Tag: doubt

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Enlightenment for Those Struggling With the Word

Sanctifying Spirit,
Your Word is life. Through it you lead us to you in faith, and through it you sustain and strengthen that faith. Yet, because your ways are not our ways nor are your thoughts our thoughts, we struggle with certain teachings in Scripture. Be present, Spirit, with those who are discouraged or doubting. Do not allow the evil one to manipulate confusion or uncertainty in such a way as to drive a wedge between our loving Father and his precious saints. Rather, use the struggle to stretch faith. Allow doubts to serve as a reflection of our own weakness, leading to a greater reliance on God’s strength. Use the clear passages of Scripture to illuminate difficult teachings and so enlighten believers to your precious and powerful promises. Bring your gift of unity wherever the devil divides, and thwart his efforts to use your Word to turn your people against each other and against you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Those Feeling the Weight of Worry

Powerful Lord God,
We are often overwhelmed by worry. Some have difficulty imagining anything other than worst-case scenarios playing out in their lives. At that level, virtually anything all day long can be cause for concern. Such worry is not only harmful physically, but it also fertilizes the seeds of doubt that seek validation when worries play out as the worrier feared. That kind of worry turns us from, not to you, Lord.  

Remind those weighed down by worry that you are always in control, and that you promise to bring good out of all things. You will always deliver us from harm, either around it altogether, through it to the other side, or home to heaven as a result of it. With that confidence, we have nothing to fear. Suffocate our worry with a deeper trust in your Word, where we learn to lean on your promises and where our troubled hearts find peace in you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Those Trapped in False Religions

Holy Redeemer,
You alone know the total number of those who are currently ensnared by false religions. Regardless of the cult, religion, belief, or practice, if it does not cling to you alone as the way, the truth, and the life by which we are saved, it will ultimately lead to death. By your almighty power, free all who are being led astray by twisted teachings and false teachers. Expose them to your Word, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, lead them out of darkness into your wonderful light. Replace misleading and destructive error with the delight of what is right and true. Discard doubt and uncertainty with the assurance of forgiveness and eternal life that come only through faith in you. Let them know and experience the stunning joy of salvation, and awaken them to the pleasure of a life of purpose in you.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Trust Your Promises

Gracious Lord,
Your promises are trustworthy and true because you only speak the truth and cannot lie. So, when I doubt them or struggle to believe them, the issue is never on your end, but always on mine. Whether I question them because they seem too impossible or because I know I am too unworthy, put my doubts to rest. Erase them and replace them with unwavering confidence in all that you say and do, knowing that your commitment to me and your dedication to my salvation are unyielding. Help me see all the ways you keep your promises on a daily basis, and firm up my faith as a result. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Live Confidently in Your Power

Mighty God,
Move me to take to heart your reminder that you have not equipped me with a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). While your power and might are readily on display throughout the pages of Scripture, I forget that, by faith, I am privy to that very power. Because I know my shortcomings and am well aware of my own disappointments, any confidence I have easily dwindles. I am reluctant to speak up or take action when the opportunities arise. I let my fear of past failures prevent me from moving forward.

Direct me to look to you for strength and power – a strength and power that I could never match on my own! Where my own power would buckle and collapse, your power is strong enough to move mountains. Since you are the providing this power, I don’t have to look within myself for these qualities, but to you. Where my self-doubt has crippled me, let me act simply on faith, certain that you will provide me with the words and actions to move forward with confidence. Grant me a fearless faith that is powerfully spurred on not by who I am, but by whose I am.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Those Doubting Their Faith

Loving Lord,
The devil never tires of sowing seeds of doubt to spring up and choke out our faith. Whenever questions or doubts arise, direct those wrestling with them to your powerful Word. From there, send your Spirit to counter all doubts and combat all lies with the truth. Guard and protect those doubting from the presence of negative influences that would reinforce doubt and steer them away from your Word. Activate fellow believers to surround and support those struggling and to keep them in their prayers. Bring them clarity and understanding, and although Satan’s desire is for doubt to morph into unbelief, use such seasons of testing to strengthen and fortify the faith of the doubting instead. Manipulate Satan’s schemes to serve your eternal purposes, and by doing so, bring encouragement through such occasions to others when doubts arise in the future.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

We Don’t Need to Drag Out Doubt

adbLeave a comment

(John 21:1-14)

There are certain doubts that are rather easily put to rest with a simple proof. Someone tries to convince you that a certain dessert is spectacular, but when they describe it to you, your face wrinkles up in disgust. Your doubt can be either confirmed or corrected simply by taking a bite of the dessert. You are at lunch with a friend and she is convinced she’s spotted a certain celebrity eating a few tables away. You doubt that it’s actually him. Your doubt can be put to rest by simply asking the individual. Your cousin says he makes a shocking amount of money on some side gig, but he’s always stretched the truth a bit, so you doubt him. He can prove it by showing you the direct deposits or his pay stubs. Some doubts can be rather easily be put to rest. 

Others demand more attention. We often want to see the same magic trick repeated a few times because we don’t believe that what we just saw happen, actually just happened. Someone familiar with a child’s history of bad behavior is likely to doubt that the behavior has suddenly changed overnight; they’d need to see the improved behavior consistently to believe it. If a rookie athlete about whom analysts are skeptical will succeed at the professional level has an outstanding game, a similar effort will need to be repeated with some frequency before analysts are won over. Some doubts require more extensive proof to be put to rest. 

I probably don’t have to ask under which of those two categories a resurrection from the dead would belong. People don’t normally rise from the dead, so when such a claim arises, it’s natural for people to expect to see multiple proofs. And the Jesus who knows us so well is aware that our doubt doesn’t always disappear so easily.

That’s why John’s introductory and closing words in the verses from chapter 21 carry so much weight. Don’t miss them: “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples…” (v.1). “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead” (v.15). What does John want us to take away from this account? This Resurrection stuff is not made up! Jesus had risen and appeared – and more than just once, you doubters! It’s the real deal, and Jesus went out of his way to make sure that was known by appearing on multiple occasions.

The Sunday after Easter always has the account of doubting Thomas as the reading for the Gospel (cf. John 20). Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked upper room, but since Thomas wasn’t there to experience it the first time, he doubted Jesus had actually risen. So Jesus showed up a week later to the disciples again and who is there that time, but Thomas. Then – after seeing with his own eyes – the doubts erode and his confidence is boosted. Jesus didn’t show up to shame Thomas; he showed up because he wants to be found so that doubts can be put to rest.

Isn’t how Jesus still operates? He wants to be found. Do you hear that? Jesus wants to be found! How could we draw any other conclusion today? He hasn’t left it up to chance, basing Christianity on some spiritual experience that a person needs to seek out in hopes of finding him. He gives us his Word, where we can read, study, and learn about him for a lifetime. He has given us the visible sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, where the power of that Word can be seen at work.

And where is all of this done? We have churches, physical buildings all over the earth, built to facilitate the proclamation and teaching of Word and Sacrament in order to make him known and visible. We have believers, who make him known through the way we radically love others and allow his compassionate grace and forgiveness to be experienced through us. Jesus wants to be found. Why? To put doubts to rest. 

Perhaps in the past the church went too far on this matter of doubt. It seems to me that there have been too many stories from childhoods and upbringings in church where anyone who doubted was chastised for not having a stronger faith or being a more confident Christian. Sure, in some cases, that may have been more a matter of perception on the receiving end of some tender, guilty, conscience, than it was the message that was actually communicated. But I am also sure that there have been any number of times when any doubt was too firmly denounced as being incompatible with saving faith. That may have been overstating the case and going too far.

If we’re willing to look back and acknowledge that fault on the part of the church, then let’s also be willing to acknowledge the possibility that in the present day, we have may gone too far the other way. Have we given the impression that some measure of doubt is a good sign?

While I believe the intent behind that message is good (for example, when a believer reassures a fellow doubting believer that doubts are actually good, because they are evidence of faith, since no unbeliever would be concerned about any doubts), it may be contributing to an attitude that not only welcomes some measure of doubt, but actually embraces it as being a desirable thing. After all, in our culture, we are now skeptical of everything: science, politics, weather, government, medicine, technology – we have plenty of doubts about all of it, and the general sense is that we’d be silly not to, since none of it can be trusted outright.

What ends up happening then, is that those spiritual doubts lead us to pull back, and when we pull back we also hold back. We aren’t all in. We end up straddling the fence and kind of like the view from there. It’s one thing to have doubts and questions about the Christian faith, but we don’t want them to transition from being temporary guests into permanent residents in our hearts. That’s what happens when we don’t deal with those doubts or address them by seeking the necessary truth and certainty to dispel them. 

This can happen at times because we’re spiritually lazy or apathetic. Or, it can happen because we want to play both sides; we want to dabble a bit in the Christian culture, but also remain “relatable” and “in-touch” with unbelieving friends and acquaintances. But then we speak out of both sides of our mouths. We profess the faith and praise and thank God while around our Christian friends, but then nod in agreement and even freely offer up our own doubts and disbelief about certain teachings when around our unbelieving friends. That’s not being all things to all people as Paul encourages us to do; rather, it is deceiving yourself with a divided heart.

Do not let that attitude creep into your faith, as if a healthy amount of doubt is desirable or to be celebrated when it comes to Christ. Jesus Christ does not want you to doubt; he wants to be found so that your doubts can be laid to rest! Jesus Christ did not come to create doubt, but to crush it.

We want to have the same confidence the disciples did as Jesus appeared this third time to them. “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (v.12). We don’t want to be wrestling with the question of who Jesus is, but rather knowing that he is the Savior.

What happens when we deal with doubt and by addressing it, refuse to let it linger? We’re all in! What does that look like? Remember the apostles being thrown in the slammer and threatened, only to be released to point others to Jesus with as much zeal as ever?!? That kind of passion, that “all-in” attitude doesn’t exist while doubts are hanging around!

What does that look like? It looks like Peter, when the lightbulb went on and he realized who it was on the shore. “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water” (v.7). Peter was literally all-in. Refusing to wait for the slow fish-towing boat to make it to shore, he dove into the water to swim and scramble his way to the shore and sprint to his Savior.

What would it look like today if we were deliberate about dealing with doubt? We’d have a lot more men engaged and active in the mission of the church, leading their marriages, their families, and their homes, instead of deferring that responsibility – the biggest one we have as men, mind you – to their wives.

If you disagree, just wait until Mother’s Day and then about a month after that and you’ll see. Why is Mother’s Day one of the most well-attended Sundays of the year? Because moms want their husbands and kids to come to church with them. In stark contrast, why is Father’s Day often one of the lowest-attended Sundays of the year? Because dads want to skip church to do something either by themselves or fun with the family. What’s wrong with that picture? 

More importantly, how do we fix it? We don’t. Jesus does. The same Jesus who appeared to his disciples again and again to put their doubts to rest. He had truly risen. He didn’t want half-hearted disciples, constantly questioning their cause. They needed to be sure. They needed to be all-in. So he showed up for them again and again.

In the activity of the early Christian church, we see the direct result of Jesus’ multiple resurrection appearances reflected in the preaching and teaching recorded in Acts. Again and again they point to the Resurrection. They don’t, perhaps as we too often do, stop with “Jesus was crucified and died to pay for your sin,” but rather allow his sacrificial death to serve as the foundation on which the mighty truth of the Resurrection is built. The Christian faith depends on it and also has something to deliver because of it! Jesus rose! Jesus lives! Jesus rules!

He’s still here, showing up again and again. He shows up in churches every Sunday with his Word. He shows up in churches to serve us himself in the Supper. He shows up in churches with an open invitation to become a part of his family through baptism. He shows up in weekly small groups that gather to build deeper connections within the body of Christ through the Word of Christ. He shows up through our hands and feet as we carry out works of service to each other and our community. He is still here, showing up again and again. He wants to be found, for wherever he is found, doubt departs. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Avoid Allowing Doubt to Linger

Faith-sustaining Spirit,
We all deal with doubt, and not all doubt is necessarily bad. In scenarios that involve uncertainty, doubts cause us to pause and consider the possible risks and dangerous outcomes of our actions. Those kinds of doubts can keep us from making a poor decision. 

But doubt can also cripple us, causing us to freeze up with fear and fail to move forward. Too much doubt can stifle progress and limit us in life. Doubt, especially long-term, long-held doubt, can damage our relationship with Jesus and slowly allow our faith to erode. 

But we have something to counter and crush that doubt: the Resurrection! There is no doubt about it, and because he lives, whenever doubts arise, we can confidently address them and let you dispel them through the power of your Word. Take any of my doubts about you or your promises and transform them into an immovable trust, anchored in the certainty of the Resurrection.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Trust You More

Lord Almighty,
Increase my trust in you. Let not just my words, but my actions as well, demonstrate that trust. My bank accounts, my schedule, my priorities – these and so many other things paint a picture of where my trust truly resides. When doubts creep in, crowd them out with Christ. When I look to other sources and services for confidence or assurance, patiently direct me back to you. Since trust in you is created, sustained, and strengthened through your Word, let my time in it be a non-negotiable portion of each day. If greater trust is generated by the Spirit working through the Word, then drive me to it daily.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Don’t Doubt During the Drought

adbLeave a comment

(1 Kings 17:1-6)

When everything in your world is going according to plan and playing out the way you imagine it should be, more or less, we don’t talk about trust. When we have what we need and we’re able to do what we do without interruption or inconvenience, we don’t talk about trust. When health is favorable and finances are fine, we don’t talk about trust. When family is getting along and friendships are thriving, we don’t talk about trust. When there are no challenges at church and we’re on good terms with all of our neighbors, we don’t talk about trust. 

But if – rather when – any of those areas of life start to veer off course or take a completely wrong turn, suddenly trust is a topic of discussion. However, you might not realize it right away, because you may not initially see that as the issue. Instead, it usually starts off with questions about what God is or is not doing, or why he is or is not doing it, or when he’s going to start or stop doing it. We wonder if God has changed his mind about us, has forgotten about us, or is possibly punishing us. When we find ourselves wrestling with those questions, the real concern is not God, but us. God God, who has made it clear he does not change, is not the issue; we are. Or to put it another way, our trust in him is.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the times we are most likely to talk about trust are the times when trust is tested? This is the case whether a person’s trust appears to be an unraveling mess or an unshakeable mountain. In each case, the best way we assess whether trust is floundering or flourishing is when trust is tested. To know where we stand regarding trust then, our trust must be tried, and times of trial serve as the litmus test.

One historical season of trial for God’s people came during the reign of the kings. With few exceptions, evil and wickedness were the distinguishing marks of the kings after David. Yet, there was one whose wickedness far surpassed all others: Ahab. As if to set his wickedness apart, Ahab receives noticeably more coverage in Scripture than other kings. His marriage to Jezebel helped seal his nasty reputation. Their state-mandated sleazy and morbid worship of Baal and Asherah took Israel’s idolatry to its lowest low.

In sharp contrast to Ahab, we have the prophet Elijah, who comes onto the scene of Scripture in these verses rather abruptly and with very little introduction. Unlike Ahab, Elijah’s faithfulness bears testimony to the meaning of his name, “The LORD is my God.” In contrast to a king and people whose gods were impotent idols, Elijah demonstrated a towering trust in God. How so? By his words and actions.

Elijah’s confidence is clearly expressed in the boldness of his first recorded words to Ahab, which were not words of encouragement but, as a call to repentance, were words of judgment. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (v.1).

And Elijah wasn’t only the bearer of the bad news of famine; he also boldly clarified where his loyalties laid: with the Lord, the God of Israel (as opposed to Baal and Asherah, who, no matter how much they were worshipped, were certainly not the gods of Israel). Ahab had the power to put Elijah to death (and indeed did hunt down God’s prophets and put them to death!), but that authority didn’t intimidate Elijah enough to topple his trust in the Lord and keep him from speaking. His words revealed where he tethered his trust: to the Lord. 

Not only did his words demonstrate his trust in God. So did his actions. The Lord had instructed him to hide out from Ahab in a ravine, where he promised to provide for him during the drought. How did Elijah respond? “So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there” (v.5).

The Lord directed him and Elijah obeyed. And not just temporarily, until he perhaps tired of it or started to worry once the brook was drying up. No, he “stayed there” until God gave him his next marching orders to go visit a certain widow in Zarephath (where God would continue building up Elijah’s trust with yet another miracle). So we are able to gauge Elijah’s level of trust because there was a season of testing.

If you are not currently in a season of testing, don’t hold your breath – you will be soon. Such seasons at times come on us slowly, allowing us to anticipate and prepare for them. At other times, though, such seasons are relentless, exploding around us like a furious fireworks finale – boom! boom! boom! – one after another after another, with little or no break in between. Either way, no matter the pace, seasons of testing will come. 

Some of you don’t have to wait. Some of you are currently at the beginning, middle, or end of such a season. You are grappling with life after losing a loved one. A financial squeeze is suffocating you, like a python wrapped around you, slowly increasing the pressure one bill at a time. Or, the world’s waywardness weighs on you, taking you to a new low of doubt and confusion over God’s apparent indifference. A relative’s attitude and actions against your family are pushing the exercise of your Christian faith to its limits. Wherever you are in these seasons of testing, these times of drought, you teeter more and more on the edge of doubt as you question God. To be sure, your trust is being tested.

How do we demonstrate where our trust is at? Just as Elijah did – by the words spoken and the actions taken. Pay attention to how you speak to yourself and to others during this drought as your trust is being tested. Do your words reflect that God is good and that in and through Christ you have already been given the victory, which in turn assures you that this, too, shall pass? No, we don’t always speak that way because we often don’t feel that way. 

But that’s backward. Why would you wait until you feel as if it’s true to trust God’s promises? Are your feelings more reliable than the promises of God’s Word? Surely not. So don’t wait to feel as if God is good or that you are victorious in Christ. Instead, start speaking that way during your time of testing. And you know what?

You’ll start to believe it. Too often we let our feelings steer us, as if those will ever be more reliable or trustworthy than God’s promises. Speak his promises. Tell yourself and others what he tells you and promises you. He is good all the time, and in Jesus Christ and through the power of his resurrection, you are victorious.

Then, just as Elijah did, also act as if you believe those truths to be true. Act as if God is good and as if you are victorious in Christ. When our actions follow those truths, we do things differently.

We don’t buy into the lie that a season of testing is a valid or legitimate reason for not gathering with our church family each week to be where we need to be more than anywhere else – reassured and filled up with God’s good gifts of grace and forgiveness.

We don’t wait until we feel like serving others (including the individual or group who very well might be the source of our testing); our love takes action on their behalf.

We don’t spend less time talking to God in prayer because we’re mad at him or can’t understand why he allowed what he did to happen; we spend more time in prayer, pouring out our frustrations and asking God for answers as he wills to reveal them.

We don’t presume we can stick it to God with our pocketbooks by withholding our gifts from him; rather, we continue to thank him with a portion of our gifts even when it seems counterintuitive to being able to pay off our bills.

So we speak and we act in ways that make evident our trust in God during times of testing. We don’t take the all-too-familiar path of doubt during the drought. 

What happened when Elijah trusted during the drought? God was God, doing what God does and keeping his promises. Sometimes, God even uses miracles in doing so. “‘You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’ So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook” (v.4-6).

Elijah was tested. Elijah trusted. God delivered. 

That’s how God operates in your life, too. We are tested. We trust. God delivers.

God always delivers – that’s what he does. Delivering is his specialty. How much room is there for doubting his deliverance when we consider the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ? Will the One who paid such a price for your sin really follow that up with, “Oh, but I forgot about the food you need, or the clothes, or the fill-in-the-blank?”

Will the One who redeemed your body and soul fail to provide for the body and soul he redeemed?

Will the One who is present in body and blood of the sacrament abandon us at the death of a loved one?

That is not God. That is not what he does. He does not abandon; he delivers. 

The forgiveness that he delivered through his own death, he will continue to deliver through Word and sacrament until he returns again on the last day. And if he is committed to delivering us in that way, he will deliver us in every other way as well.

But for us to see that deliverance, and to see where our trust is, there will be testing. Elijah was tested. Elijah trusted. God delivered. Let the same be said of you. When you were/are tested, you trusted, and God delivered. Remember what God did on his cross for you and you will not doubt his deliverance – not even during the droughts.