Get the Doubt Out

THIS WEEK’S FOCUSED SCRIPTURE(S)

Matthew 14:29-31 New King James Version (NKJV)
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?”

Matthew 17:17-21 New King James Version (NKJV)
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
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THOUGHTS FROM JACQUE

We are so challenged by what we see, or should I say, not see, that I believe many times our faith gets pushed to the side and we operate in the “natural” instead of the “supernatural.” Do you wonder why we don’t see more miracles of healing, or the mountains of depression, oppression, debt, etc., move when God promises us that the mountain will move from here to there with our faith? We can have faith and unbelief at the same time, and sometimes, doubt and unbelief are generated by what we see.

Notice, as Peter is walking on the water, he begins to sink. Why? He SAW the wind. Jesus asked him, “Why did you doubt?” And in the situation with the boy who had the demon, the disciples did have faith to cast the demon out, and they exercised that faith, but didn’t SEE the same results that they had SEEN before. Why? Jesus says to them, “Because of your unbelief.” Their unbelief was their problem, not their faith. Jesus also added, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” The context here is unbelief. Prayer and fasting do not drive out certain demons. If the name of Jesus and faith in His name won’t do the job, fasting and prayer won’t either. Jesus was saying that fasting and prayer are the only ways of casting out this type of unbelief.

Instead of trying to build huge amounts of faith to overcome our fears and unbelief, let’s remove our doubt by cutting it off at the source; then our simple, “child-like” faith that remains will do the job. It doesn’t take big faith, just pure faith. Build your faith and it will destroy your doubt.