Believer's Bay

Believer's Bay

Sharing the Love of God with Common Sense

"Prayer Power"
by Petey Prater

July 2006

Hindrances to Prayer – Doubt
You are in a tug of war, my friend. The battlefield is your mind. Your Faith is struggling against Doubt, each trying with all their might to pull you to their side. The reward: Faith wins victories and eventually, eternal life. Doubt loses, ending in eternal death.
Doubt yanks your mind hard, mocking, “Jesus won’t help you. The problem is greater than He is. Give up.” 
 
Don’t listen to Doubt! Hang on! The battle is won in your mind and spirit first, and then manifested in your life.

Faith must lean into Jesus’ authority and power. Jesus cries, “Join me. ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,’ I alone will defeat Doubt.” (Matt.28:18) 
What is doubt? Webster’s Dictionary says doubt is: uncertainty of belief or opinion, distrust, an inclination not to believe or accept.

The Results of Doubt:

Doubt is Faith’s archenemy. It defeats your prayers by producing anxiety, fear and confusion. Doubt strips your faith in Christ, leaving you powerless. The Bible says:
·                                 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:6-8)

The Results of Faith:


You can’t win life’s tug of war without faith in Jesus Christ. There is one true God, a single Being revealed as Father, Son and Spirit. Your faith must be rooted in the Word and character of the great I Am, the great I Will. No other faith prevails.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He (God) has called you . . . and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms. . . . And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything. . . . (Eph. 1:18-22)
      Faith in Christ, exercised daily, body-builds your spirit man, strengthening your ability to believe. Your part is to cease striving and simply agree with and obey Christ’s Word. You join His team by believing His Word. Then His empowered mercy reaches out to meet your need and win the battle for you.
 

Strengthen your Faith:

  1. Seek intimacy with Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and friend by reading the Bible and talking to Him in prayer daily.
  1. Know (hear, receive, love, obey) the Word of God.
  1. Praise and thank God in all situations.
Faith, or Doubt, is a choice. Come to Jesus. Stop doubting and believe.

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Petey Prater is a Beaverton, OR, USA writer and speaker. She can be reached at donprater@juno.com. She writes devotionals and poetry and has also contributed to three books:

Prayers for Troubled Times compiled by Jeannie St John Taylor, AMG Publishers and

101 Stories of Answered Prayer by Jeannie St John Taylor, AMG Publishers.