Matthew 21:21
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say
unto you, If you have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is
done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it hall be done."
One of the main obstacles to effective prayer is lack of
trust. If we believe God is who He says He is and will do what He has promised,
why do so many of us habitually waver in our prayers? Instead of exercising
bold faith, we come to the Lord “hoping” He will hear us and answer our
requests, but we’re just not sure He will. With this kind of thinking, we
cannot expect to receive anything from Him.
One reason we are so prone to doubt is that we fail to
see God at work in our circumstances. We asked, and nothing happened. But the
Lord is not some cosmic bellhop who jumps in response to our requests. He sees
past, present, and future and knows the right time for every answer. His
invisible hand is already at work on our behalf—arranging situations to
accomplish His will, opening hearts, and preparing us to receive what He wants
to give.
Another cause for uncertainty is ignorance. If we don’t
know God’s ways, we will be disappointed in His response. All too often our
prayers are accompanied by expectations of how He will work. When He fails to
intervene according to our anticipated method, we start to doubt. But placing
our faith in the Lord and trusting in His good and perfect ways gives us
stability as we wait for His answer.
To overcome doubts, spend time in the Word to learn God’s
principles and ways. Then you’ll begin to grasp what He wants to achieve in
your life and how He goes about it. Examine your past from a biblical
perspective—faith will grow as you see the unexpected ways He’s answered your
prayers.