Fear not! That two-word phrase appears as a divine command more times in the Bible than any other directive from God’s angels or Jesus. According to one source, the divine command to “Fear not!” or “Fear ye not!” — sometimes translated as “Do not be afraid!” — appears as many as 92 times in the King James Version of the Bible. A few examples:

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 28-30, tells the story of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to tell her that she would conceive and bear the Son of the Lord God, Jesus. The angel said to Mary, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Naturally, Mary appeared startled and perplexed, and so the angel continued, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

And again in Luke, chapter 2, verses 1-10, when Jesus was born, an angel appeared radiantly to shepherds living in their fields, and the shepherds were terrified. This angel used the same divine command, “Do not be afraid, for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people … to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah.” And the angel directed them where to find the infant Jesus.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 14, verses 22-27, we read that in the evening after a day of preaching to crowds, Jesus told his disciples to go on ahead of Him to cross the sea by boat while he went up the mountain to pray alone. And in the early morning, He came walking toward them in the boat across the sea. They thought it was a ghost and cried out in fear. Jesus said to them, “Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Now many interpretations logically suggest that this divine command to “Fear not!” simply is a reassurance in response to the startle or confusion of a sudden supernatural vision or spiritual visitation. But a command that appears 92 times is not to highlight the divine need to calm the reactions of mere mortals in the face of a spiritual experience. That actually would not make sense, right? Like many scriptural passages — across many different religions — this phrase actually provides us with a spiritual code that can open us to a higher consciousness. To understand that code and how to apply it anytime yourself is to find the key that unlocks the cosmic realms.