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FREEDOM FROM FEAR BY FRIDAY

a 5-‐Day Devotional

by Hallie Lord

© 2015 Hallie Lord. All rights reserved.

FREEDOM FROM FEAR BY FRIDAY #LoveFearlessly

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Dear friend,

It is such a joy for me to be able to share

these reflections with you. I drew on much

personal experience to craft a plan that will

lead to real transformation in your life

through small but powerful exercises.

As you embark on this five-‐day journey, if

you feel moved to share your own insights

about overcoming fear, I would love to hear

them – and I’m sure others would as well! I

will be following the hashtag

#LoveFearlessly, and you can also tag me at:


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Twitter: @hallielord

Instagram: @hallielord

Facebook: facebook.com/HallieNLord

Also, I will be praying regularly for the

intentions of all the people who are seeking

to overcome fear as they go through this

book, so you can count on my prayers!

Love fearlessly, sweet friends!

Hallie

hallielord.com


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P.S. If you enjoy this devotional and would

like to share it, you can simply direct your

friends to this form. Thank you so much for

your support!


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MONDAY “Be not afraid!”

-‐ Saint John Paul II

There are people in this world who seem to

have been born with a supernatural ability

to bravely face their fears head-‐on and say

with profound faith, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

I’ve come to believe that while, perhaps, a

few of them were given this gift while being

knit in their mother’s wombs, most people

who possess this ability have spent many

years working on it. They have felt just as


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doubtful as the rest of us that God would

provide for their needs and have probably

even battled paralyzing fear from time to

time. But then they chose to walk forward in

faith. They chose to reject the insidious lies

that were whispered in their ears, the ones

that claimed God had abandoned them.

We can do this, too.

We can take whatever painful uncertainty

we are currently wrestling with and offer it

to God. With shaky limbs and a pounding

heart we can whisper, “Jesus, I, too, believe

in you.” The more we repeat this act of


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faith, the stronger our voices will grow and

one by one our fears will flee. Summon faith

as small as a mustard seed and God will use

it to move all the mountains that are

currently casting their shadows over you.

What circumstances of your life are filling you with fear today?

Name them and, though you may feel filled

with doubt, say the words, “Jesus, I trust in

you.” Repeat this phrase every time that

fear causes your heart to pound or your

breath to catch, for it contains the most

powerful words we can ever say.


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TUESDAY

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”

-‐ Alfred Hitchcock

When you examine your fears, do you feel

scared of something that is happening to

you at this very moment? Or do you grow

anxious when you imagine what may

possibly come to pass in the future?

Occasionally I can honestly say that I fear

the situation at hand.


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Most of the time, though, anxiety takes hold

of me when I let my imagination run wild.

A friend recently shared with me that she

was trying hard to stop “living in the

wreckage of the future.” As soon as the

words left her mouth, I saw myself in them.

I love living in the wreckage of the future.

It’s one of my favorite places, in fact. I have

a fully decorated house there complete

with a white picket fence and a lovely row

of tulips.


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It’s true. Though the future has yet to

arrive, and the imagined wreckage along

with it, I allow myself to become completely

convinced that all of the worst-‐case

scenarios that I’ve conjured are destined to

play out in my life. Worse still, I forget that

even should the worst come to pass, God

will never fail to be present to me in that

moment, offering the grace I need to carry

my cross and endure my trials.

As a wise friend once told me, God does not

give grace for the imagination, he gives

grace for the situation. Over and over again

I have found that if I can remember that


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and keep my feet firmly planted in the

present moment, my peace will increase

exponentially.

And so will yours.

The next time you feel filled with anxiety…

Ask yourself whether you are fearful of

something that has actually happened or if

you have let your imagination run into the

arms of the unknown future. Remind

yourself that God’s peace is found in the

here and now.


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WEDNESDAY

“It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.”

-‐ Chinese Proverb

Have you ever heard someone say that if

you pray for your enemies you will no

longer be able to hate them? That the

moment you begin to advocate for

goodness in their life is the same moment

that your animosity will begin to disperse?

This is because the light of love and the


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darkness of hatred cannot possibly exist in

the same space.

The same is true of love and fear.

Love creates life-‐affirming beauty; fear sets

out to destroy it.

Love is joyful; fear is miserable.

Love frees; fear imprisons.

Love is kind; fear is cruel.

Love is honest; fear is deceitful.


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Love is brave; fear is afraid.

And love is strong, while fear is weak.

As long as we exist on this planet, love and

fear will be at war. There is no harmony to

be found between the two. But though

they may do battle over and over again,

love’s victory is written in the stars. For

love is God, and God is love, and both are

omnipotent.


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If you want to conquer fear, listen to St. John…

…And drive it out with perfect love.

Examine the situation -- whether it is

financial, marital, parental, work-related or

otherwise -- and list three ways you can

pour love into that situation. If you are

stumped, ask the Holy Spirit to inspire you.

And remember: love always wins.


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THURSDAY “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,

‘What! You too?’”

-‐ C.S. Lewis

On Easter Sunday we renew our Baptismal

vows. We stand up and affirm that, yes, we

reject Satan and all his lies.

All of the fears you are currently facing?

They are the fruit of those lies.


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Anxiety grabs hold when we start to believe

that God doesn’t love us, doesn’t have a

plan for our life, and will not give us the

grace we require to carry our crosses. The

truth, of course, is that God loves us

desperately, has a beautiful plan for our life,

and will pour every last bit of grace into us

that we need to endure our trials. Any

thought to the contrary comes directly from

the Father of Lies.

I don’t know about you, but giving voice to

my fears can be very difficult for me.


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I like to keep them tucked away deep inside

where they fester and eat away at me.

Sometimes my desire to keep my fears

hidden is born of shame, other times I

simply lack the courage to face them head-‐

on. But every single time I turn to my

husband, a family member, spiritual

director, or friend and acknowledge my

anxieties, their power begins to dissipate.

There are two reasons for this: One is

simply that when we humbly allow another

person to help us carry our cross, our

burdens are lifted. Another is that when

we share our fears with another person, it


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gives that person the opportunity to help

us assess our fears more accurately.

Someone standing outside of the situation

often possesses a clarity we lack. They can

examine our troubles and reveal to us

which of our concerns are justifiable and

need to be dealt with and which are

merely a figment of our imaginations and

the fruit of fear.

Never be afraid to lean on your friends.

They are God’s gift to you.


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Find a friend, family member, or spiritual director…

Spend some time revealing your fears to

them. Then humbly allow them to share

their wisdom with you, accept their help,

and allow God to bless you with their love

and friendship.


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FRIDAY

“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.”

-‐ Ann Voskamp

There are so many things in this life that we

have no control over. This is especially true

for those of us determined to embrace the

Christian way.

The more we open ourselves to life, the

more death we will encounter; the more we

make ourselves vulnerable at the service of


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others, the more we will be wounded; and

the more we say ‘yes’ to God’s invitations,

the more we will be asked to die to self.

This is the Via Dolorosa, this is our path to

Heaven.

Deep down inside we know that this thorny

path leads to paradise. We know, as we are

stretched outside of our comfort zones

again and again, that we are being remade

in the image and likeness of Christ. We

know all of this, and ultimately desire it,

and yet our fallen selves resist.


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We fight and wail and gnash our teeth. We

fear. We close our eyes and curl up in a

tight ball to protect ourselves from the

blows and jeers.

And sometimes it works. To a degree. For a

while. But what do we lose when we do so?

We lose all the gifts that God hold out to us

in his hand and begs us to accept.

God gives us our own Marys, Veronicas, and

Simons to help us along our earthly path.

He gives us his very self, too, with his

buckets of grace in hand. He wipes the

sweat from our brows and kisses our


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wounds. He whispers words of

encouragement and pulls us back onto our

feet when we stumble and fall.

If we want to free ourselves from fear and

anxiety, it is these things that we must

remain focused on and these offerings we

must accept, for it is in recognizing his love

that we will find the strength we need to

persevere.


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Open your eyes to the blessings God wants to give

you today.

Accept them, use them, and be grateful for

them. Let God pour his light into you. In

doing so, you will find the freedom from

fear and anxiety that you seek, for your

soul will be full of God’s grace and

consolation. Be at peace, sweet friend.

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