Before I go any further let me first define what a panic attack is and what fear is, so that you can understand what I will be writing about. Please be aware of the fact that Fear is mentioned in the Bible 546 times. Interesting!
Let’s define a panic attack. A panic attack in the Greek is defined panikos, which is literally derived from Pan who according to the Greek was the god that induced fear and who loved to live in desolate places. This god was greatly feared for he was deemed to live in lonely and desolate places. Early Christians saw him as a goat with horns and cloven hooves. Eventually he became viewed as Satan. Many places around the world see Satan as the goat with one cloven hoof. But that now explained let's move on to our subject.
What exactly is a panic attack? It is a state of overwhelming anxiety that all of a sudden pops up and is accompanied by tightness in the throat, racing of heart, shortness of breath, tingle sensations, obsessive worryness with death, and dizzy spells. This attack when experienced for the first time can leave such a deep impact on someone’s mind that it can affect a person's psyche. Usually people who suffer from these kinds of attacks live in a continual state of fear. I know that for I suffered from them! I used to fear the getting a panic attack more than the actual panic attack.
We can therefore easily conclude that the trigger of a panic attack is the " fear" of getting a panic attack. It is a vicious circle that needs to be broken. But oh, how difficult this can be!Fear is not easy to get rid of, usually you need to get at the root cause before you can deal with the actual fear. The duration of such an attack may vary, it may last a couple of minutes diminishing within 30 minutes, but sometimes it can last for hours. That depends on the psyche (state of mind) of the person .People who live under stress and have fallen prey to panic attacks may experience the duration of such an attack to last longer. Stress often functions as trigger.
Now let’s see what fear is. Fear is a state of expectation of (usually) an irrational occasion. I say usually for sometimes fear can sprout out of a real situation, like when you are facing danger or you are in danger. Fear can also be a dislike to some situations such as fear of the dark, fear of ghosts etc. Fear can cause people to behave irrationally. Fear which has been identified as ' False Evidence Appearing Real' can vary to different degrees. A panic attack is usually an extreme feeling of anxiety or the sensation of extreme fear. Most of the time, a panic attack can be attributed as a demonic attack, while fear is not always of demonic origin There are positive kind of fear such as the fear of God, or the fear when you are in danger, this fear can save your life!
Many people who worry too much experience fear, and when this fear gets out of control it may become a panic attack. There are different degrees to fear such as fright, terror, horror, dread.
Did you know that over a million people suffer every year from these disorders and that the victims that fall prone to these are on the increase? That’s right. Every year millions of people fall prone to anxiety and fear. Many people do not even know where it comes from .I think it has to do with our stress level in society. Society has changed very much and is becoming more and more demanding. Many people cannot keep up with society's pace and end with panic attacks due to the high amount of stress in their daily lives.
I myself experienced it. I had a busy job, a busy social life and as a result of that I lived on a high level of stress. At first I thought that it kept me going, which it did, but soon enough I started to feel the symptoms of stress nevertheless. But, being young and adamant to succeed in life by achieving to be very successful the stress eventually took its toll. I awoke up one morning at 4.00 am to find myself unable to breathe, bathed in sweat and trembling in fear. I sensed my consciousness leaving me which only helped to increase my level of fear up to the moment when it turned into shear panic. I was terrified for I did not know what was happening to me. I was sleeping quietly and all of a sudden within my sleep,I started to grasp for breath. It was pretty scary to say the least. My body was covered from head to tow in sweat and my panic was only helping me sweating more.The well known spinning circle.
The more anxious I became the more I sweated. Finally I had to open the bedroom windows, (it was freezing at the time) and stood there to ‘cool my body off’. Next day the doctor diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder. I had it long coming, so he told me. My schedule in life was too much for any person to bear too long. For years I have been living under a tremendous amount of pressure. This pressure would not subside until I changed my situation. When I started to analyze my life I did a major discovery. At the center of my life was fear. As a child I used to have many fears and as an adult those fears existed, in another form. The level of fear was tremendous. In this way I had given an evil spirit of fear a doorway in my life. This was the first time that I actually realized that my panic attacks where of demonic origin. As you may recall, the Greek already recognized panic as demonic and they feared Pan the god of fear greatly. We can thus conclude that panic is a demon.
The legal doorway to my panic attack, for the demon Pan to enter my life and have its go at it, was my unrecognized state of fear in which I used to continually live for years on end. The stress due to this fear, I experienced was associated also with all kinds of emotions. My emotions could at times ran high and low, just like a roller coaster. I was constantly stressing about future events, about the ‘if’s’, the ‘why’s’, the ‘what’s’ etc. At that time I had much stress with my family, which did not help, but only did increase my fear and sorrow. This got me more stress. You see, I have been severely rejected and at that time I was dealing with the rejection and its results in my life. People who have been rejected usually develop many fears, one being the fear of being rejected. This makes you live in a constant state of apprehension and anticipation. This is very stressful indeed!
Conclusion being, there were literally many doorways in my life for this demon to enter. And entering he did! He turned my life up side down, and not in a positive way. My emotional state of mind was a total mess. I feared these panic attacks more than anything, and as a result fear took my life completely over. On top of it, the stress I was already experiencing due to this fear was tremendous. A couple of days later I got even more stressed and worried for I received a phone call that my father was kidnapped by rebels in Colombia. On top of that I was by now diagnosed with a sever case of ‘burn-out’ syndrome. That meant of course more fear, more fuel to my panic attacks and left me completely exhausted. That’s right, panic and fear suck energy out of your system and leave you completely dried out.
I used to get these panic attacks at all hours of the day and night, and it made me reclusive. I did not dare to go out anymore for fear to get them in public. Not even to the supermarket. It was horrendous. On top of all that, I became very fearful of death. I literally feared everything. And demons of fear were enjoying themselves. By now, I had not only Panikos, but many types of demons of fear also. They were many. But in my ordeal I was not alone, for God was right there with me. In fact, He set me in contact with a Healing and Delivering ministry who kindly delivered me from these demons. To tell you that the deliverance was a strenuous one. Demons of fear do not let go easily and will put up a strenuous fight.
Once I was delivered those awful panic attacks stopped, but not without a struggle. The night I got delivered from those demons, while lying in bed ready to go to sleep, I was praying to God to heal my emotions. Fear damages your emotions greatly! All of a sudden I felt my bed jump, and I realized that a demon had been sitting on the bed right there, awaiting its chance to to move back inside of me. I rebuked it in the name of Jesus. He had to leave for demons cannot stand the name of Jesus. But my ordeal was not going to be over so quickly for that night turned out to be a very long nigh for me. I knew that and so did the demons. Later that night, to be precise, in the middle of the night, I awoke because I sensed danger and a presence in the room. I looked around and saw a demon standing there, trying to get frighten me off, in order to move back in.
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first"(Matt 12:43-45)
By now, I was very very angry. This harrasment had to stop immediately. You see whenever I sense evil spirits or whenever I see them around me, I get so angry that all fear leaves me. All I want to do is get them out of the room. Thus I quoted aloud 2 Timothy 1:7 that says: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” and commanded it to leave me in the name of Jesus . It had to go. You see, demons hate the Word of God, because they know it carries the power of God and most of all, they fear the name of Jesus. They have to obey the Word whether they like it or not. This does not mean that they will not try to come back again for they will do that your entire life. That is why we must be so well equipped with the armor of God (Eph.6).
In time they have tried to attack me and sometimes even severely. Once, while sleeping, I experienced an attack by demons of fear. I shivered quite intensely and never have felt so much fear in my life. Instantly I knew through the Holy Spirit, that this was in fact a demonic attack. Thanks for the help of the Holy Spirit, I could quote my scripture rebuke them and they left. I slept quietly after that. This, my dear brothers and sisters, is something that many of us will experience. Demons know that their time is limited and that their final destination, 'the lake of fire' is awaiting them (Rev.20). This is why we see an increase of all sorts of demonic attacks today.
Panic and fear can actually paralyze and change society. A good example is the stock market. When panic arises due to sometimes a rumor, the stock falls and we have a major financial crisis on our heads. Today, we have another major threat and that is terrorism. Fear of a sudden terror attack makes us be on the alert. Due to this fear, great and powerful and frightening weapons have been developed to scare them off. To defend ourselves. But a good question here has to be asked. In our fear and panic, are we not indeed overlooking the one and only safe haven who can remove our fears?
“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.”(Prov.3:25,26).
God is in fact telling us, that fear will always be part of our lives. But God tells us that we should seek our refuge in Him. God knows that fear is one of Satan’s primary weapons of attack. But God also tells us NOT to fear because He will keep us from any harm. He will deliver us from the hands of our oppressors. When you are being under attack, whether it be a panic attack of a sudden fear attack, just think about it. Realize that fear and panic are of demonic origin and that this kind of attack can be overcome in the name of Jesus. Stand up and say to Satan and his demons of fear: “No, in the Name of Jesus.. and you go on quoting Prov.3:25,26).Remember this:
“In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.” (Isaiah 54:14).
God promises us that if we stand up against these demons, we will be free from fear, and the oppression that comes along with fear. We should not fear, for fear oppresses, and opens the door to only more bondage in our lives. To be in bondage is nothing more than to be in a state of captivity. You are a prisoner in the hands of Satan and his demons. You should not allow this, remember God wants us to be free:
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”(Romans 8:15).
This verse is very important, for it gives you a definition of who you are through and in Christ. You are adopted by God, and through the adoption, you have become His legal child. This means that you now may call Him Abba Father. As a legal child of God, whose property you are now, demons have no right to harass you. You may now call upon Abba Father to come to your rescue. Which parent shall not come to the aid of his child when it is in danger? That’s right. Every normal parent would. And with God it is the same. He comes to your rescue whenever you need Him. But, you need to take some action yourself.
This action consists of praying, quoting Scripture and binding and expelling those demons of fear and panic. God will do the rest. But you have to do your part. He cannot operate if you do not co-operate with Him. Remember this, for it is important! You may find yourself doing this many times a day, especially if you suffer from panic attacks. Be not discouraged, be of good cheer, for the victory is yours in Christ. For those who are suffering from panic attacks I say, "hang in there, quote your Scriptures, bind and expel those demons." You will see that in no time God will set you free, and you will be free indeed. Memorize this Scripture for it will give you courage and faith:
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” (Psalm 27:1,3)