Doubt Your Doubts!

Mat 14:22-31; Mark 11:22-23

Sometime ago, I came across this quotation from one of the devotionals that Selwyn Hughes wrote, which will be the basis of our fasting and prayers this month:

“You have to learn to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs…”

For someone reading this right now, this can either be a word of encouragement from God telling you to hold on to His word and to keep trusting Him in spite of what you have been or are going through, while for someone else, it may be an admonishment or indictment about the state of your heart or your attitude to His word at this time —

You are allowing your doubts to overcome your beliefs!

What Really Is Doubt?

To doubt is:

• To be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.

• To distrust.

• To be undecided in opinion or belief.

What Causes Us To Doubt?

A possible reason for Doubt can be found in one of the dictionary definitions of the word:

A feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.

So from this definition of doubt, we can see a spiritual correlation with what Jesus said to His disciples in the scriptures we read today:

Every time we doubt God, it is because we are uncertain about the truth of His word, the reality of the promise that He had made to us or uncertain about the truth of who He is and His nature!

As Jesus points out in His admonition to Peter and the other disciples; to doubt is simply to not have faith.

Our doubts offend and belittle God; our doubts call the truth of His word into question and challenge His integrity. Our doubts question the reality of His promises and suggest that His nature is uncertain!

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Mat 14:30

As it happened with Peter, when you take your eyes off Jesus and look at the situation around you, fear will make you to doubt His word and cause you to sink!

When we are believing God for something and the answer to our prayers is delayed; when it appears as though the contrary winds are getting more boisterous and the storms are getting stronger; when it looks like help is far from us and the night is getting darker still; when it looks like time is running out and the deadline is imminent, we can become unwitting victims to doubt and unfortunate prisoners to fear!

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Mat 14:31

But the good news is that Jesus did not allow Peter to go under!

When Peter cried out to Jesus, Jesus stretched out His hand to Peter and caught Him! Hallelujah!

Prayer Focus:

What are you afraid of?

What are the doubts that the enemy has caused to plague your heart and your mind and rob you of your trust in God and your peace?

• Confess your struggles to God today and repent of your doubts, unbelief and your fears. You have doubted His word, doubted His promise to you or doubted the wisdom of His ways and the integrity of His actions!

• Cry out to God; reach out to Jesus like Peter did: Ask Jesus to stretch out His hand and catch you.

• Ask Him to save you from sinking and to calm the storms in your life.

Amen.

Shalom,

Pastor Wale Ola