Does fear of failure haunt you? Does Fear of failure keep you from pursuing your dreams? Are you trying to win in life – or really trying not to lose?  To understand these questions in a deeper way, imagine going to a hockey game where team A simply uses their bodies to cover their own net, making it impossible for team B to score. Team B takes shot after shot at the net and all six of the guys on team A are bruised and bloody from the puck constantly hitting them, but the game ends in a zero to zero tie. No one wins, but no one loses.

In this example, team A is so defensively oriented, that neither they nor their opponent can possibly score. Absolutely no one would want to watch this kind of a game, yet this is exactly what many of us subconsciously do in life.  Instead of playing to win, we go through life trying desperately not to lose because we have a deep, underlying fear of failure.

Instead of living a big, abundant life that Jesus came to give us, the thief steals our joy and peace (Jn 10:10). Satan knows that fear of failure keeps us from achieving our potential. So, the very thing we are fearful of – failure – keeps us from succeeding, and we fail by default. We fail to live up to our potential. We fail to discover all the surprises God has in store for us. We fail to score any goals.

Here is the paradox Satan knows so well:  

Let’s apply this to real life. In your marriage, do you still date and court your spouse with creativity, so your relationship is winning and growing stronger? Or do you just live together in the same house? In your job, do you do your very best, take on extra responsibility and show initiative, so you are winning and growing in your career? Or do you just clock in and out in order to get a paycheck? With God, do you spend quality time alone, praying and growing in your relationship with him? Or do you only take a moment to pray when you need something and never really engage with God?

Perhaps getting by is not so bad, but it certainly isn’t great – nor abundant. If you want to change your focus from getting by to abundant, from not losing to winning, then the secret is to face our fear of failure with prayer.  After all, Jesus came to give us an abundant life. When we fill ourselves with Jesus, we get his abundance as a bonus! Playing to win makes the game so much better!  If you’d like the first three chapter of our book Confronting the Liar to help you in your battle against fear and Satan’s other attacks, we’d love to send them to you for free. Let’s go on the offense together!