Wavering Faith

How Well-Meaning Teaching Traps Christians in Doubt

By Kyle Davison Bair

A subtle, faith-killing lie seeps through the 21^st century Church, a lie we proclaim from pulpits without noticing how it destroys the power of our prayers.

This subtle, sweet-smelling lie whispers that faith is measured by feeling. When we pray, if we feelfull of confidence, then we prayed in great faith. But if we feel doubt, then we prayed without faith and we shouldn’t expect an answer.

The Scriptures never proclaim such a thing. Jesus never submits prayer under the power of feelings, as though we must get our feelings right before we can pray.

Yet, we find ourselves captive to the lie: when you pray, if you feel uncertainty, doubt, or despair, you didn’t pray well.

This lie keeps legions of Christians from their prayers. Most Christians feel all too well the doubt and despair swirling in their souls. They dare not pray out of such depravity. How can they hope that God would ever answer? They can’t muster a feeling of faith no matter how hard they try.

Put simply, this subtle lie deprives the world of millions of prayer warriors.

“You’re out of your mind!”

When we imagine what successful prayer looks like, we conjure mental pictures that often differ starkly from what the Scriptures record. In reality, prayers that we consider failures end up working miracles.

In Acts 12, Herod Agrippa kills James and arrests Peter. While Peter is jailed, the local church gathered, and “the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (Acts 12:5).

What do you imagine when you read this? What do these church members look like while they are fervently praying for Peter’s freedom? What are they feeling?

The narrative soon tells us. God hears their prayers and sends an angel to rescue Peter, leading him straight out of the jail. The act is so supernatural that Peter first believes he is dreaming.

When Peter realizes he’s truly free, he runs to the house where the local church gathered to pray for him. He knocks on the door, eager to tell them that God answered their prayers.

A servant girl named Rhoda hears Peter’s voice, but leaves him outside. She runs into the room where these prayer warriors have gathered and proclaims, “Peter is at the door!” (Acts 12:14).

How do these fervent prayer warriors respond?

Do they say, “Praise God! We knew He would answer!”?

Do they rejoice, knowing that God had to answer their prayers because of how faith-filled they were?

No. They scoff in doubt, telling Rhoda, “You’re out of your mind!” (vs. 15). These Christians are so consumed with doubt that they simply can’t believe God heard their prayers.

Rhoda keeps pressing, insisting that Peter really is free and God really has answered. Yet their doubt only grows, and the crowd of Christians claims it must be Peter’s angel, perhaps signifying that he died because God didn’t answer.

Finally, they open the door at Peter’s incessant knocking. When these Christians see Peter in the flesh, “they [are] astonished” (vs. 16). They are flabbergasted that God answered their prayers.

 

What Is Faith?

What then is faith?

By most modern conceptions, these Christians lacked faith entirely. They did not believe God would answer and they doubted every report to the contrary. They believed their prayers were hopeless and Peter was doomed.

Why then did God answer?

Faith is trust. Faith is not feeling or conviction, but trust as expressed through obedience. If we trust God, we will do what He says. The people of great faith are those who simply obey, regardless of what they feel.

The church in Jerusalem faithfully interceded for Peter. They prayed, asking God to move. Their act of obedience was utilizing the gift of prayer that God entrusted to them to intercede for those in need.

God responded to their obedience. God answered their prayers, which were indeed offered in great faith—although the people themselves had no confidence they would be answered.

Faith doesn’t require confidence. Faith requires obedience—trust lived out. If we obey God by asking, and trust He will do His part in answering, we have prayed in faith.

 

Faith Vs. Doubt

If faith is trust lived out in obedience, then what is doubt?

Doubt is lacking trust in God. People who doubt God do not trust that God will be faithful to answer. They try to exert extra influence on God to force His hand. Doubt works itself out as manipulation, trying to bend God to our will instead of submitting our will to Him.

Often the people with the greatest doubt are the ones we think have great faith.

People who doubt will try to summon as much “faith” as possible when they pray, believing that a high-enough threshold of “faith” will force God to answer as they desire. This is nothing but doubt. Because this person doubts God, they try to manipulate God.

Others who doubt will try to feel as confident as possible when they pray, believing that if they can banish any feeling of doubt, then they have prayed in faith. But this again is manipulation. It doubts that God will answer their prayers unless they can pray in exactly the right way.

Still others who doubt will attempt fasting or acting super-pure to add extra punch to their prayers. They doubt that God will answer “normal” prayers, so they seize on anything that might give their prayers extra power. But this doubt is transparent manipulation.

Finally, some who doubt God give up on their prayers. They doubt He will answer, so they don’t ask. But even this kind of doubt reduces to manipulation. If these people believed they had a “trump card” that would force God to say “Yes” to their prayers, most would jump at it. They don’t pray because they don’t believe they have enough to manipulate God to their will.

We pray in faith when we trust that God will answer simply because we are obedient enough to ask. We pray in faith when we trust that God’s answer is best, even if it is different from what we desire.

We pray in doubt when we do not trust that God will answer unless we twist His arm. We pray in doubt when we try to manipulate God to do our will, not content to trust His will.

 

Fervent Prayer

Acts 12:5 describes the believers praying “earnestly” for Peter’s release. Other translations render the word as “fervently,” “constantly,” or “continually.”

What do these terms mean? Clearly, they do not mean that the believers felt confident about their prayers, because they lacked confidence entirely.

Rather, it means they prayed without ceasing. They gathered to pray for Peter’s release, and they kept praying until they received word from Rhoda that something had happened.

Doubt manifests as manipulation, but faith manifests as reliance. Fervent prayer relies entirely upon God, waiting on Him to answer. Fervent prayer does not try to force God to answer or manipulate His answer. It presents the request, then keeps presenting it until God gives an answer—whatever answer that may be.

Fervent prayer is not about emotion. Fervent prayer keeps on praying even when emotions waver.

Fervent prayer is about obedience. We do our part to pray. God does His part to answer.

This is helpless prayer. We pray fervently when we know that we are helpless to manipulate God into anything. We can’t twist His arm. We can only ask. Fervent prayer is what results when we simply obey over and over, asking in prayer until God answers.

Why do we abandon helpless prayer for manipulation? Because we don’t like feeling helpless. We like to take control. We like to do extra things to feel extra powerful in prayer, believing that our extra exertions are making a difference. We don’t like to feel helpless, especially when we are.

But helpless people pray well. Helpless people pray fervently, seeking God over and over until He answers. Helpless people know they have nothing without God, so they seek nothing except God. Helpless people don’t try to help themselves through manipulation. They trust the only One who can truly help.

Helpless people—such as the helpless people who prayed for Peter’s release—witness answers to their prayers. These are the prayers offered in faith: those who trust nothing in their own ability to twist God’s arm, but rather trust entirely on God’s sovereignty.

 

Witnessing Miracles

Will you pray out of simple obedience?

Will you pray until you receive your answer, praying continuously even when emotions waver?

Will you trust God’s answer?

Will you rely entirely upon God, letting Him answer however and whenever He desires?

Will you drop any attempt at manipulation, relying entirely upon God for every aspect of your answer?

If so, you may yet witness miracles.

KYLE DAVISON BAIR is the prayer ministries pastor at New Hope Church in New Hope, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis.