I am doubting when I woke up

[The Encourager]

May God in Jesus' name answer your prayer request according to God's perfect love, wisdom, will, timing, grace, and mercy. God is so in love with you. Be Encouraged!

Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, the way You want me to know You. So that I will trust You with my life and anyway that You move in my life. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge You in all my ways, and allow You to direct my footsteps and actions. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do.

God heal me in every area of my life. Deliver and cleanse me of everything in my life that doesn't honor You. Transform and renew my mind. Bless me with love, power, and a sound mind. Let the mind that is in Christ Jesus be in me. Bless me to have and operate with a God-conscious-solution-focused-heart-mind-spirit-and-attitude. Bless me to have a God Kingdom Culture Mentality. God be with me as a mighty warrior. Let no weapon formed against me prosper. Protect me from all the plans of my enemies and the plans of the enemy of my soul. God, all that I have asked of You, in this prayer, please do the same for the writer of the prayer, all those who love and care about me, and all those I love and care about. God, please forever honor this prayer over each of our lives. God Thank You. Amen, so be it by faith, and by faith, it is so. Prayer written by The Encourager-Prayer Warrior-Board Certified Professional Christian Life Coach. www.theencourager.net

Heal Me Lord Jesus Spirit, Soul, And Body

Healed Spirit Soul And Body

be-an-encourager.blogspot.com

 

[Chrysostom]

Your honesty about waking up with doubts after watching someone explain why he left the faith is important to bring before God. It is understandable that this would shake you, especially when it looks like he did everything right and still walked away.

One thing to remember is that we cannot judge the truth of the faith by the life of any one person, even when that life looks admirable. Many have had outwardly virtuous lives and still held to corrupt teaching, and many people have been led astray because they respected the life and did not examine the teaching. On the other hand, a life that is not in conformity with the faith will over time make it very hard to remain in sound faith. We do not see the heart as God does, and an outward appearance of doing everything right does not tell the whole story.

Scripture also warns that asking How with perplexity, as if God cannot be trusted, is the question of those who are still of the earth and have no strong belief. Sarah asked How and laughed, and many others who stayed in that questioning fell from the faith. Doubt that is entertained and left to sit becomes a place where faith weakens. To still be doubting the first things of the faith after time has passed is a sign of a mind that is still feeble and needs strengthening, like a child who needs milk again. We are called to be mature, which means holding the faith together with a right life, not going back to lay the foundation again and again.

Faith itself is not a small or elementary thing to be looked down on. It is the whole power, and it comes entirely by grace from above. The blessing does not remain unmovable if we become listless. As it is written, we must continue in the faith, otherwise we also will be cut off. That is why Noah is held before us as an example. Reason suggested nothing of a flood. People were marrying and being given in marriage, the air was clear, there were no signs of change, but being warned by God of things not yet seen, he moved with fear and prepared the ark. Faith acts on the word of God even when our eyes see no sign.

So the question is not whether another person seemed to do everything right, but whether Christ is risen as He said. The proof given to the disciples was, Come and see the place where He lay, and remember His words. He said He would rise, and He did. Our faith does not rest on the perseverance of any man, but on the faithfulness of Christ and His word.

In this season of doubt, do not limit prayer to certain times. Pray at all seasons in the Spirit and watch with perseverance. You have heard of the widow who prevailed by her importunity, and the friend who at midnight shamed his friend into yielding by his persistence, and the Syrophoenician woman who by constancy of entreaty called forth the compassion of the Lord. Bring this doubt to God again and again without ceasing. Ask Him to show you His goodness and to strengthen you, for forgiveness and righteousness are not of debt but of grace to those who believe.

Keep holding fast to what you have received. Stay in the Scriptures daily, remember the words of Christ, stay close to faithful believers who can walk with you and help you examine what you heard, and ask God to make your life conform more to your faith. He is able to keep you calm and quiet so that you may know again the nobility that is yours in Christ.

 

[Silas]

It is understandable to feel shaken when you wake up with doubt, especially after listening to someone describe why they left the faith. When someone seems sincere and seems to have done everything right outwardly, it can make you wonder if faith itself is fragile or unreliable.

It helps to remember what faith actually is. Scripture describes faith as the inner confidence that gives substance to what we hope for and the evidence within us for what we cannot yet see. It is not a vague definition as much as a description of what faith does. It anchors us in the reality of God even though we have not seen Him, because the evidence of His work is all around us. Faith is not blind. In fact the person who trusts God sees more, not less, because he sees beyond what is merely visible to what God has promised.

That is why outward activity alone is never the measure of faith. Good works cannot create faith and they cannot take the place of faith. True faith will always affect how a person lives, and a life will gradually come into alignment with what is believed, but the faith must come first. Works flow from faith and show that faith is alive, but doing the right things outwardly does not by itself mean there was living faith inside. Scripture teaches that we are saved by grace through faith as a gift from God, not by what we do, and that righteousness is credited to us when we trust in Jesus Christ. At the same time, a genuine trust will show itself in actions. To say we believe without any change in life is to have a kind of faith that is dead and cannot save. The real question is not whether someone appeared to do everything right, but whether there was a living trust in Christ that was producing that life from the inside.

The Bible also shows that people of real faith are not always free from struggle or doubt. Some who trusted God saw great victories, subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions and quenched fire. Others with the same faith endured suffering, hardship and even torture. Having faith does not guarantee an easy path and it does not mean we will never feel weakness. Even great men of faith had moments when their trust faltered. One who had trusted God to leave his home later tried to protect himself by deception, and another who had stood boldly later fled and hid in a cave out of fear. Lapses do not necessarily mean faith was never real, but they do show that faith needs to be nourished and strengthened continually through hearing the word of God.

When faith is tested, that testing is not for God to discover what is in us, He already knows, but for us to see what is there and to let what is genuine be proved and made stronger. Many who were commended for faith died still trusting without having received everything that was promised in their lifetime. Their hope was not in immediate results but in the faithfulness of God to fulfill His promises in His time.

You did not receive the Holy Spirit or assurance of salvation by doing enough right things. You received Him by hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. That assurance grows as you continue to trust Christ alone, without adding anything to His finished work. If your belief is truly in Him, God counts that faith as righteousness, and that standing is by grace so that the promise can be sure.

Bring these doubts honestly to the Lord. Ask Him to strengthen the measure of faith He has already given you. Stay in the Scriptures where faith is fed, and remember that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Ask Him to show you whether your trust is resting fully on Jesus Himself, and to produce in you the quiet work that living faith always brings, a changed heart, love for Him and patience in hope. He is faithful to keep those who truly trust Him, even when feelings waver.