Skillfully Dealing with Doubt: Moving Your Faith to the Next Level

Faith is not a static destination—it's a journey of continuous growth. While every believer receives a measure of faith at salvation, that initial faith is just the beginning. There's so much more available in the gospel, so much more packed into the word "salvation" than simply securing our eternal destiny. The question is: are we willing to do what it takes to move beyond saving faith into a faith that manifests God's promises in our daily lives?

The Foundation: Faith Makes Prayer Work

Here's a truth that might shift your perspective: prayer doesn't make faith work—faith makes prayer work.

This isn't just semantics. Many Christians approach prayer as though the act itself produces results. They pray once, hope for the best, wish things would work out, and then wonder why nothing changes. But according to Mark 11:24, when we pray for something, we must first believe we receive it, and then we will have it. The word "believe" in the original Greek means to trust in, to be committed to, to have faith in.

Faith must be involved in our prayers, or absolutely nothing will happen. All we'll get from hoping and wishing is frustration.

The Power of Words

In Mark 11, we find Jesus and His disciples encountering a fig tree with leaves but no fruit. Jesus spoke to the tree: "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." The disciples heard Him say it. The next morning, they passed by the same spot and saw the tree had withered from the roots up. Peter, astonished, pointed it out to Jesus.

Jesus' response is crucial: "Have faith in God. 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."

Notice the emphasis on saying. The disciples heard Jesus speak words to a tree, and the next day they saw the results of those words. This wasn't coincidental—it was instructional.

We put action to our faith by continually speaking faith-filled words. Not once. Not occasionally. Continually.

The principle is simple but profound: if you believe what you say, you will have what you say. What you continuously speak—whether good or bad—is what you truly believe. And what you believe and speak from your heart, you will have. That's what your life will look like.

The Enemy of Faith: Doubt

Doubt is the enemy of faith. It can and will hinder, even destroy, a person's faith if they allow it to.

Many believers start well. They hear the Word, find scriptures that address their need, confess and hold fast to those scriptures. They do all the fundamentals they've been taught. But then situations occur. Circumstances change. Things happen that seem contrary to what they're believing for. And slowly, they begin giving their attention to wrong things and wrong ways of thinking.

"Maybe what I'm believing for just isn't going to happen."

"Maybe God is keeping this from me to teach me something."

"I've tried this faith stuff before and it didn't work then, so why should I expect it to work now?"

These thoughts are the devil's counterattack against your faith. And make no mistake—when you step out in faith and begin confessing what you're believing for, the enemy hears that confession and begins his assault. His job, according to John 10:10, is to steal, kill, and destroy. He does all three through doubt and unbelief.

The Battle for Your Heart

Here's something vitally important: you can have faith in your heart and doubt in your mind, and your faith will still work. Jesus didn't say to keep doubt out of your mind—He said to keep it out of your heart.

When you're believing God for something, the devil will bring negative thoughts to your mind to get you to question what you believe. These are opportunities to doubt. This is the enemy baiting you. But having those thoughts appear in your mind doesn't mean you've lost the battle. The critical question is: what will you do with those thoughts?

If you take the bait and feed on those thoughts of doubt and unbelief for very long, that doubt will travel from your mind to your heart. And when doubt gets in your heart, you'll find yourself speaking words of doubt and unbelief. You'll air out your dirty laundry to everyone who will listen, describing everything that's going wrong, every way the devil is attacking you.

At that point, your faith has been compromised. Everything you've been believing God for is in jeopardy—not because God is unfaithful, but because you've nullified your faith through your words.

Casting Down Thoughts

The solution is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5: "Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

When Satan bombards your mind with thoughts of unbelief and doubt, you need to stand firm. Rock up and never back up. Come against those unbelieving thoughts using the Word of God. Rebuke the devil and cast down those thoughts by speaking what God's Word says.

When the enemy whispers, "You can never be free of that addiction," you respond: "No weapon formed against me shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17).

When he suggests, "You've been doing this too long to change now," you declare: "If the Son makes me free, I shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).

The devil doesn't have an audible voice. He needs you to give voice to his thoughts. Don't do it. Instead, give voice to God's Word.

The Fundamentals of Faith

Moving from faith to faith requires faithfully doing the fundamental principles of faith:

• Feeding on God's Word regularly
• Meditating on God's Word
• Spending quality time with God
• Developing a close personal relationship with Him

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). But here's the reality: you have to hear it and hear it and hear it again. It doesn't come in one day. If you want strong faith—the kind that manifests more of God's promises than just getting you saved—you must keep doubt out of your heart. And the only way to do that is to fill your heart with the Word of God so there's no room for anything else.

It Works for Everyone

The "whoever" in Mark 11:23 is you. It doesn't matter how long you've been saved. It doesn't matter whether you gave your life to Christ as a child or this very moment. From the instant you're born again, this principle applies to you.

The mountain is whatever you're facing. When you start right where you are and begin doing the fundamentals of faith, when you develop your faith daily, when you begin believing God and His Word, when you start speaking to your mountains instead of about your mountains, when you skillfully deal with thoughts of doubt and unbelief—then whatever mountain you're facing has to move.

This is a law of faith that cannot be changed. Jesus believed it and said it. If you believe what you say and then say it, it will happen.

Moving Forward

Walking by faith becomes much easier when we decide to continually do what God tells us to do. Being disobedient to God and His Word invites troubles into our lives.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You can't change yesterday, but you can start fresh right now. Stop looking in the rearview mirror at past failures. The enemy wants you focused on everything you've done wrong. Instead, look forward. Ask yourself: What am I facing today? How can I change? How many more fundamentals of faith can I implement to build my faith past where it currently is?

Your faith can grow. There are always higher levels to reach. But growth requires action—not just hearing but doing. Not just agreeing but applying. Not just hoping but believing and speaking.

The choice is yours. Will you skillfully deal with doubt, or will you give it a voice? Will you speak faith-filled words continually, or will you describe your problems to everyone who will listen? Will you move from faith to faith, or remain stuck at the same level?

According to your faith, be it unto you.