“Pray lest you faint.”-{Luke 18:1}

 

In the last couple of days, we looked at Potential reasons, and temptations of why we don’t persevere in prayer, such as delays, and difficulties, and today we look at a third temptation to stop us from continuing in prayer namely…

3.- DOUBTS.

if we don’t see immediate answers to our prayers we at times can be tempted to doubt… God! Questioning God, Can He be trusted, is His promises a hoax, though we would never outwardly say that yet our thinking shows we are not convinced that He is reliable, nor the promises are reliable, and it is an attack on God as when in the Garden the evil one used doubt to seek to attack the character of God through enticing Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”-{Genesis 3:1}. The serpent seeks to undermine what God has said, and does He really mean what He says? To Create DOUBTS... ABOUT GOD, Ultimately!

THOMAS…DOUBTED.

That Jesus had risen from the dead when told by the disciples that they had seen Him. But also the LORD had told the disciples that He must suffer and die but He would Be raised from the dead!

Thomas not only doubted what the disciples told him but what Jesus had told him with the disciples before the cross!

“…the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

  • The Remedy for doubt is to believe what He promises, He delivers on!

THE TWO DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS…DOUBTED.

They also DOUBTED what Jesus had promised concerning His resurrection. They were walking away from Jerusalem when Jesus came alongside them, but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.”-{Luke 24:27}

  • The Antidote to Doubts is the Scripture. He brought them back to what the Word said! It was already in there!

JOHN THE BAPTIST… DOUBTED

John is the one who declared,”..he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” -{John 1:29}.

But he then had a moment of Doubt;

Later on…”When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Note the SOLUTION TO Doubts Jesus lovingly assures him;

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.” -{Matthew 11:2-6}

Eve, Thomas, The two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and John Baptist are but a few who were tempted and succumbed to DOUBTS about God, and what He said. Sound familiar?

  • Doubts do not necessarily mean you do not love the LORD, or are not saved, “doubts” are something the evil one seeks to inject into the thought life of believers to try to destabilize them spiritually.
  • Doubts seek to dishearten and turn your attention away from the LORD or to look at Him and wonder if is He faithful. can He be trusted? The same old schemes, spiritual attacks on believers whom he hates because He hates God. So, don’t grow weary.
  • Doubts are not an unusual attack of the evil one to the mind of the follower of Christ. And specifically, as those who are pursuing Him, his kingdom, and praying. So what happens if you are praying and doubts come, what is the tendency? To stop praying, which is to stop turning to the LORD. Doubts seek to attack the character of God and the meaning of what He says as in the case of Eve in the Garden!
  • Take hope, you are in a spiritual fight!
  • Doubts are not uncommon in the attack on your faith!

 DETECTING AND EXPOSING DOUBTS;

  • The evil one brings a “thought” to our mind, to “doubt God” and His Word, we must Recognize, Reject it by REPLACING it with Truth. One way to do so is through familiarizing and using a verse such as Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters,
  • whatever is true,
  • whatever is honorable,
  • whatever is right,
  • whatever is pure,
  • whatever is lovely,
  • whatever is commendable,
  • if there is any excellence and
  • if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

This is a great verse to EVALUATE a thought and see if the passes the test of that verse. For example, a “thought of doubt” comes to mind about God.” How would you run it through your mind to EVALUATE whether it has a Right for you to allow its entrance into your mind to affect you? WELL, “Is it a TRUE Thought about God? Does His Word teach that about Him or His Word?”

If it is not then now that you have RECOGNIZED it REJECT the DOUBT and REPLACE with what? TRUTH! The TRUTH of Scripture. This is how Jesus as a Man, the Perfect Man defeated satan when he tempted him in Matthew 4. Three times Jesus responded with, “IT IS WRITTEN… IT IS WRITTEN,…IT IS WRITTEN!”

He Evaluated what was said Recognized the satanic cunning words and even twisted Scripture out of context, He REJECTED it and REPLACED it with TRUTH! If not Reject it by Replacing it with Truth. This would show us, teach us that we too need to know how to accurately handle the Word and Philippians 4:8 is a powerful weapon for your arsenal when THOUGHTS of DOUBTS would come to your mind against God, His promises, His provision for you “In Christ.”

  • Is the DOUBT TRUE of God?
  • Is it an HONORABLE thought worthy for you to entertain?
  • Is it RIGHT?…. You see how you can Practically EXAMINE thoughts including DOUBTS that come to mind… Examine them in the LIGHT of Scripture!

Philippians 4:8 would be a great verse to memorize and meditate upon and incorporate into your life. Take a few words at first and memorize and over a week or so add another few from the verse and before you know it, you will have memorized it and when thoughts of doubts come to mind the Holy Spirit can remind you to hold up the Word against it. the Shield of faith!

Doubts seek to attack the character of God and turn us aside from trusting Him as Trustworthy, honorable, reliable, and faithful to His Word.

Keep persevering in praying, and feed your mind with the promises of His Word and on the character of God! When doubts seek to subtly or come like a flood, turn to the WORD OF GOD and focus on His reliability and His unchanging, perfect, flawless Word.

“The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.”-{Psalm 19:7-8}. Note the descriptions of the Word as “perfect, trustworthy, right…”

SWORD IS SHARP ENOUGH- USE IT!

When a “doubt” comes to mind, ask the Holy Spirit to immediately train you and ask yourself, “What does God’s Word say?” Use the Scripture, “the Sword of the Spirit” {Read Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12}. which speaks of the Word of God as your spiritual weapon when tempted to doubt by the evil one, injecting thoughts for you to yield to his temptation and embrace the doubt and continue to use the mind God has given you to think, think, think over and over on the doubt that if embraced. will lead to despair, dishonoring God with accusations as untrustworthy!

The word “sword” as used by Paul in Ephesians 6;17 is a small one, like a dagger, that is used for up-close contact, unlike a long sword that keeps distance between two people, but this dagger-like is for up close contact, combat. and that is what God has provided His Word to be used as a weapon against the evil one’s assaults.

“Doubts” are the evil one’s close-up thoughts to cast a blemish on the character of God and the surety of His perfect, pure, sufficient Word which is the Living and Active Word.-{Heb 4:12} -Truth is the Answer for every Doubt. What does God say in His Word on the issue?

  • Fill your mind with TRUTH, one reason so you are not taken captive through DOUBTS that seek to ultimately dishonor God when embraced and acted upon…and one way it can show up is that you … quit perserving in prayer!

Keep persevering in praying, and keep using the Word of God in the fight of faith.

QUENCH THE DOUBTS.

USE THE Sword. His Word and believe Him. Go by what He says because of who He is rather than what you feel or the doubts that come to mind, and they will…come… but His Spirit in you and His Scripture is sufficient to HELP and offer HOPE to you, through you… to offer HELP and HOPE to…OTHERS!

God Bless

Aidan.