How to Defeat Doubt

I like to make a list--either mentally or in my notebook--of the things I'm trusting the Lord to do. Then I do what I think Hudson Taylor meant, when, one day shortly before he died, he said to his wife, "I'm too weak to pray; all I can do is trust." Actively trusting by reviewing before the Lord what He has promised strengthens our faith. If doubts appear, we may need to again pray, claim His promised Word, and once again cast all our cares on Him.

E. Sangster in The Pure in Heart, says that if doubt emerges at any time, we should hack that doubt to pieces before the Lord as Samuel hewed Agag in pieces in Gilgal.

The Holy Spirit will enable us to resist doubts. Jesus asked us to pray and not faint. Fainting begins when we entertain doubts, when we begin questioning that God is sovereign and cares about our situation, that He listened to our prayer. If we resist Satan in a moment of temptation to doubt, our faith is stronger. 

Whether or not we allow thoughts to discourage us may be the making or the breaking of our faith. When faced with this choice, we're never the same. We're either stronger or weaker. 

We should live as though God is answering our prayer. We do not have to force issues to bring about His will. The faith-way is to allow God to fulfill His promises in His own time and manner. 

Dear Lord, thank You that Your dependability to answer my prayers is dependent upon Your promises - not my feelings. 

"Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16).