Your Problem Is, You Don't Fear God
"The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him"—not for those who love Him. This post will fix your misperception of "the fear of God."
“The fear of the Lord won’t come into your life unless you choose it.”
—Derek Prince
The fear of God is flagrantly undertaught at your local church, and there are three reasons for this:
They can’t give what they don’t have.
They don’t understand the fear of God.
They let the fear of men prevail.
Notice that “having the fear of God” vs. “understanding the fear of God” are different.
You can have the fear of God without understanding what it is.
But—
You can’t understand the fear of God without having the fear of God.
The knowledge in this post was revealed to me in May during my three-day water fast, after I’d been asking the Lord for a while—
“What on earth is the fear of God?
Do I have it?
If not, how can I have it?”
In this post, I’ll be revealing His answers to these three questions I asked.
(Because I often improvise during recording, if you have the time, I’ll recommend listening while reading it. You can also listen to this article on Spotify )
In this article:
Desire it: Why you want to pursue the fear of God
Understand it: What is the fear of God
What the fear of God is NOT
Humility vs. The fear of God
The love of God vs. The fear of God
Do I have the fear of God?
Claim it: How to have the fear of God
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Desire it: Why you want to pursue the fear of God
Before you pursue it, let the fear of God allure you.
What benefits would I gain from having the fear of God?
No.1 Evil-proof
“By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.” Proverbs 16:6
“The fear of the Lord leads to life. And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.” Proverbs 19:23
No.2 Wisdom
“The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.” Proverbs 15:33
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” Psalm 111:10
No.3 Life, honor, riches
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.” Proverbs 22:4
“In the fear of the Lord, there’s strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge.” Proverbs 14:26
“He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever.” Psalm 111:5
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to avoid the snares of death.” Proverbs 14:27
“But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:18
“Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:13
No.4 The ultimate promise—the secret of the Lord
“Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
His soul will abide in prosperity,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant.”
Psalm 25:12-14
Wisdom, knowledge, life, security, prosperity, inheritance, covenant and secret of the Lord—
If you want these things, keep reading.
Understand it: What is the fear of God
Now we’ve come to the juicy part, the exact question I asked God:
What on earth is the fear of God?
❌What the fear of God is NOT:
You only need two points to discern:
The fear of God is NOT being afraid of God—so it’s not the “fear of death” or the “fear of judgment.”
The fear of God is NOT legalism—so keeping God’s commandments is not enough (hang in there, I’ll explain).
With this clarified, let’s start by comparing the fear of God with some common concepts that are often confused with it.
🧎♂️Humility vs. The Fear of God
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life. Proverbs 22:4
This verse parallels humility and the fear of the Lord. You can never overemphasize humility. Apply this principle if you want to be exalted:
“Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled.” Matthew 23:12
So if I humble myself, do I automatically fear God?
No.
However, you must humble yourself before you can receive the fear of God.
Humility is the precursor to the fear of God.
Why?
You won’t seek or choose the fear of God if you still hold on to pride.
And you will NOT have the fear of God if you do not choose it.
🌈The love of God vs. 🔥The fear of God
Let me throw this counterintuitive truth to your face first:
“The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him”—not those who love Him.
🪜Three Levels of Intimacy with God:
As a result of your initial salvation, you love God.
As a result of loving God and keeping His commandments, you know God.
You fear God—yes, the fear of God is the most intimate stage.
Many are stuck at Level 1. They won’t move upward to truly know God until they honor His commandments.
“I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7:23
Knowing God is the fruit and reward for keeping His commandments.
Once we keep His commandments, we acquire humility.
And once we are humble, we are entrusted with deeper knowledge of the Lord—in this stage, we learn the fear of God.
✝️Love God & Know God
If you love God, you’ll keep His commandments. ( John 14:21)
If you know God, you’ll keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3-4)
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
In this verse, Jesus said He will manifest Himself to those who love Him.
The result of manifestation is knowing—
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:3-4
We know that keeping God’s commandments is the golden test for loving God, and the fruit or reward of loving God is knowing Him.
So if you live in sin with awareness, you don’t truly know Jesus.
No one can encounter Jesus and remain unchanged. If they claim they “hear God,” they are just listening to the voice of their own deceitful hearts.
So, what is the difference between knowing God and fearing God?
👑Fear God
With humility, you choose the fear of God, which unlocks the knowledge and secrets of the Lord.
The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, not for those who merely love Him.
Fearing God is more than keeping His commandments.
There are two types of obediences (just for clarification purposes):
Type A: Keeping the general commandments in the Bible—this obedience is associated with the love of God.
Type B: Obeying God’s prescribed will for your life—this obedience is associated with the fear of God.
Type B is a higher level of obedience—
Many Christians live a godly life (they practice Type A obedience) but lack the fear of God. As a result, they let fear of the unknown and fear of men overcome them, which confines their potential.
Why is Type B obedience harder?
Unlike Type A, Type B is morally neutral.
God told you to move to California, but you got cozy living in Tennessee. Does God forbid you from staying in Tennessee? No.
God told you to go to a different church, way farther than you current one, but you delayed and delayed. But does God forbid you from staying in the same church? No.
God told you to marry John, but you either think about your ex or wonder if someone better is coming in the future. Does God forbid you from going back to your ex or waiting for someone else? No.
In all these 3 scenarios, you are not doing anything immoral—you’re just disobedient.
And guess who’s going to pay the price of disobedience?
Guess what the price of disobedience is?
That’s right. Wilderness. Fruitlessness. Unfulfillment. Mediocrity.
It’s really, really hard to obey God’s will for your life. When we talk about people “wrestling with God,” we are not talking about them refusing to keep God’s commandments. We are saying that these people, knowing exactly what God wants them to do, refuse to do His will.
Why? Because they lack the fear of God.
Subconsciously, they think they have the “right” to bargain with God. They think they know better. They have a sense of entitlement that God will fix the consequences of their disobedience—
Everyone called is called to greatness (greatness is not equal to fame). But “few are chosen.” That is why.
🤔Do I have the fear of God?
No.
That was the answer God gave me.
I never truly understood what the fear of God is. I had an impression that it meant “keeping God’s commandments.”
Keeping God’s commandments will only get you to know Him—you’ll gain understanding. (Psalm 111:10)
But if you want God’s secrets—if you want to be trusted as a friend, you must have the fear of God.
So how did God show me that I didn’t have the fear of God?
Simple.
“You shall know them by their fruits.”—this one rule is the consuming fire that separates gold from iron.
🌵Men who don’t have the fear of God
According to the promises for those who have the fear of God, we can infer the “fruits” of those who do not have it:
Lack of wisdom/discernment
Frequently entangled in troubles
Always short of money
Poor decision-making
In a word, you experience unshakable curse of fruitlessness—everything you touch withers, nothing you do prospers, and you seem to be trapped in a dry land, just as this verse depicts:
“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.”
Jeremiah 17:8
I have a post on this: False Identity Plus Wrong Place—The Curse of A Bush in the Desert
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What does a man who fears God look like—Joseph’s story
The Lord was with Joseph all the time: when he was at Potiphar’s house, in prison, and in the palace—
The fruit of fearing God is this: whatever you do, it prospers.
When Joseph got the dream of being a ruler, he was about 17.
When he stood before Pharaoh, he was 30.
For over a decade, he was in what we call “the wilderness season,” but he remained fruitful even in the wilderness. Whatever he did, he did with all his heart to the glory of God. As a slave, he was a steward over all the other slaves. As a prisoner, he was a leader in the prison.
If you can’t be a leader in a prison, you can’t be a leader of a nation.
He feared God—
By humility: nothing was too “small” for him.
By pursuing excellence in any job given to him.
By being fruitful: he continued to interpret dreams—the very thing that had got him in trouble—for other prisoners.
By staying faithful: he asked the cupbearer to remember him once he returned to Pharaoh, indicating that Joseph still believed in God’s promise.
By forgiveness: he forgave his brothers and treated them kindly.
The fear of God, in essence, is the worship of God. You become what you worship.
Claim it: How to have the fear of God
Step 1: You must choose the fear of God.
Yes, Just as you choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and your Savior, you must first choose to fear God.
“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.” Proverbs 1:28-30
Step 2: You must ask God to teach you the fear of God
“Come you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 34:11
The fear of God is different from the love of God, which you obtain automatically. It is something we must actively seek and learn diligently. It’s almost a skill to be practiced and mastered.
Before you argue, pray to God relentlessly about the fear of God. Ask Him to teach you and to give it to you—
What if it works?
Step 3: You must serve God with fear
The fear of God won’t be given to the lazy; it is a special gift for those who ask, seek, and knock.
“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” Psalm 2:11
“Walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.” Acts 9:31
See—if you want to be fruitful and multiply, you must walk in the fear of the Lord.
Apply the fear of God to relationships
“giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:19-20
Christians are called to submit to one another. Wives are called to submit to their husbands, and husbands are called to sacrifice for their wives.
How can this be done?
The focus is not on how your husband treats you or how your wife responds—
The focus is the fear of the Lord: “Do we fear God?”
That’s the real motivation.
✨Thank you for reading!
You have free full access to this paid post Stripping Satanic Lie to the Core
⏳End on this Friday!
absolutely love this audio session that you did here! continue your speak the truth boldly!
Oh my Gosh! This Post was Profound!!
Thank You Alice. A lot of things are much clearer & make more sense to me now. You are a gifted teacher Alice. Gifted!!! [[[Would you please remember me in prayer for Discernment, to hear unmistakably, the Voice of God for Direction in my life. And then for the Courage to step out in Faith to Fulfill my Destiny for my life. Fear is Crippling. But the Fear of God as a Motivator, let it be Greater!!! God Bless You Mightily Alice.]]]