalm 27, will be as follows:
Principle number one when you pray: Prayer is- Prayer will anchor, okay? Anchors in God’s character. When you pray, your foundation is based on God’s character.
The word 'anchor-' Have you seen an anchor? Let me show you one of the world’s biggest anchor. Okay. Every chain is like a meter. This is so huge.
What’s the purpose of an anchor? Anchor is to stabilize the boat in the midst of a storm. You don’t use the anchor when there’s no storm. The anchor is used to stabilize the boat so that it will not drift or be blown away by the wind.
When the storms of life hit you, what is your anchor? For some people, their anchor is based on feelings. They judge things based on feelings.
May I suggest, starting today, you have to have an anchor when you pray, when you think about problems; it has to be anchored on God’s character, not in man, not in yourself; it is in God’s character.
When I say God’s character, example, look at Psalm 27:1, David described the following about God. Number one, «The LORD is my light». (Psalm 27:1)
What does that mean — light? You see, for David, God- He may not have known all the implications; but that word light is a picture of Jesus. See Jesus tells us «I am the Light of the world». (John 8:12)
David, when he said, God is my light. Yes. David is saying God reveals to me truth; God reveals to me; He is my guide.
Next, the Lord is my what? Salvation. David experienced God’s salvation. Next, the Lord is the defense. What does that mean? Fortress. I find protection in God.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what you do when you have problems, but let me tell you, sooner or later, you will have storms in life. If you are not anchored on the truth about God’s faithfulness, God’s character, your faith will crumble.
The reason why people don’t have faith in God is because they don’t know God. How can you put your faith in somebody you do not know?
You see, in Psalm 27, I want you to read another part of the Psalm where David tells us it’s a trigger when he is afraid. David tells us, «When I am afraid-»
Can I tell you where the verse is from? David says, «When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You». (Psalm 56:3)
Psalm 56:3-4, together, «When I am afraid-» Notice, is it a sin to be afraid? Is it a sin to be worried? Yes and no.
What do I mean? The Bible commands us, Don’t worry. Do not be anxious. The Bible commands us over a hundred times, Do not fear. Do not fear. I am with you. Do not fear. I am with you. It’s a command.
So when does it become a sin? The initial reaction of anxiety, of nervousness is normal; but you need to process: Will I continue in fear or will I now think of the truth?
And the truth is this: God is saying, I am with you, I love you. That was what was happening.
So David tells us, «When I am afraid, (What must you do, everybody?) I will put my trust-» So from now on, let that be a trigger. Let that be a signal.
When you are worried, when your anxious, Boom! God is telling you it’s time to pray, trust Me. That’s the meaning.
When you pray, true prayer drives out fear because true prayer is trusting God’s character.
«In God, whose word I praise-» Notice, God’s Word and God’s character, they go together. «-In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid». (Psalm 56:3-4)
Remember, the beginning of fear is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety. They are mutually exclusive.
When I put my faith in God, fear will go away. When I put fear in my heart, faith leaves.
You have to understand the context of this verse. David was running away from King Saul because King Saul, became crazy. He wanted to kill David.
You must remember God promised David you are going to be the King of Israel. God promised David. David knew it.
But King Saul was anointed King. King Saul was the first king. God told David, you are going to succeed him.
But what happened to King Saul? He became jealous. When David killed Goliath, David became an overnight hero and everybody was praising Goliath, praising David, not Goliath. Everybody was happy that Goliath was dead.
But King Saul became so jealous, he wanted to kill David.
So the background of the Psalm, David is running away; he must have been hiding in caves; Saul had an army; and then one day something happened; King Saul made a mistake.
King Saul went into the biggest toilet in the world. The biggest toilet in the world at that time is a cave; and David was hiding inside the cave.
So when King Saul entered the cave, he did not realize there were soldiers hiding inside the cave. So what did King Saul do? He did what do you do when you go to a toilet? What do you do when you go to the toilet? Let’s not. You know what to do, right? You know what to do.
So King David and his men said, «This is the day that the Lord is giving you your enemy. Why don’t you just kill him»?
Now, if you are David, will you kill him? He is your enemy. He has been running after you, wrecked your family, wrecked everything about you.
Now, he’s right in front of you in the toilet. So David went behind him, cut off his robe, but he didn’t kill him.
So when Saul left the cave. He didn’t know what was happening. Here’s the story.
I want you to know that if you believe in God, if you trust God, you will not take shortcuts. You will not do- You will not take things into your own hands.
David could have killed King Saul and that would have been self-defense (the guy tried to kill me), but he did not.
Let’s look at those amazing verses you find in 1 Samuel 24. Let’s read this together.
Okay, this is David now talking to King Saul. «Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed». (1 Samuel 24:10)
You see, in the Old Testament, Moses gave them that- remember the Ten Commandments and many other rules? One of them is you are not going to touch the Lord’s anointed leader.
David knew Saul was chosen by God. Therefore, I will respect him in obedience to God.
You see, for David, the Lord is my light; God tells me what to do even when I am confused. I am supposed to be king; this guy is stopping me; but Lord, I will trust You.
So look at his theology. Look at the next two verses. David told him, let’s read together, «May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you». (1 Samuel 24:12)
Do you understand what David said? In Tagalog, David said, (the Lord will take care of you.) However, (I will not kill you.) I will not kill you.
Read the next verse, together. «The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand». (1 Samuel 24:15)
Now let me ask you, if you are David and God appointed you to be King, how in the world will you ever become a king? Think.
You can only become a king when King Saul disappears, when he relinquish his crown or he dies. Yes or no?
That’s the only way you can become king. There’s no term limits, four years, eight years, six years, no term limits.
David trusted God. Do you trust God to fulfill His plan for your life?
You see, many of us try to manipulate. Many of us you want to be in control. And that’s why you are full of fear.
You see, the the root problem of fear is because you want to be in control. You are not able to trust God. You are not able to trust God.
Fearful people are controlling people. You want to always manage everything. You are not able to let go.
David let go. Do you know how Saul died? How did Saul die? How did he die? He killed himself. He was wounded by the Philistines, but David did not want to kill him.
Remember not David, Saul killed himself.
My whole point is this: if God was accomplish His purpose for your life, it will be done with or without you trying to manipulate things. Amen?
So is God great, yes or no? So what’s point number one?
Point number one, if you want to pray a prayer that will drive out fear, you must anchor your prayer based on God’s character.
How will you know God’s character? How will you know His will? Well, the Bible tells us.
In the book of Psalm David wrote the following, Psalm 119:105, let’s read together. «Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path». (Psalm 119:105)
Let me ask you, «Your word», how do you know God’s Word? Read the Bible.
How many of you believe the Bible is the Word of God? Raise your hand. How many of you have read the entire Bible? Raise your hand.
What’s the problem? Most of you raised your hands; you believe the Bible is God’s word; but when I ask you have you read the entire Bible? You said no.
What are you telling me? You are telling me in your heart you don’t really believe. It’s just a nice way. «Yeah, I believe, I believe».
You see, somebody shared this with me years ago, to believe and not to do is not yet to believe. Let me repeat. To believe and not to do is not yet to believe. You are deceiving yourself, Amen?
You know, when I read the Bible, one of my most comforting verse to overcome fear, believe it or not, is Romans 8:31–32. I want to give this to you as a bonus. They did not hear this this morning, but this is for you.
Romans 8:31–32. Let’s read this together. «What then shall we say to these things? (Everybody.) If God is for us, who is against us»?
Can you tell your neighbor, God is for you. Tell your neighbor sincerely. God is for you! God is for us!
If God is for us, who can be against us? Answer. If God is for us, who can be against us? (That’s worthless). Even if they are against you, it’s nothing. Right.
«He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things»? (Romans 8:31–32)
This is a simple argument. If God loved Jesus, His Son, and He gave His Son to you and to me, how much more with God give something that’s good for you, understand?
So, my friend Satan’s ploy is for you to doubt the love of God. Many of you are not really convinced that God is for you.
You are not convinced that all your past, your past hurt, your past pain, your past mistakes, that God can redeem it to eventually bless you.
You don’t believe God is strong enough to undo your past, so you are a victim however you look at yourself.
But this verse tells me, God is for us. So can I tell you something? God is for you. Tell your neighbor, God is for you.
I want you to know God is for us. And the proof is He gave us His Son, Jesus.
Principle 2: Seeks God’s Presence (A-S-K: S)
Principle number two. When you pray, how should you pray? Well, let’s look at the outline here.
Principle number one: Anchors in God’s character. Principle number two: Seeks God’s presence.
See the the acronym is A-S-K. A — anchors in God’s character. You start with who God is. Adore him. A.
Don’t look at your problem immediately. When you pray, don’t tell God immediately your problem. You declare God’s character, His goodness, and His power. Focus on God.
Then and only then, you begin to focus on your problem. But for David, he did not focus on his problem yet.
What did he focus on? Seeks God’s presence. What do we mean?
Let’s read Psalm 27:4, «One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple». (Psalm 27:4)
Notice, one thing I have asked. I don’t know what is your one thing? For many of us, I do not know how, what is your real primary purpose.
For David, this one thing. How would you pray if you are David? For David, he would say, «Lord, my one thing, make me king now. Make me king now. Give me my position. Get rid of King Saul».
Maybe that is what David would pray. What about you?
You see, David did not ask for the life of King Saul. He did not ask for position. For him, the most important is God Himself.
He wasn’t after the blessings of God. He was after God Himself. The greatest blessing is God. Intimacy with God.
I don’t know if that is your heart. You will never have this understanding until God opens your eyes.
You see, for some people they want to be popular. One thing I ask is I want to be popular or you pursue money, or you pursue relationship, you pursue love, whatever it is, nothing wrong, except those will never satisfy you.
The only thing that will really satisfy you, let me tell you, not money, not family, God, only God, because you were created by God for God.
No earthly things will satisfy you. Young people have a problem. They don’t know these things because they are still young, so they want to pursue, in their mind. pleasure, boyfriend, girlfriend, and those who are single, they have not experienced reality, I want to pursue love life, I want to get married, and after they get married, Oh, no! What did I do?
And then some people, they want to have children. If I have children, I’ll be happy. Oh, my friend, listen to me, all of the above will not satisfy you. Only one thing.
David discovered this. You see, David knew God. I like this verse. Psalm 16 verse 11, let’s read this together. «You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy». (Psalm 16:11)
In the presence of God. What is very sad today is many Christians don’t even understand what does it mean to be in the presence of God.
Can I tell you why? You are so busy. You never take time to reflect, to meditate on God’s presence. God is with you. But are you aware that He is with you?
Let me repeat. God is always with you. The only problem is you don’t take time to acknowledge His presence.
You are so busy with TikTok, with Netflix, with sports, nothing bad except you need to take time to reflect.
David said, «This is my prayer; I will be in the temple of the Lord; I will meditate on His beauty». This requires time. You need to sit back and spend reflection time.
But today, we don’t know how to meditate. Do you understand?
Look at Psalm 65:4 This is a gift from God. «How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You». To be intimate with God is a blessing from God. : To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple». (Psalm 65:4)
The fact that you are here today means what? God chose you to be here. You could have been doing something else, but God loves you so much, He allowed you to be here to hear His word so that you can reflect on what is important in life.
The truth is this: money after you die, you cannot bring with you, your family members, no matter how much you love them, sooner or later, your loved ones will leave you.
Sooner or later, all your expensive paintings, collections, whatever you have, you leave behind. David understood this.
One thing that I know will have eternal values. One thing. God. What about you?
The Apostle Paul understood this principle. Let’s look at what Paul is saying. Let’s read this together.
Paul tells us, «for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain». (Philippians 1:21)
Do you know when he wrote this? When he was in prison, when he did not know whether he will live or die; but the idea of death has an amazing power to help you realize what is important and what is not important.
«The reality about death has an amazing power of altering what a man desires because death profoundly affects his outlook».
Let me give you an example. If you are about to die in one week’s time, will you quarrel with your wife?
If I know I have one week to live, will I complain about the curtains? Will I fight with people? Of course not. Because my priorities have changed.
Most of you need to understand why you need to reflect, why you need to meditate. Because our problem today, we don’t think deep enough; we are shallow, very shallow.
God wants you to grow deeper in your Christian life. You need to meditate.
My friend. if you read Psalm 27:5-6 David understood. David understood the blessing of following God, having God’s presence.
«For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock».
You know what David is saying? If I am in God’s presence, the bonus: protection, security. That’s what he’s saying.
I seek after God. And then what’s going to happen now? «And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord». (Psalm 27:5-6)
But remember verse 5-6 is the bonus of God’s presence. What is verse four? One more time, let’s read verse four.
What is verse four? Everybody, memorize this. «One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD (Notice.) all the days of my life-» Not one day, not one week, it’s going to be my lifetime preoccupation.
That’s how much he wanted God. All the days of my life. What will he do? «To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple». (Psalm 27:4)
You know, God promised us something. This is the promise of God. First, you look at Psalm 27:7-8, continue, Psalm 27:7-8.
David is now talking to God. «Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me». David is now talking to God.
«When You said, 'Seek my face', my heart said to you, 'Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.'» (Psalm 27:7-8)
You see, intimacy with God is God’s invitation. God invites us to intimacy with Him.
He gave a promise in the book of Jeremiah. Let’s read this together. Jeremiah 29:13 «You will seek Me and find Me (On what condition?) when you search for Me (Louder!) with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13)
Let me ask you a question. What will make you seek God with all of your heart? What?
My friend, I realized something, when I meditate on God, I meditate on His love for me, I meditate on His forgiveness, on His sacrifice for me, then something happens, I learn to love Him back.
But I don’t love Him first. He first loved me.
Many of you don’t have a desire for God because you have not really experience the forgiveness of God, the love of God.
You had never understood what Jesus did for you on the cross.
My friend, you and I need to meditate on who God is and what He has done for you.
But if you don’t prioritize spending time with God like Sunday, you know what? I love to come here on Sunday.
If I’m not the speaker, I love to be here because I listen to God’s Word. When I sing, I sing to Him. I don’t sing to you. I sing to the Lord.
Now, what about you? Did you sing to the Lord this morning? Or did you sing to yourself? And then you start criticizing the musician. You sing to the Lord.
Can I tell you something? I love this quotation by Tozer. Tozer said something about worship. Let’s read this together. Ready, go.
I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.
If you find worship service boring, if you find your quiet time boring, my friend, perhaps you don’t know the Lord. You don’t have a relationship.
The problem today many people think if you go to church, you become a Christian. They think if you believe in something, you are the Christian.
That is the farthest thing from the truth. Believing in the head is not equal to believing in the heart and surrendering your life to Jesus.
The Bible tells us the devil is a believer. The Bible is very that the Devil believes and he trembles, but he is not a child of God. No repentance, no transformation.
You know, I hope you will understand when Paul said, „For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain“. (Philippians 1:21)
You know, if you say, for to me to live is money, to die is loss. If you say, for to me to live is family, to die is loss.
You must say, for to me to live is Christ, then dying is gain. But if you put anything else there, to die is lost. The choice is yours.
For David, one thing I do, I will pursue the Lord.
Principle 3: Keeps Waiting in Faith (A-S-K: K)
Number three: Keeps waiting in faith. True prayer drives out fear. How do you pray? Anchors in God’s character, who God is. Seeks God’s presence.
When you pray, you must realize God is present. Do you know why some people get bored praying? Because you are not reminding yourself I am speaking to the Lord and He is right beside me.
Prayer becomes a delight when you believe and sincerely feel the presence of God. Prayer becomes a joy because you are talking to the King of Kings.
What is the third principle? Keep waiting in faith. What do we mean?
Let’s read the Bible. Psalm 27:9-10. „Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me. O God of my salvation“!
You know what David is saying? There are times when you feel like God is absent. There are times in your life when you feel like you’re abandoned.
But true prayer is anchored in God’s character; it is seeking God’s presence; and you keep trusting, you keep waiting. It’s not dependent on feelings.
So David said, „For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up“. (Psalm 27:9-10)
How do you translate this expression? This expression can be translated as this: Even though I may feel my father, my mother, have forsaken me, or assuming they have forsaken me, you know what David said?
Let’s read the next verse. „But the LORD will take me up“. (Psalm 27:10)
You know what he’s saying? Let me share with you a promise from the Bible in Isaiah 49. Let’s read this together.
„Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you“. (Isaiah 49:15–16)
Do you know what God is telling you today? Human beings, including mothers, may disappoint you. You may feel unloved, but God is telling you today, „I love you“. „I will never forget you“.
Can you turn to your neighbor? Tell your neighbor God loves you.
Your family may forget you, but God is saying I- God is telling you I really love you.
That’s why the strength to keep waiting is anchored on God’s character. I can keep trusting; I will keep waiting; because of God’s faithfulness. God’s character.
Let’s look at Psalm 27:11–12. „Teach me Your way, O Lord, lead me in a level path because of my foes“.
Waiting on God is not passive. Waiting on God is active expectation. You wait expectantly for what God will do.
In the meantime, you keep on doing what God wants you to do. It is not passive.
„Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me-“ In other words, waiting is not laziness. It is not doing nothing. It’s active. Teach me! Lead me!
„Do not deliver me over the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breath out violence“. (Psalm 27:11–12)
David is saying, just because you are seeking God, just because you are prayerful does not mean all your problems will disappear. They may still be there, but what must you do? Keep what? Waiting expectantly. Keep waiting in faith.
Look to the next verse. „I would have despaired unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living“. (Psalm 27:13)
Do you know what that means? I would have been discouraged unless I believe I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
David believed in God’s promises. „You promised, I will be king. I believe you“. I believe in God’s promises that He will do you good, Amen?
My friend, look at the command. Together. „Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord“. (Psalm 27:13)
One of the hardest thing for me is to wait. I like to take shortcuts. But God is telling you today, wait for the Lord.
Some of you would like to get married. God is telling you, wait for the Lord.
Some of you are asking for a financial blessing. God is telling you, no problem, wait. Keep waiting.
Can I tell you why? I love this quotation about waiting. You know, here is this amazing quotation:
Waiting is not a delay. Everybody, „Waiting for God is not a delay. It’s a preparation for greater blessing“.
Tell your neighbor. Waiting is not a delay. Tell your neighbor, it’s not a delay. It is a preparation for God’s greater blessing.
Psalm 34, David wrote the same song. This is what he wrote. Everybody, „O taste and see that the LORD is good“. (Psalm 34:8)
You see, not many of you really believe God is good. You are doubting. God says, the Bible says, He is good.
„O taste and see-“ Some of you have not experienced the Lord. That’s why you cannot say God is good.
„How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him“! That’s what David did. He took refuge. The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my fortress. The Lord is my strength.
„The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; (Everybody, read) But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing“. (Psalm 34:8,10)
David sought the Lord. One thing I seek. He sought the presence of God; and because he sought the presence of God, this promise is so true.
What’s the promise if you put God first in your heart, in your life? Everybody, read. „…they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing“. (Psalm 34:10)
David could rest when Saul was going crazy because David knew the end.
Ladies and gentlemen, you and I know our end. What’s our end? Do you know what is our end?
Tell your neighbor, the best is yet to come! The best is yet to come!
Do you believe God has amazing plan for your life? Come on. Do you believe?
How do you show your faith? You keep on- as we summarize. What’s the message today? Number one. True prayer drives up fear.
So what is the summary of those points? Number one: Anchors in God’s character. Number two: Seeks God’s presence. Number three: Keeps waiting in faith.
Some of you are tempted to give up. Don’t give up. Keep trusting. Keep waiting because the best is yet to come.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray. If God has spoken to you, and you want to trust Him completely for your future, you want to surrender your worries to Him. Let me pray for you.
Raise your hand. Those of you who want to surrender the control of your life, you just surrender it to the Lord and say, Lord, I’m a basket case. I worry a lot. I fret a lot. I’m never at peace.
But today, I will surrender everything for You because of who You are.
If you really want to surrender your life, the only way to have peace is to surrender.
Lord Jesus, I now pray for my brothers and sisters who have raised their hands. Accept their humble request as they surrender their life to You.
And now pray this prayer with me: Lord Jesus, my prayer is You help me long for You, to seek You with all of my heart.
Help me to encounter Your very presence as I surrender my all to You.
I pray, Lord Jesus, help me do a miracle in my life today. I don’t want religion. I only want You because You are the blessing.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen and amen.