2-Part Series: Defeating Doubt and Discouragement

Part I: Overcoming Doubt

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, DMin.
November 20, 2019

Bible Study Synopsis

Psalm 42:11, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”

       I.          Introduction

• Some things in life cause us to doubt what we believe. You must recognize at this point that doubt has creeped in on you.
• Doubt unfortunately is part of our human make up.

Here are two examples of doubt found in the bible.

1. Gideon – Shies away from God’s call.
2. Gideon tested God twice (in the scripture below) because he didn’t believe that one man could go against a predator of God’s people.

Judges 6:36-40 (NKJV)

³⁶ So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— ³⁷ look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.  – God removed Gideons doubt by responding to his fleece test and by using him to lead God’s people to victory.

2. Sarah – Doubt caused her to laugh at God’s promise
3. God spoke to Abraham and Sarah saying that they would birth a son at their old age. Sarah was 89 and Abraham was 99 at the time.

Genesis 18:10-15 (NKJV)

¹⁰ And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and ^[a]Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” ¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” -God hears Sarah laugh and he asks Abraham is there anything too hard for him.

1. Where there is doubt, you question the character and power of God.

     II.          What is Doubt?

1. Defining Doubt
   The secular definition of doubt is: to call into question the truth of: to be uncertain or in doubt about.
   1. Doubt in the Scripture can be seen to be characteristic of both believers and unbelievers. In believers it is usually a weakness of faith, a wavering in the face of God’s promises. In the unbeliever doubt is virtually synonymous with unbelief. – Scripture looks at doubt for what it really is. It doesn’t downplay doubt as we usually do.
2. Doubt vs. Unbelief
   2. Does doubt make me a non-believer? Being a believer doesn’t mean that you won’t have moments of doubt.

John 10:26 (NKJV)

²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, [a]as I said to you.  – These were unbelievers

Mark 9:24 (NKJV)

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” – He is a believer that had some doubt.

Matthew 14:31 (NKJV)

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” – Peter doubted in a certain moment. Doubt is not the absence of faith; it is instead moments of unbelief.

• Hang around doubters long enough and you will start to doubt.

1. Characteristics of Doubters

Four Characteristics of Doubters
1. Doubters are uncertain about decisions.
2. Doubters are distrustful.
3. Doubters tend to call on logic and reason.
4. Doubters hesitate before acting.

Some scripture examples of doubt

Matthew 14:31 (NKJV)

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 12:38-42 (NKJV)

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 21:21 (NKJV)

21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

Mark 11:23 (NKJV)

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.

 Luke 24:38 (NKJV)

38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

John 20:27 (NKJV)

27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

    III.          How Does Doubt Affect the Believer?

1. Instability in Your Faith

James 1:6-8 (NKJV)

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. – Wherever there is doubt, there is no stability. This means that you are easily swayed.

1. Falling Short of the Goal

Philippians 3:14 (NKJV)

14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – I’m not going to be distracted by past things. I’m constantly pushing towards what God has called me to.

    IV.          How to Overcome Doubt

1. Learn to Trust God
2. Do you really trust god? Jesus tells the disciples, let us pass over to the other side. Jesus then gets on the ship and goes to sleep. When the storm comes, the disciples panic and then they go wake up Jesus and ask if he cares that they might perish. If Jesus has said us (keyword) is going over, then why do you let what happens in between, make you doubt what he has said.

Soren Kierkegaard once stated, “Every mental act is composed of doubt and belief, but it is belief that is the positive, it is belief that sustains thought and holds the world together.”

1. Five Ways to Overcome Doubt
   Have faith – You need to have faith in God and in yourself. You have to believe God has equipped you. God knows everything about you, before he calls you.

   2. Stop worrying about what others think. The reason why you doubt him is because you are worried about the crowd response (This is something I personally have had a problem with all my life).

   3. Move from contemplation to action. Move from contemplation to action. Stop talking and thinking about it. Just do it.

   4. Don’t be afraid of failure. You will never know if God can do it, if you don’t try it.

   5. Stop wasting time investing in doubt

1. Combat doubt by re-realizing the truth. You have to let it go.

1. Here are some scriptures about re-realizing truth.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths.

John 20:31 (NKJV)

31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Romans 4:20 (NKJV)

20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

“Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.” – Robert Kiyosaki – Abraham had to leave his country on Gods command. He was blessed, because he didn’t doubt what God had told him to do.

     V.          Stop Worrying and Stand on His Word

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. – Everything that God promises had a yes attached to it.

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; – Doubt dilutes the promise of God concerning your life.

Proverbs 12:25 (NIV)

25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. – Faith itself is your greatest weapon towards doubt.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

11 Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence of things not seen. – Now faith is the first two words in this scripture. The word “Now” deals with current, immediate, or right now. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God according to the book of Romans. – We are going to dissect the meaning of this scripture.

The word of God is a revelation. It is a living word. There can be no relevance if there is no revelation.

Now the revelation is our foundation. When doubt comes in, the revelation is our foundation. Our revelation counters the doubt. We have a living word inside of us. When doubt comes in our revelation which is our foundation counters it. For example, when doubt says the bill won’t be paid, the revelation says God will supply all my needs.

Now faith is: The revelation I am standing on, is. In other words, we are not waiting to be healed, we are healed. When you lay holt of this revelation, you won’t have doubt on your life, no matter what anyone says.

Your revelation changes your situation. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the substance of hope. What fuels this is the foundation. It causes us to hope when the evil is attacking you.  This is why the enemy is after your hope. When a person is ready to jump, he has lost hope.

Where there is doubt there is no stability or foundation. My revelation reminds me of who I am.

Evidence of things not seen: Our whole life we been trained to respond to what we see. This is why the enemy tries to show you things that lead to losing a hold of our hope.

We don’t look at things the way others look at things. We expect miracles. Where there is no revelation, there is no expectation. We have to let you know that we expect something to happen.

An act of faith. You drive to the gas pump, because you need gas. You put your debit card in the pump and then you swipe it. You believe by faith that what’s in the gas pump is actually pumping into your car. You don’t see the gas, yet you believe. You drive all-around town just because your indicator says your tank is on full. You might not see the miracle now, but you have someone by you that is like the fuel indicator in the car. You might not see the wind, but the leaves will testify that the wind is blowing.

We see Peter walking on the water. He gets out of the boat, but do we really know Peter saw Jesus. Maybe he didn’t see him at first. We say this, because the scripture says they thought they saw a ghost and Peter said if it be you, let me come. He stepped out on the faith that this was Jesus.

We have to walk in faith and starve our doubt. Don’t let your doubt cause you to miss what God has promised you.

God bless!