Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith without doubting.  For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.  James 1:5-7 HCSB

Over the last week we have talked about clever little ploys that the devil uses to get us over to his side.  We know that ultimately the devil wants to pull us away from our relationship with our Lord and Savior.  The devil wants us to doubt what God can do.  The devil wants us to doubt God’s mighty power.

This is why there are times when we pray, but that little voice in the back of our head tells us to not be disappointed because we know there is no way that this is going to happen.  We have been down this road before and faced disappointment, so let’s just brace ourselves for it.  We can pray, but don’t expect too much.  When we do this, what we are really doing is doubting God’s power.  We are doubting that the creator of the universe can come through for us.  We are doubting that the One that spoke the world into existence can do anything that we ask.

When we do this, we become what our scripture passage refers to as doubters.  It clearly tells us that a doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  Now, you don’t have to take my word for it, you can see for yourself.  Take a good look around you.  You will see people that claim to pray, but they will run around in a tizzy full of fear and anxiety.  They worry about what will happen if God doesn’t come through.  Then you will see those that are faithful.  They aren’t worried.  They send their prayers up and release their cares to God.  They know that if God doesn’t come through with this request that it’s only because He has better plans for them.  They trust that God has good plans for them and wants what’s best for them (Jeremiah 29:11).  They fully trust that God works all things, even the things that seem so bad, out for their good (Romans 8:28).  They believe.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I have lived the life of an unbeliever.  I always believed in God, but I didn’t always trust that He had my back.  When I lived with that lack of faith, I too, was like the surging sea being driven and tossed about by the wind.  I was indecisive and unstable.  That is no way to live, my friend.  When I got tired of living that way, I cried out to God.  I heard Him as clearly as if He had been standing next to me.  He said to me,  “You’ve never given it all to me”.  Wow,  He was right.  I would pray and hold on to my troubles.  They just seemed to big for anyone, even God.  So, I would hold on to them and fret.  I would hold on to my sinful behavior as well, because I thought that I just had to do these things.  I didn’t realize that God could work all this out.  Living this way caused me to feel like a rag doll in the mouth of a puppy being chewed up and shook up and slung all around.  But, when God told me to just give it all to Him and to trust Him with it.  I did!  What an awesome day that was.  I gave it to him right then and there.

Now, let me tell you this.  Within 8 hours, God had turned my whole world upside down.  I guess he had to shake out the bad stuff.  But within 48 hours, everything was falling into place.  He is such an awesome God.  I encourage you today to never underestimate what He can do.  Never underestimate the unconditional love He has for you and never, ever underestimate His awesome power and might.

When you ask for God’s help, believe that He is all powerful.  Believe that there is nothing He can’t do.  Know that He wants the absolute best for you.  Give it all to Him and trust Him to take good care of you.  Once you are able to do this, you can rest assured that He is in control.  All we have to do is love Him and do what He calls us to do.  He’ll handle everything else.

Have a great day!