I was reading about Jacob in Genesis and the moment he was about to see his brother Esau for the first time in over fourteen years. Jacob had previously fled for his life after he deceived his father, Isaac, and stole the blessing that belonged to Esau.

Jacob was very afraid of what Esau might do to him and his family, because of what had happened in the past.

In the middle of his panic session, Jacob prays the following,

“O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, You who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But You said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” (Genesis 32:9-12)

After I read that, I paused.

In other words, Jacob is saying, “God, I am scared and distressed and overwhelmed. My brother wanted to kill me, so I fled with nothing. Now, I have enough wealth to intimidate everyone around me, yet, here I am, frozen in fear. Esau hated me. What if he feels the same way he did fourteen years ago? What if he shows no mercy and uses his strength to overpower me and destroy everything I have? But, God, YOU are the One who told me to return. YOU said, ‘I will surely do you good.’ Please, O God, do not forget what You told me.”

I was not expecting so much power to be released into my life through these verses, especially these three small words from verse 12, “But You said”.

What I love about Jacob’s prayer is that it came from his relationship with God. He was able to hear God’s voice; therefore, when troubling anxiety hit, he was able to recall what God had already told him.

I want to share a quick personal story.

My family and I have been preparing to move to another state and have listed our home “For Sale By Owner” at the advice of the Holy Spirit. If anyone has ever sold FSBO, you understand the 100 calls a day from realtors and agents eager to list your home and find you a buyer for commission.

Well, I had spoken to a particular realtor who was adamant that my home was worth less than what it was appraised for. After kindly telling her I disagreed and wishing her the best in her endeavors, I got an unexpected response. She quickly told me, “If your house was really worth what you’re saying it is, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, and it wouldn’t still be on the market.”

It took me several minutes with the Holy Spirit to figure out how the Lord was telling me to respond. I knew she was totally off base in her response, not only because of what I knew about the house, but because of what I had already been told by the Lord. So, I sat there and found myself praying similar words Jacob had prayed. . .

               “Lord, I am unworthy of the grace You have shown us in this transition season. You have lavished Your love and kindness on my family, and I know you will not stop now. We keep getting told by realtors that it is almost impossible to sell our home alone, BUT YOU SAID for us to trust You. We have been told by agents that our price is too high, BUT YOU SAID to list it and wait for Your blessing. We have had people back out of contracts for unknown reasons, BUT YOU SAID You have reserved a buyer for us. I am feeling discouraged and forgotten, BUT YOU SAID You will be with us during this entire transition. Help me not to forget that it doesn’t matter how much noise goes on around me, because it is what YOU SAID that matters the most.”

After reading Jacob’s prayer and remembering my own experience, I realized something else. During our prayer time with the Lord, we had turned our despair into hope with the very words of our mouth. What started out as a cry for help, ended with a declaration of hope.

In other words, praying to the King of Kings allows us to work out our emotions before the Throne where His love knows no end. We are able to confront every fear and discouragement we are feeling with the truths we hold deep within our souls. The same truths the Lord had already spoken to us.

Sometimes I feel that we, as Christians, are constantly waiting on answers from God. We are constantly begging Him to do something for us because we are so overwhelmed by fear. We start to hear the noise around us, and it begins to take root within our minds and our soul  so much so that we forget what God has already said to us. We listen to others. We listen to opinions. We listen to our doubts. We listen to anything and everything outside of the Voice that has already spoken.

I encourage you to begin using God’s words against your own by allowing His truths about who you are and who He is over power every  fear, lie, doubt, and discouragement coming against you. If we are going to be warriors for Christ, we need to not only hear His voice, but we need to use it against the noise surrounding us. We need to stop seeing fear as our advisor and start making it our prisoner.

Here’s how.

First, get into the Word of God. You will never know what the Lord says about you if you never open the Bible to find out. Make a commitment to read it. Download the Bible App, plug your phone into your car speakers, and put the Bible on Audio every morning on your way to work, and every evening on your way home. Print out verses and post them  around your home so you SEE them while washing dishes, folding laundry, changing diapers, etc. It doesn’t matter HOW you read it, but you need to read His already spoken Words.

Second, memorize His truths. Start with just a verse or two, and then increase the number. It is not enough to just read the Bible; we need to store the Words in our hearts and minds so they transform us.

Lastly, get into your prayer room with Jesus and work out your situation with the Lord. Speak the truths you know in your heart and rest in the love of God. It is so easy to rush our prayer time, but I encourage you to be still. Take however long it takes for the noise inside your head to be silenced.

We have allowed doubts and fears to rule in us and that has turned our prayers into begging. We don’t need to beg God. We aren’t beggars. We are children.

His children.

And because of that, we are allowed to come before Him in distress, in fear, in discouragement, in repentance, or in doubt, but the moment we allow His truths to silence our noise, we are able to recognize that we have access to everything He is, and trust me, He is more than enough.