One day I saw a video, in which the narrator made a statement that has stuck with me till today. He said, "Fear is the oil that keeps the wheel of religion spinning."

My usual, curious self became interested in that line of thought, and that led me on a journey of inquiry. I decided to find out if truly fear is at the back of many of our religious beliefs, to find out how fear determines our religious behaviors, and why prayer hasn't solved this aspect of fear.

What you're about to read is a tiny extract from my findings.

In my inquiry, I searched out everything the Bible and the Quran had to say about fear, and I found a few interesting things.

Let me list some of them. There is the:

• Fear of the unknown

• Fear of being defeated

• Fear of isolation or left behind

• Fear of death and hell

• Fear of the mysterious

• Fear of breaking moral and spiritual rules

• Fear of being unworthy of salvation

• Fears that prayers have not been said correctly or some parts have been left out

• Fear that sins have been committed or that God is displeased about certain actions, and that atonement or restitution should be made

• Fear that one isn't religious enough and must practice his or her religion more, or more perfectly, if not, "it doesn't count"

• Fear of making blasphemous comments

• Fear of being possessed by evil spirits

• Fearful thoughts (including sexual ones) or thoughts about religious figures or God

It was really interesting for me to discover that one of the most searched phrases on Google when it comes to FEAR is “the fear of God.”

In fact, right now, it is being searched… and as you can see from the screenshots attached (which I recorded this very morning), fear in the context of religion is still intriguing to many.

Here's where it gets interesting.

I discovered that people with religious fears exhibit certain behaviors, sometimes to some extremes, sometimes slightly, and there are diverse examples such as:

1. Praying or performing religious rituals for an extended period of time. For example, many hours a day, in some cases the rituals have to be lengthy because they just have to be done perfectly.

2. Continually asking God for forgiveness and repeatedly confessing perceived sins.

3. Constantly battling with whether your action was sinful or not, or maybe it has a sacrilegious undertone.

4. Trying to cancel out "bad thoughts " with more religious ones. I was teaching about fear in a group sometimes last year, and I cited an example of a guy sitting in church who sighted a lady looking really beautiful, and because he is sexually attracted to her, at first sight he pleaded, "The blood of Jesus!"

5. It may interest you to know that's fear is no respecter of religion. Everyone in church has some fears, the degree of the fear is what is different for each individual. A video went viral recently, in which a pastor in a certain church was teaching about fear, and while reading the Bible, he started running away from the pulpit. The church members without knowing why, started running too, perhaps to save themselves. The pastor stopped them in their tracks, and used that to reinforce that people have fears even inside the church.

6. Your religious affiliation may probably be using fear to keep you in its conclave. You hear that certain sets of people are those who are accepted by God, and others are damned, so don't join them or be associated with them.

See ehn... We can't shy away from the influence of fear. Whether in personal development, healthy relationships, health, self-esteem, or career success.

That said, let me recommend 3 programs that can help you, and if you know more, please add it in the comments.

1. The Fear Resolve Process which we've put together at Audacity2Lead to help you turn your fear into fuel for success. As I've said before, Fear Resolve is not another breakthrough program, energy program, promises of false abundance, motivational seminar or a self-help throw up session. Those who have been a part have described it as "practical, actionable steps for building up your courage and confidence every single day." You can read more about The Fear Resolve Process at http://crg.ng/fear-resolve

2. The Fear Fighters Conference hosted by Olusegun Cheggon Olaoke. Why do I recommend it? Because it has spiritual undertones, and can be a good resource for those who prefer such content.

3. The Fear Mastery program by Coach Samuel Babatunde Obafemi in Abuja. If you're in or around Abuja, you should consider being there.

"With this class, I have been able to search deeply within myself the core of my fears. I have answered questions I have never thought of before, and I am looking forward to the Fear Resolve Class. Thank you Dayo. God bless you for this invaluably helpful class." - Mrs A