John 20:24-29 | TPT One of the twelve wasn’t present when Jesus appeared to them—it was Thomas, whose nickname was “the Twin.” (25) So the disciples informed him, “We have seen the Lord with our own eyes!” Still unconvinced, Thomas replied, “There’s no way I’m going to believe this unless I personally see the wounds of the nails in his hands, touch them with my finger, and put my hand into the wound of his side where he was pierced!” (26) Then eight days later, Thomas and all the others were in the house together. And even though all the doors were locked, Jesus suddenly stood before them! “Peace to you,” he said. (27) Then, looking into Thomas’ eyes, he said, “Put your finger here in the wounds of my hands. Here—put your hand into my wounded side and see for yourself. Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!” (28) Then the words spilled out of his heart—“You are my Lord, and you are my God!” (29) Jesus responded, “Thomas, now that you’ve seen me, you believe. But there are those who have never seen me with their eyes but have believed in me with their hearts, and they will be blessed even more!”
Doubt short-circuits your faith.
A circuit is a continuous flow in a circle, beginning and ending in the same place.
Doubt interrupts the flow of God’s power in your life.
Matthew 14:25-33 | NKJV (25) Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. (26) And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. (27) But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” (28) And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” (29) So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. (30) But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” (31) And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (32) And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. (33) Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Doubt robbed Peter of being able to fully walk on the water to Jesus.
He started out walking on the water but doubt robbed Peter of Jesus’ highest and best.
As long as he acted on the word of Jesus, he walked on the water.
Jesus said Peter had faith but it was little and doubt was able to overcome Peter’s faith.
When he got his eyes off of Jesus and on the circumstances, he got afraid and began to sink.
Jesus is the Word of God. So, we must keep our eyes on the Word of God.
James 1:5-8 | NKJV (5) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (6) But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The person who wavers in their believing and their thinking is not wrong all of the time. Part of the time they got it right.
Part of the time they are actually doing the right thing.
Somewhere along the line, they grow discouraged and quit and disrupt the flow of God’s power; and this all can happen very quickly; it doesn’t take long.
A lot of people fail to receive because the enemy lures them into doubt and they become double minded.
Doubt must be avoided.
The prayer of faith is a prayer that you pray and when you are finished praying, you believe that you have the answer.
You don’t feel the answer or see the answer; you just believe that you have received. You then begin to thank God for the answer, and you have hold of it and will not let it go.
Faith is not required when you can see the answer.
People waver between seeing themselves having something and then wondering if it is going to come.
Mark 11:22-23 | NKJV (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Doubt never starts in the heart; it always starts in your mind. (Mark 11:23)
It is like a seed that gets planted in your mind, planted there by the enemy.
The enemy offers a suggestion to your mind. You have to choose what happens to that seed of doubt.
Because we do not understand that doubt is a process, we think that if we have a thought of doubt, then we have lost because we messed up and got over into doubt.
“If” is the badge of doubt. It will help you identify doubt.
John 20:27 | TPT (27) Then, looking into Thomas’ eyes, he said, “Put your finger here in the wounds of my hands. Here—put your hand into my wounded side and see for yourself. Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!”
We are going to learn in this series of messages, how to deal with doubt and keep it from shutting down our faith and robbing us of God’s highest and best.