Here is why Satan uses fear as a tactic with believers.

1. Satan uses fear to stop believers from doing God’s work.

We see this in the Parable of the Talents.

“Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.” (Matthew 25:24-25)

So, the person with one talent never used his talent. His reason was fear; he was “afraid.” We see this same excuse all the time with believers. They are afraid of failure; they are afraid of success; they are insecure about their abilities. Many are paralyzed and kept from doing God’s work because of fear. Many have fear of what others may think or say. Fearing for their reputation (self-interest), is a major item that prevents them from speaking of the Lord as He would have them to do. Fear keeps us from doing the work of God.

We saw this with Moses and Gideon. Both of them initially struggled with fear when God called them to serve. Similarly, many Christians are paralyzed by some type of fear which limits their usefulness. The enemy uses psychological warfare. Paul here wrote of man’s psyche, his “mind.”

“they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit (mind) the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:5-6)

2. Satan uses fear to hinder the work of God in the believers. We see this in the Parable of the Sowers. Matthew 13:22 says, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” The “worries of this life,” fear kept the Word from ever producing fruit in the thorny ground. The Word of God is not effective in many Christians because of the thorn of worry. Maybe they hear the Word and agree with it… but their fears keep the Word of God from producing fruit in and through them. They are worried about the future, about the past, about family, about career, etc. These worries choke out the power of “the Word of God.”

3. Satan uses fear to lead believers into sin.

That was the enemy’s plan with Nehemiah. He was tempting Nehemiah to fear with the hope that he would end his work and thus sin against God and weakening the people by causing them to doubt his leadership. It’s the same thing in our daily lives. A person’s fear and insecurities will often lead them to sin. E.g., Abraham was afraid of losing his life because of his beautiful wife, so he lied to Pharaoh and said she was his sister. Abraham was afraid of not having an heir so he married a 2^nd wife, Hagar, sinning against God. Fear led him into sin, and it is the same for us.

4. Satan uses fear to lead a believer into discouragement.

Nehemiah 6:9 says, “They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’”

Tobiah’s and Sanballat’s desire was to make Nehemiah too weak to complete the work.

Similarly, as mentioned before, a discouraged, depressed Christian won’t have the peace of God and won’t be very productive in serving the Lord. Their fear weakens their hands in the work. If you are weak and timid you will not speak up for the Lord as He may lead you to.

Proverbs 12:25 says (para), “Anxiety in the heart of a man brings depression...” Because of this, Satan works hard in sowing seeds… ‘words of fear,’ to weaken and discourage the Christian. These words are spoken into our minds as “the fiery darts of the enemy.” Often such words come through corrupt religious teaching and counsel. We need to discern these and cast them aside.

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself (elevates itself) against the (true) knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Cor. 10:5)