Exposing the Root of Doubt

Mark 9: 17 - 24, Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" NKJV

I shared this portion of scripture from Mark's gospel because we can certainly relate to it in our own lives. Here is a father who is desperately seeking help from Jesus' disciples, but they are unable to set his son free from the spirit. Finally, the father brings his son to Jesus. The father realizes that he wants to believe; however, he is dealing with unbelief. 

Isn't it frustrating to have needs in your life, but you lack the faith to receive the answer to those needs? I applaud this father because he was open and honest with Jesus. Therefore, it enabled Jesus to help him get past the unbelief in his heart and see the boy get delivered. Like this man, you, too, have probably tried different ways to receive a healing, a miracle, a deliverance... etc., but to no avail. Consequently, because of all the times that you haven't received an answer to your request, you are probably dealing with a little doubt or unbelief in your own heart, and now it stands in the way of "getting your breakthrough." 

It's a fact of life that living in a world that is filled with sin and unbelief will sometimes cause us to be adversely affected by their voices. Satan loves to use disappointment and discouragement to dampen our faith. Therefore, we must guard our hearts against doubt, fear, and unbelief, especially when seeking the Lord for a breakthrough in our lives. We must close out the voices of bad influence and negative circumstances that could cause us to falter in our walk of faith. If we allow anyone or anything to cause us to waver in our faith, then we have found where the root of doubt is creeping into our hearts. 

Please keep your heart protected against all influences that place God or His faithfulness in a negative light. God is faithful!!! (Period) There will be times in our walk of faith when God will allow us to wait for a while before showing up to deliver us. Even so, we know that God has promised to deliver us from ALL our afflictions. Read James 1 to help understand why God allows us to wait. 

Remember this today: Doubt occurs when we believe one thing, but listen to someone or something else that contradicts what we believe. James tells us in chapter 1 that if we waver, then we WON'T receive anything from the Lord... even though He wants supply our need as much as we want Him to. Without faith, we can't please or come into agreement with God. Have you been waiting on God for an answer to prayer for a long time? Keep standing, guarding, and believing! He will surely fulfill His good pleasure in your life, in His time.

God Is Still Faithful,
Pastor Asa Dockery