TRULY BELIEVING - ELIMINATING DOUBT

Have you ever wondered why Jesus associates faith “with the heart” and not merely with the mind?

• Mark 11:23 "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."

According to "Strong' s Concordance" the Greek word translated by "heart" is "kardia" and it means: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center.

"Helps Word-Studies” says of 2588 kardía – heart; "the effective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice; see P. Hughs, 2 Cor, 354); and G. Archer says that heart is: "the desire-producer that makes us tick" i.e. our "desire-decisions" that establish who we really are.

The word "heart" is used more than 900 times in the Bible and it never refers to the physical organ that pumps the blood in our system; and not even once.

There are so many thoughts that pass through our minds. When we face hard times, some of us even struggle with our faith that God loves us, He is with us, for us and in it with us, having the right solution, no matter what. Sometimes, while we are around other believers of great faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, it can be easy to be strong and believe. But once we are alone the real battle begins and doubt tries to sneak into our mind.

Jesus is not talking about the doubtful thoughts that “pass through our minds” in the above verse. He is referring to the feelings of doubt in our hearts, that are the root of our decisions.

• Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

In meditating and considering the situation, we might think that the child's father had no clue what he was talking about. How could he say that “he believes” and yet ask for help to believe? To our surprise, Jesus didn't say yes or no, He just set the boy free, by casting out the evil spirit that was tormenting him. Actually, the boy's father decided to believe in his mind, but he needed help to transfer that belief into his heart. Don't we do the same also?

• Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We read or hear many messages about verses to stir up and build our faith. At first, faith is just in our head. If we don't keep on thinking about the Word, meditating on it and even repeating it, drinking it in until it pierces our inner man of the heart. Until the Word is concrete in us, any little doubt that passes through our minds has the ability to find its way to the heart and in short order become stronger than our faith that never went deeper than our mind. The "faith that moves the mountain" comes from the inner man of the heart, from our spirit, which is born again by the Holy Spirit. If we can wholly believe and eliminating doubt from the core of our being, deep in our heart, then, we will receive what we are asking for!

Doubt is the enemy of faith. The devil has thousands of years of experience in seeding doubt in people's minds. He knows that the first step (which many times is all that is needed to get the job done) is to make us doubt that we “deserve” to get from God what we are asking for. If we fall into his trap and accept the thoughts of doubt, repeating and adding to it and eventually we will get to the place where we will stop believing that God will meet our need, by answering yes to our prayer. So, what do we do?

By recognizing that whatever form the doubt is taking, doubt is not from God; and by fighting back with the truth and promises in God's Word, we can turn it around. Building up our faith may not be easy but it certainly is not impossible. God never asks us to do what we cannot do. And we know that "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6)

• Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

It is “up to us” to be strong in the Lord! We have to be willing: to ask and then allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of God's Word to us as we study; to pray and keep on praying, even when we don't feel like it; to worship God with sincere praise and thanksgiving, even when we would rather cry our eyes out in despair; to take the time to soak in the Lord's presence on daily basis. God's armor is at our disposal, but it is completely up to us to put it on and utilize it (the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on our feet, the sword of the Holy Spirit and the helmet of salvation).

Life with Jesus is a journey, desiring and learning to know Him better. Those who search for God sincerely with their whole hearts, truly find Him.

• Matthew 21:21 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."

No wonder the enemy works so hard with doubt and lies to disarm our faith! He wants the mountains of our problems to remain unmovable in our path! If he can't cause us to doubt or fall for one of his lies, he works to keep us busy, so we do not take the time to grow in our relationship with the Lord and especially in spending “alone time with the Lord.” Why? Because when we take the time to enter into God's presence, there is no doubt! When there, the devil's attacks cannot work! As we turn away from the business of life and spend quality time in meditation, prayer, singing and or praising our Lord; when we do, all the other noises disappear! There, our tanks are refilled and our faith becomes firm!


Carmen Pușcaș