
Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
When Doubt Meets Prayer: Part VII (A)
Ever felt like a wave—torn between trust and “what if”? We dive into the heart of prayer when faith feels thin, drawing from James 1:6, Abraham’s long wait and startled laughter, and the desperate honesty of a father who pleads, “I believe; help my unbelief.” Instead of scolding doubt, we name it, frame it, and show how God meets it with grace. The big shift here is clarity: doubt isn’t the enemy of faith—unbelief is. Doubt wrestles toward God; unbelief turns away. That difference changes how we pray, how we wait, and how we walk with each other through the long nights.
We map three kinds of doubt—intellectual, spiritual, and circumstantial—and explore how each one surfaces in real life: hard questions about scripture and Jesus, inward anxiety about salvation and prayer, and the ache of broken hopes. Scripture doesn’t hide these tensions; Job, David, and the psalmists bring raw questions to the centre of their worship. Along the way, we talk about mustard-seed faith, why small trust still moves mountains, and how habits like daily scripture, honest community, and simple prayers nourish a resilient heart. Abraham’s story reminds us that delay isn’t denial, and that laughter can live beside promise without cancelling it.
If you’re carrying fear, fatigue, or a quiet “what if God doesn’t come through,” this conversation offers language, steps, and hope. Admit your need. Bring it to Jesus. Ask for the help you lack. Feed your faith with truth, gratitude, and people who will stand with you when the waves rise. We close by previewing part seven B and the next layer of God’s “benefit package,” where motives, gratitude, and trust shape how we receive. If this helped steady you today, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Part seven. Doubt kills prayer. Now, in the book of James it says doubt is like a wave tossed by the wind, and faith brings life to prayers. So let's read that. But let me ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Now that's James 1 6. See here James explains that doubt negates prayer by making one double minded, like a wave tossed by the wind, preventing them from receiving anything from the Lord. Now this sermon is going to encourage and it's going to address doubt by teaching listeners how to learn and lean on God's faithfulness, actively fighting doubt through the word of prayer and seeking the support of faith in the community. Even God doesn't expect us to do things alone. God doesn't ever expect us to not have any doubt in our lives. Just remember this, right? This is in two Corinthians twelve nine, he said, and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, therefore most gladly I would rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Now God is not intimidated by bad news or our fears, and he is not offended by our down to earth honest prayer. When we talk about faith and doubt, we often get this idea that God rewards those who believe without ever wavering or having any feelings of doubt in their life. I'll give you another example. This is why we need to be surrounded by like-minded believers. We think that we must trust and allow a single thought of doubt into our minds. Because if Dod, sorry, if Dod, try that, if God ever knew that deep inside of us there was a gnawing and an echoing question, but what if God doesn't come through? He would never answer any prayers. Yes, that is what the Bible tells us. If you look at uh Genesis 17, God appeared to Abraham for the third time in 24 years. Now, I'm not saying that your prayers are going to take 24 years to be answered, but I'm just reading what the word of God says. So God appeared to Abraham, you know, through this period of time to tell him that he would be the father of many nations. However, he had only one child, and that was not through his wife Sarah. Remember, he did it with the servant because he thought Sarah couldn't have a child, so God was promising him one. See, the thing is, if it hasn't materialized yet, God spoke his promise here to Abram, and he fell on his face and laughed, and he said to him, Shall a child be born of a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years, bear a child? Even a faith giant like Abraham was not only having doubts about what God was capable of, but just as many of us, he was thinking about what was possible in the natural. In saying that, everyone who loves Abraham is probably squirming in their seats now. Uh, but just be patient with me, okay? Uh this is an unfamiliar topic that most people, even those who are, you know, dealing with the word of God from cover to cover, try to avoid this because all as soon as they start talking on this, then that shows that that person has doubts. But look, you can read through uh Job, Ecclesiastics, Lamentations, and Habakkuk. Many of the psalms touch on the theme of doubt and feeling abandoned by God. So it's all through the Bible. I know that when I preach or when I write, I do sound very certain of myself. Just like most other people in ministry, part of that is intentional. Listen, for one thing, I know what I believe, and I am not shy about presenting my views in a forceful manner. When a man or a woman stand up to preach, he or she should preach their faith, not their doubts. People have enough trouble of their own without leaders in the church or online adding to that burden. But having said that, I think this subject deserves a need to be discussed. And this is why this is important from my perspective, and I believe it will be to you. To me personally, yes, I do have doubts. I don't talk about them very much, but I doubt every day, just like everybody else. After a sermon on this, someone always raises their concerns about the statement. Did I really mean it? Absolutely. I did really mean it. Absolutely, I say I have doubts and questions that come to mind every single day. I don't know how a person could be a Christian and not have doubts from time to time. See, faith requires doubt in order to be faith. See what that means? See, let me let me say that again. Faith requires doubt in order to be faith. If you ever arrived at a place where all your doubts were gone, well, not trying to be too harsh, but if you ever find yourself in that situation, look around because you're probably already in heaven. Now, some people who know me and my history will say it's easy for me because God gave me a miracle. But in saying that, why has he not given me a second one? Does that mean that I've had my quota? Look, I have a friend of mine, Jan, who always defends me when he hears others saying I'm back in the wheelchair again because of a lack of faith. See, I don't have to say anything. I've got other people saying it because they know where I stand with my faith in God. Even this is one of the hidden secrets of the church or the body of Christ, whichever language you prefer, right? We all doubt from time to time. Doubt itself is not sinful or wrong, it often can be the catalyst for a new spiritual growth. See, we need to be more and more Christ-like each and every day. We also need to make sure that we are spending time in the Word every day, because I don't really care who you are, and I don't mean that in a negative manner in any way, shape, or form. But if if you were born and raised in a Christian household, gave your heart to Jesus at an early age, and literally read the Bible cover to cover every day, and when you finished, you started again. Now, I know a pastor who used to do this, um, it was part of his daily routine. I also know a pastor that preaches just the Bible from cover to cover. He starts at Genesis, goes through to Revelation, and then he starts again. And it can take him a very, very long time to do that. But it doesn't matter. You will always learn something new every time you read the Word of God. That's what that rhymed of word knowledge is all about. I have pondered this matter and I've concluded that our doubts tend to fall into three categories. Now, this is only my opinion, all right. This is not factual, it's not based on my understanding of the Bible, not just oh, this is the gospel according to passerville, all right? So bear with me, alright? There'll be a lot of people sitting on the fence with this sermon. I can carry that. All right, let's get back to it. Otherwise, I'm gonna run out of time. First, there are intellectual doubts. Now, these are doubts most often raised by those outside the Christian faith. In the Bible, the word of God is the Bible the word of God, is the Bible the Word of God? Penn by man, written by God. Okay? Is Jesus the Son of God? Now, this is the stumbling block that most people get stuck on. Did he really raise from the dead? Good questions, but they are the ones that come from the intellectual types, okay? Whether they are born again or not, right? Number two, there are spiritual doubts. Now, these tend to be the doubts of those inside the body of Christ, e.g., the church. Okay. Am I really a Christian? Have I truly believed? Why is it so hard to pray? And why do I still feel guilty? Now, I'm gonna be ringing alarm bells with a lot of people here, but it gets better. Just faith, okay? Just trust in me. And third, there are circumstantial doubts. Okay, now this is the largest category because it encompasses all the whys of life. Why did my child die? Why did my marriage break up? Why can't I find a wife or a husband? Why did my friend betray me? When were where was God when my now you just fill in the blanks? We all can. These questions touch the intersection of biblical faith and the pain of a fallen world. So as we go deeper into this topic, there are several things we need to understand up front. Now, because everybody can relate to what I've said so far, without a doubt, I totally believe that. Now, many people think doubt is the opposite of faith, but it isn't. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. Unbelief refers to a willful refusal to believe, while doubt refers to inner uncertainty. Number two, many people think doubt is unforgivable, but it isn't. God doesn't condemn us when we question him. Both Job and David repeatedly questioned God, but they were not condemned. God is big enough to handle all of our doubts and all of our questions. Number three, many people think struggling with God means we lack faith, but that's not true. Struggling with God is a sure sign that we have truly found faith. If we never struggle, our faith will never grow stronger. If let me put it this way, it helps me to think of doubt as a kind of immunization, right? Whether you're into immunization or whether you're not, it doesn't matter. But this is my analogy. When you receive a smallpox vaccination, the doctor actually gives you a tiny portion of the disease. That tiny portion is just enough to activate your antibodies so that you have the strength to fight off the disease later. In the same way, doubt can actually end up developing a much stronger faith if we face our doubts honestly. In order to flesh out in principle, let's look at these three men who doubted, and Jesus dealt with them. Now, there's a bit of controversy here, but I'm quoting it straight from the word of God. All right, so don't shoot the messenger. Just remember faith the size of a mustard seed. Now, so we're all given a measure of faith, and what we need to do is through the word of God and through life experiences and that we build our faith. Our faith gets bigger and bigger and bigger if we feed it. It's just like anything else. If you plant a tree out in the backyard and it's just a little twig, and you don't water it, you don't go out there and pull out all the weeds that are around it and everything. You know, one of two things happens. It either gets strangled by the weeds and dies, or it just dies for lack of water. We need to feed it and nurture it. The same is said with faith, but it starts off small. Okay, now let's get into this. This will raise a few eyebrows. Three people who doubt it. Now, first off, uh, Mark 924. A father of a demonized son. See, immediately the father of the child cries out and says, I believe, help my unbelief. See, every parent understands these words. Who among us has not looked down at a sick child and felt fear, worry, and doubt overwhelming them? Often it is much easier to maintain our faith when we ourselves are sick, but let our children suffer and the whole world seems to collapse around us. And if the suffering is great, as it surely was in the instance, in this particular instance with the demonized son, we may find that we can hardly pray because fear has so gripped us, we might begin to doubt God's presence and his goodness, and we may even wonder if somehow God has abandoned us. If the suffering is not soon relieved, we may become angry with God and turn away from him altogether. Certainly we have all said at one point or another, I believe help my unbelief. Lord, I believe, but my heart is filled with doubt. Lord, I know you can, but I'm not sure you will. And another one, Lord, the situation seems hopeless. Help me to trust you. See, here was a father with a son possessed by an evil spirit from his childhood. For years the spirit had caused the child to throw himself into the fire or into the water in order to kill him. Something the child became rigid, foaming at the mouth. The primitive medical science of the day offered no help. When the man brought his son to Jesus' disciples, they could not help him. Who can blame the father for saying to Jesus, If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us? And that's in verse 22. You see, the little word if it hangs in the air, expressing both faith and doubt, intermingling in this father's tortured soul. You gotta understand for years he had sought the help everywhere and always he had been disappointed. Having heard about Jesus and his miracles, he brings the boy to his disciples first, and they fail also. Who could blame him for doubting? But Jesus' response is immediate. Everything is possible for him who believes. Verse twenty three. The healing the Father desperately desires hangs on his own belief. Will he believe? You know, can he believe? From his heart comes the truth, I believe help my unbelief. Notice three positive aspects of the father's statement. Now this is important, okay. He admitted his need, he admitted it to the right person, which is Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He asked for the help he needed. Here is faith deeply intermingled with doubt, and yet Jesus performs the miracle anyway. Evidently, the faith mattered more than the doubt because Jesus doesn't even rebuke him for his unbelief, he simply heals the body once and for all. See, I think the important thing is here is that we've got to know what our situation is, and we've got to take it to the right person, and we've got to make sure that when we take it to the right person, okay, we listen to the response, right? For every situation that you've actually got, you can actually go into the word of God and find a passage that will actually suit you and give you what you need to deal with the situation. Now, right now, because of the complexity of this message, I'm gonna break this down, and I know this is part seven, okay, of dealing with um you know, um God's benefit packages. But with that, I want to make sure that, you know, I mean, like last week, I really wanted to add more into it. And okay, if this takes us a little bit longer, I think it's well and truly worth it, so we can actually get deeper into a greater understanding of the benefits that God has packaged up for us because you gotta realize our motives matter, right? The thing is, we do have to have a power of gratitude, you know, God's power and love is important, and it's gotta be God's perfect plan, and also faith now. See, faith is a very, very key perspective, and this is why now with doubts kill your prayer, doubt and faith, people link together and thinking if you've got doubt, you can't have faith. But here it is clearly understood by the father of the son who is demon-possessed, and he's saying, Help my unbelief. So he's thinking straight away that his prayers aren't going to be answered, he's not going to get the answer to his question when he comes before Jesus, purely and simply because he has doubt in his life. But he goes one step further and not only admits the doubt, but he also gets there and says, Help my unbelief. All right. We're gonna leave that there, and I'm gonna do part uh part seven. This is gonna be A, and then I'm gonna do B. Alright. So we'll uh talk to you next week on that. Bye for now.