For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.--2 Timothy 1:7.

So God didn't give that spirit to us, so where does it come from? It comes from the enemy. Satan has manipulated the culture of this fallen world to increase our fears. Fear is a faith killer. It always opposes the promises that God has given us.

How does fear get into our lives? Well what are we listening to? Watching? If we sit and watch two hours of news each night it can effect us in a negative way.  I am not saying don't be informed, but even watching the news should be limited. We hear about lay offs, crime, health threats then start wondering if we are next. We feed our eyes and ears and it all goes into the heart. In the scriptures the heart represents more than love.  It's the soul, our mind will and emotions. You've heard the sayings. "His heart wasn't in it" "Follow your heart:" "Your hearts desire".  Those things apply to more than romantic love. The bible tells us to guard our hearts.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.--Genesis 6:5
Put in evil and evil will surely come out. Fear comes in different ways. We know if the kids watch a scary movie, they might just want to sleep in your bed that night. Ok that's an obvious manifestation. Yet not so obvious fears can show up later as insecurity, phobias, timidity and a fear of failure.  Remember the bible calls it a spirit. It doesn't leave just because the movie is over.  As parents we must use Godly wisdom in what we allow in our homes. Not just for our children but ourselves too.

One example is the vampire movies that have been around since  1922. Why are they so popular? Maybe because it's familiar. The vampire loves a mortal woman woos her. God loved and woos us to him.  The vampire "undead" rises from the grave. Jesus rose from the grave.  Vampire lives forever by drinking blood and promises you will live forever.  We can only have eternal life because Jesus shed his blood for us. The vampire dies by a wooden stake. Jesus died on a wooden cross. See how the enemy has used something holy and twisted it. It happens over and over again in every genre of entertainment. We must remember that God will not allow His word to be mocked.