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Doubt Kills Prayers - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) January 30, 2026
James 1:5 tells believers not to hesitate to ask God for wisdom and promises that He will freely give that wisdom without finding fault. The next verse contains a caveat. James 1:6 - But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. This instruction is easy to ignore, but Christians need to know that satan uses it to their detriment.
The devil knows how powerful the human mind is. It knows the importance of Proverbs 4:23 - Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts (GNT). As such, when a person prays for something, satan will encourage them to have doubts and question whether or not their petition can be or will be answered by God. It wants them to forget that God is able to do the impossible.
When the person accepts that seed of doubt and starts to meditate on it, that seed grows into a tree that produces evil fruits. One such fruit is that the person's prayer might not be answered, according to James 1:7 - That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Doubt can kill the fulfillment of our prayers, prayers that, if not detestable, God was going to answer if the person had stood firm in their faith.
Think of the discussion between the Savior and Martha after her brother, Lazarus, died. Jesus wanted the tombstone removed, but Martha's doubt appeared as logic when she said that her brother's corpse was likely stinking. John 11:40 - Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Doubt could not factor into the coming miracle. Only faith could. And once doubt was discarded, Lazarus came out of the tomb.
Most of us are like Martha. Our doubt is often voiced in the form of logic. Unknown to us, this allows satan to stand against the very things we've asked for. Things God may already have given to angels to deliver. The devil goes into the courts of the Lord to accuse us of disobedience when we allow our doubt to kill the very faith we relied on to pray.
And if we continue with a pattern of doubt, we end up living in disobedience, ignoring Christ's instruction to "Have faith in God" from Mark 11:22. God cannot ignore unrepentant and continued sin. One consequence is that our prayers become less effective, leading to deferred and delayed blessings. This can cause a Christian to have frustrations, grievances, and resentments toward the Lord, give up on praying completely, and even turn away from Him.
And so satan uses doubt against believers to make them doubt God, think He is a liar, and walk away from Him. When this happens, the Christian is no longer a threshing tool to be used by the Kingdom of Heaven to destroy satan's operations. But, praise God for Jesus, who advocates for all. God won't stop reaching out to such a person, no matter how far they've gone, if they will repent and return to Him.
Today, God wants us to make the choice Martha made. He wants us to put our doubts aside and apply faith. The faith that God can answer our prayers exceedingly above what we could have even asked for or imagined, according to the spirit within us. And where that spirit is His Holy Spirit, then we need never be like the person James 1:7 warns about. A person who should not expect their prayer to be fulfilled because of their doubts.
As you await fellowship at Noon EST, consider reading the Altar Call below and the following previous P&P messages:
ALTAR CALL
No matter how blemished we are, Jesus died on the cross to erase every sin and wash us clean over and over again.
We take advantage of that great gift by acknowledging His sacrifice, proclaiming Him our Savior, and praying in His name for forgiveness of our sins
Now is your opportunity to do just that and get baptized in the Spirit (John 3:5).
So if your heart is open, plus if, as in Psalm 42:2, your soul thirsts for God and you want to appear in His presence, why don't you say the following prayer?
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I confess my sins right now to you. And I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you came, you died, you rose again, and you paid the price for my sins. Today, I accept the new life, today, I accept the Holy Spirit. Come dwell in me, make Your home in me. I will never be the same again. In Jesus's Name, Amen.
Praise God and welcome to the household of the Lord. For you have to have Jesus in you in order to have God the Father (John 14:6).
Please let the Lord transform you. He loves you as you are and welcomes you just that way, but He will change you. I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't let you know. My recommendation is that you let Him have His way and bow to the changes He will bring your way.
To learn more about the faith and find answers to some questions you might have, check out this handy page - ! How to have a stronger relationship with YHWH God!
The Lord bless you!