Why Fear? Part 3: The 5 Fear Tactics of the Enemy

Welcome back to our "WHY FEAR?" series. In Part 1, we discovered that God has already given us everything we need to fulfill our divine assignment. In Part 2, we examined what fear actually is and the enemy's three-step strategy. Today, we'll expose the 5 specific tactics the enemy uses to instill fear in your life.

Understanding Beyond Awareness

Before effectively overcoming fear, we must move beyond simple awareness to specific recognition. We are told not to be ignorant of Satan's devices or strategies (2 Corinthians 2:11). Being aware that the enemy wants to instill fear is helpful, but recognizing his specific tactics equips you to resist him more effectively.

Just as a military commander must know the enemy's battle tactics to counter them, we must understand the enemy's fear tactics to defend against them. When you can identify his strategy, you can dismantle its power over your life.

The 5 Fear Tactics of the Enemy

Over the years of ministry and personal experience, I've identified five primary tactics the enemy uses to deploy fear in believers' lives. Each tactic is designed to achieve a specific result in derailing God's purpose for you.

1. Stall You—Keeping You from Getting or Maintaining Momentum

The first tactic is to stall you and keep you from gaining momentum. When God gives you an assignment, timing is often crucial. The enemy knows that if he can get you to hesitate, to second-guess, to "wait until the time is right," he can often prevent you from ever starting.

Think of Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4). God gave him a clear assignment to deliver Israel, but Moses responded with a series of "what if" questions driven by fear. "What if they don't believe me? What if I can't speak well? What if someone could do this better?" These fear-based hesitations could have stalled God's deliverance plan indefinitely.

The stall tactic manifests through:

• Perfectionism ("I need to learn more before I start")

• Procrastination ("I'll wait for better circumstances")

• Overthinking ("Let me consider every possible outcome")

• Seeking additional confirmations beyond what God has already stated or provided

Remember, momentum is powerful. Sometimes the enemy's greatest victory is simply keeping you from starting, knowing that objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

2. Stop You—Completely Halting Your Progress

If the enemy can't stall you from starting, his next tactic is to stop you, to completely halt your progress from pursuing what God has told you to do. This tactic employs overwhelming fear to make the obstacles seem so insurmountable that stopping or not starting feels like the only reasonable option.

Consider the twelve spies sent to survey the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14). Ten of them returned with a report so filled with fear that an entire nation refused to enter their destiny. "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are... We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

The stop tactic often comes:

• After you've started and gained some momentum

• When you face your first major challenge or setback

• During periods of opposition from family or friends

• After experiencing a failure or disappointment

The enemy whispers, "This is too hard," "You're in over your head," "This opposition must be a sign you're wrong," or "You should quit while you're ahead."

3. Steer You—Redirecting Your Path

Perhaps the most subtle tactic is steering—the enemy's attempt to influence your direction despite answered prayer, prophetic confirmation, and the overwhelming peace you had at the start of the journey. This tactic doesn't try to stall or stop you; it just attempts to redirect you slightly off course.

Remember Jonah (Jonah 1)? God gave him a clear assignment to go to Nineveh, but fear steered him toward Tarshish instead. He wasn't stalled or stopped; he was moving with determination and even paid for passage in the wrong direction. Small deviations at the beginning can lead to massive misdirection over time.

The steering tactic works through:

• "Practical" considerations that seem wiser than God's instruction

• Alternative opportunities that appear more reasonable or profitable

• Others' opinions that dilute your conviction

• The fear of making mistakes if you pursue the exact path God showed you

It sounds like wisdom but is actually fear-based redirection: "Maybe what God really meant was..." or "This alternative would accomplish the same thing with less risk."

4. Strip You—Removing Your Testimony

The fourth tactic is to strip you—to rob you of the memory of your testimony and the ability to be a testimony for others. Your testimony is one of your most powerful weapons against the enemy. We are told that believers overcome by "the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11). If the enemy can make you forget what God has done for you in the past, he can weaken your faith in what God wants to do in your future.

Think of the Israelites in the wilderness. Time and again, they witnessed God's miraculous provision and protection, yet repeatedly forgot these testimonies when facing new challenges. Scripture records that "they did not remember His power or the day when He redeemed them from the adversary" (Psalm 78:42).

The stripping tactic happens gradually:

• First, you stop sharing your testimony with others

• Then, you begin to doubt aspects of it yourself

• Eventually, you can't access the faith-building power of remembering God's faithfulness

• Finally, you lose your ability to encourage yourself or others through your past victorious experiences

I've witnessed believers who once had powerful testimonies but allowed fear to erase their confidence in God's power and personal intervention. Without the anchor of remembered faithfulness, every new challenge feels potentially insurmountable.

5. Sensitize You—Amplifying Risk Awareness

The fifth tactic is to sensitize you to the risk of failure. The enemy wants to make you hyperaware of every possible negative outcome, every risk, every potential for failure. This heightened sensitivity to risk paralyzes you from taking the faith steps necessary to fulfill your assignment.

Consider the servant in Jesus' parable who buried his talent (Matthew 25:24-25). He explicitly stated that fear was his motivation: "I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground." His hypersensitivity to risk—his fear of loss—prevented him from the very success and promotion his master intended to facilitate in his life.

This tactic has been so successful because the pathway to failure and success often looks identical at the beginning. Both involve:

• Stepping into unknown territory

• Risking current comfort for future rewards

• Facing potential criticism or rejection

• Experiencing temporary setbacks

The difference is whether you walk that pathway in faith or fear. The sensitizing tactic makes every normal risk feel catastrophic, every potential failure feel devastating, and every criticism feel crushing.

Recognizing the Tactics in Your Life

Take a moment to reflect: Which of these tactics has the enemy been using most persistently in your life?

• Has he stalled you from starting something God has called you to do?

• Has he stopped you from continuing an assignment you had begun?

• Has he steered you away from the specific direction God showed you?       

• Has he stripped you of your testimony or the memory of God's faithfulness?

• Has he sensitized you to risks and potential failures to the point of paralysis?

Identifying the specific tactic is the first step to dismantling its power in your life. Each tactic has a particular vulnerability, a specific counter-strategy that neutralizes its effect.

The Exposure Effect

There's power in exposure. When light shines on darkness, the darkness must flee. When you recognize and name the enemy's tactics, you strip them of their covert power. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

The enemy operates most effectively in obscurity, when his tactics remain unnamed and unrecognized. But you can resist him effectively once you identify what he's doing. Scripture promises, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

Consider this your special spiritual intelligence briefing. Now that you know the enemy's tactics, you're equipped to:

• Anticipate his moves before they fully manifest

• Counter each tactic with specific spiritual weapons

• Maintain your focus on God's assignment despite opposition

• Help others recognize and resist these same tactics

Your Assignment This Week

1.      Identify which of the five tactics the enemy has been using most consistently in your life.

2.      Write specific examples of how this tactic affects your decisions, actions, or progress in God's assignment.

3.      Choose one concrete action this week that directly counters the identified tactic. If you've been stalled, start something. If you've been steered, realign. If you've been stripped of testimony, remember and rehearse it.

4.      Memorize this declaration to speak aloud when fear attempts to use its tactics: "I recognize this tactic. I reject this fear. I will not be stalled, stopped, steered, stripped, or sensitized by the enemy. I choose God's plan over fear's deception."

5.      Share your insights with someone else, building accountability and community against these common tactics.

In Part 4 of our series, we'll explore "Overcoming Fear with God's Resources"—how to activate the power, love, and sound mind God has given you to defeat fear completely.

Remember, the enemy's tactics are predictable because he has a limited strategy compared to God's infinite wisdom.

Now that you recognize his tactics, you can ask boldly: WHY FEAR?

Stay vigilant, stay faithful. I'm praying for your victory over fear.