There was a drought in the land. Crops are failing, animals are dying, and people are suffering. It has been more than a year not a single drop of rain has kissed the ground. To make things worse, the heat of the scorching sun licks everything in its path.
So, one day, the people decided to pray for the rain. They plan to gather together in the open filled and ask God’s mercy and favor to give them the rain they longed for.
So the day of prayer came and the people gathered in one place. However, of all the people who went there, only one little, sweet, and innocent girl brought an umbrella.
This story illustrates the prayer life of most Christians today. So many of us have prayed to God to grant us rain, but we never thought of bringing with us our umbrella. Most often than not, we ask God for something and yet, at the back of our mind, we doubt and wonder if God would even hear our prayers.
Now, here’s the moral of the lesson: prayer and doubt don’t mix together. They are like water and oil. We can’t pray to God and doubt Him at the same time.
James (or properly translated as Jacob) gave us a strong warning against doubting. We read James 1:6:
“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.”
We underestimate the power of God when we doubt. When we ask God for something and yet we doubt, we are limiting what God can do in our lives.
James likens a man who doubts to a wave of the sea. They are unstable and lives under the mercy of the wind. At one moment, you might be filled with faith and strong conviction, but suddenly, new worries and anxieties spring up from your heart and then doubt God.
At that very moment, you become as restless and agitated as the wave of the sea.
So, instead of doubting God in our prayer, what does James tell us? He teaches us to ask God in faith. We must have the utmost assurance and full confidence that “if we ask anything according to his will, HE HEARS US” (I John 5:14).
This post originally appeared on BecomingChristians.com and was republished with permission. This article was written by Joshua Infantado.
Joshua’s Outpost is a source for men to find encouragement to be bold in their faith and walk with Jesus Christ.
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