Public speaking, help me Lord Jesus!

The thing is...I am quite a shy person, so I probably should not be doing the job that I am doing right now! :)  Five years ago an opportunity came knocking on my door and I decided to open that door and take a leap of faith, and so, I began my journey on the "pothole" road of children's ministry. My job requires me on certain occasions to conduct meetings, classes and conferences for groups of all sizes.  This is painful for me, I detest it, don't like it, don't want to do it!  My heart races, I can't breath, my faces turns red and I believe on one occasion,  it actually turned purple!:()  For the last year or so, something knocked my confidence...I can't put my finger on it, what specific incident, or what caused me to retrieve back into myself....but it happened! I have taken a personal break from meetings and have avoided any kind of public speaking at all costs.  The result is my confidence has been shattered...and what little confidence I had in myself in the first two years of this job, has totally been flipped upside down.  My work has suffered, my attitude has changed, my focus has shifted and I have lost vital connections with my volunteers that help make my job easier. This is NOT good! So what to do? I know that if I was having a private conversation with some of my dearest and closest friends, I know without a doubt what they would say, "Wendy, if you let God be the center of your life and put your fear in God's hands, you can do this!".   My mother would say, "My girl, have you prayed about it?".  So, if I know what the answer is, and I have been praying about it....why have I not changed, what is wrong with me?  I recently heard someone say - prayer is our lifeline to God.  I agree with that statement and I believe it too, but it got me thinking....prayer is our lifeline, it brings us peace, comfort, it's an emotional release mechanism, it bonds people together and it is our connection to our Lord and Saviour, BUT without works, without practicing, without making an effort, without positive thinking and actively facing our fears dead on....how can we ever have hope of changing or turning down our fear dial? It is so simple, isn't it? We all know it, we know what the answer is.....maybe saying it out loud and writing it down is the first step towards actively wanting to begin the healing process and concurring my fear of public speaking!