Entering Into God’s Presence With Our Doubts

[Coconut]

Entering Into God’s Presence With Our Doubts
by: John Park

Quote from King’s Cross by Tim Keller

This man asks Jesus, “Would you heal my son?” And Jesus say, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” That is, “I can do it if you can believe.” The father responds, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” – that is, “I’m trying but I’m full of doubts.”

Then Jesus heals the man’s son. This is very good news. Through Jesus we don’t need perfect righteousness, just repentant helplessness, to access the presence of God.

Jesus could have told the man, “I am the glory of God in human form. Purify your heart, confess all your sins, get rid of all your doubts and your double-mindedness. Once you have surrendered to me totally and can come before me with a pure heart, then you can ask for the healing you need.”

But Jesus doesn’t say that – not at all.

The boy’s father says, “I’m not faithful, I am riddled with doubts, and I cannot muster the strength necessary to meet my moral and spiritual challenges. But help me.” That’s saving faith – faith in Jesus instead of in oneself. Perfect righteousness is impossible for us, and if you wait for that, you will never come into the presence of God. You must admit that you are not righteous, and that you need help. When you can say that, you are approaching God to worship.”

 

[RPAB]

THANK YOU! I needed that alot... Saten trys to tell me that my faith isn't good enough, and because of that, there's going to be a death... Or, because I don't listen to God in this, way, I'm going to hell... What verse is that from? (The story u oosted?) I know it's in matt, right?

 

[Coconut]

That story is found in Mark Sister.

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

I think the only failure God hates is when we fail to acknowledge our utter helplessness, and dependence upon Him.

If I were to put what that father said in my own words, I would say he was praying God would remove any [remaining] belief he had in his own ability.

The worlds idea of faith is "You can, if you think you can, believe in yourself!"

That father despaired of helping his child, (himself) despair to the point of desperation and tears. He was at the end of himself, and he knew it. A miracle from God was his only hope...

God wants us to cease trying to be a god unto ourselves, or a god to our children (or others) We cannot even 'save' ourselves, so we most certainly cannot 'save' anyone else. God says I am enough. Satan says you could be as god if you tried harder. Thats utter rubbish of course.

God loves it when we come to the end of ourselves.

On the other hand, Satan loves it when we keep looking at ourselves.

The next time you hear that condemnation, say "I know I am not good enough, but I know the One who is" Talk about taking the wind out of his sails.

Doubt is not a bad thing. To lose faith in yourself is a good thing. As a matter of fact it is the key thing. To recognize yourself as a failure is to gain a greater comprehension of grace. [thats establishing or building up a little more faith in God...every failure of mine, every time I am forced to see my failure, in comparison to His ability is another brick on that foundation of faith in Him and not myself]

I have lost all faith in my ability to be "enough". Do I sound foolish? Well I am foolish.

"I consider everything [that might make me look or seem good] to be nothing more than a pile of manure, that I may claim Christ, And be found in him, without being able to claim it was because of any goodness in myself.. but having faith only in the goodness of Christ"
[paraphrased by me] [Php 3:8]

"It is a good thing that the heart be established [built solely and firmly upon] the foundation of grace;"
[Heb 13:9]

 

[Chad]

Good post sister Coconut.

Thanks for sharing this. Its no coincidence that just yesterday I was ready about the mustard seed parable that Jesus spoke of in the Gospels.

Matthew 17:19-21

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]

Luke 17:5-6

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

 

[Brighthouse]

There are 2 things God requires of every single person. to be strong,and courageous.( deaut 31:6 and Hebrews 13;5-6) Strong knowing we have the strength in Christ,and couragous, to know that our God goes ahead of us! because we always follow him!! Deaut 31:7-8 as Moses was,as David was against mighty Goliath( 1 Sam chapter 17) Our will decides how we are to be.And in this faith in our Jesus,God cannot fail us!That is our promise from him!

 

[Coconut]

God requires of every single person. to be strong,and courageous.

I have to disagree with this statement...God does not "require" us to be strong and courageous...the scriptures you provided are certainly an admonishment to such, but not a command to "every single one of us" as you suggest. A quick word study on the word "weak" will prove why this is not true....the scripture is full of examples of men and women of God who were often anything but strong or courageous..just reading the Psalms alone will show a man often in despair of himself. Truly my own walk with God is enough to have given me this understanding. We may be dancing upon His promises today, and tomorrow we may find ourselves in the pit of despair...what then? Anyone who has been living by faith very long surely knows what I mean. It is good to know that God hears and answers the cries of His children...even when they are faint and fearful!

While we know that "without faith it is impossible to please God, for those who come to Him must first believe He is and that He is the rewarder of those that diligently seek Him"...[Heb 11:6] this in no way implies God disproves of us when we are weak...as a matter of fact, He Himself says, when we are weak, His grace is sufficient! [2Co 12:9]

This is just one examples of prayers by Christians through the ages that shows what it means to "enter into Gods presence with our doubts":

"Dear God, Help my unbelief. When I'm in pain, I forget that you care about me. I forget that you have helped me through my trials. I forget that you hold me in your arms to keep me safe. I forget that you are feeling my pain with me. I forget that you love me, I forget that I am important to you. Show me your presence - let me feel your enveloping love. Heal my hurting soul. Thank you for staying with me even in my unbelief. " - Timothy Dailey

 

[RPAB]

I think he? means, strang and Cr in Faith. Not in our own abilities.

Ya, knew it was in Mark, but thanks for drawing it out.

 

[Brighthouse]

yes RPAB, Brother Coconut,There is no way in myself that I can be strong, or couragous, In Vienam I thought I myself was,that stupidity,almost got me killed more then once. If what you say is correct,if we cannot or have no need to be strong,then we are weak,for to me there is no middle ground in this. Perhaps you may be right,I do not have answers in full,but the answers I do have in part,have worked for me,so for me, I hold to them. Thanks for your understanding of me. Blessing!

 

[neutralview]

I feel the title of this thread is aimed at me a little, I have unwanted doubts in my mind which comes from Satan the Devil I think but i want to enter God's Kingdom, I want to be saved by Jesus My Lord< I have Belief, Trust & Faith in God/Jesus however its not 100%, I want to get rid of these doubts & have Total Faith in Jesus. I prayed your prayer & I hope God will help me & guide me with his presence within me & my heart.

 

[PrayerWarr1or]

Walking off a Ledge

This hits to exactly what I am going through especially today....this doubt that seeps into my thoughts is poisoning, paralyzing, and it crushes the spirit almost completely sometimes.

Giving it all to God and realizing that you are powerless is such an important part of being one with Christ, but I pray to God now that this doubt that I cannot seem to get rid of does soon disipate in His embrace. His mercy amazes me through everything...I am desperately clinging to Jesus, but I feel right now that I am barely holding on. God lift me up!

 

[hopefulson]

Thank You, You warmed and encouraged a heart today.

 

[lightjet2977]

Thank you for this. May God richly bless you!:thumbs_up

 

[Brighthouse]

Good brothers and sisters.Courage is standing for someone, or something when all would flee, to be strong in the Lord,is to submit,and totally trust in God himself to free you. example gen 14, example Moses at the Red Sea,example when homeless for 3 years, and no body would help,when everyone said to just die and be better off,when many laughed at my Jesus, and mocked me!! "Where is your Jesus now many said!!" You place your faith in a God who has no ears to hear you! Rom 8:28 was my answer to them brothers and sisters! hebrews 10:36,was my need for courage in the face of great odds. I overcame all of this not because of myself!But only Because the grace of a great and loving God said this! rev 2:7 and this rev 2:11,and this Rev 2:17 and this!! rev 2:26 and this rev 3:5 and this rev 3:12 and finally this!! Rev 3:21 Those who overcome do not overcome ever in themselves!! They overcome because Jesus overcomes for them and in them, to give great Glory to his most wonderful name!! amen! And we have a most thankful heart forever from this!amen!!

 

[Coconut]

While reading through this thread again, I was reminded of something ...

In Luke 7 John the Baptist, the greatest preacher that ever lived, is no longer standing in the field shouting "Behold the Lamb..." ...this passage finds John sitting in prison, and having some very serious doubts if Jesus Christ is everything he had proclaimed Him to be...

How does Christ respond to these doubts that John dared to speak out loud?

Luke 7:22 Jesus answered John's messengers, "Go back and tell John..."

Is that not so encouraging to read? No rebuke...just a gentle reminder ...not to mention what Christ says next should make the most doubtful child of God take heart...

Luke 7:28 I tell you," Jesus added, "John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John."

Christ will always send us a messenger, and gladly testify of Himself when we bring our doubts to Him.

Go back and tell Coconut...(yes He did that for me)
Go back and tell neutralview...
Go back and tell prayerwarrior...
Go back and tell hopefulson...
Go back and tell lightjet...

"Go back and tell ... what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. How happy are those who have no doubts about me!"

 

[Coconut]

The testing of faith.

"When God seems distant, the believer enters that long clouded night where his faith is tested. The duration might be a few days; it could be months. During the ordeal of testing he sometimes cries out to God, but it all seems to be in vain. He lifts up his voice to God but feels like every word is bouncing off the walls. He looks for comfort in scripture, but finds himself struggling to continue believing, even what he has always believed in the past, while even his most basic beliefs are assaulted.

Like flaming darts, questions emerge to pierce his confidence and assurance: "How do you know there is a God? Even if there is a God, how do you know that He cares about you? What makes you so sure that the Bible is true? How can you be sure that you have understood it correctly with your modest intellectual abilities?"

Thus come the unrelenting assaults against the believer's faith. Perhaps he does well on his own for a few days. Then as the attacks continue, he gets tired. And from the threshold of despair he cries out, "Where is God now? Where is that so-called perfect peace, that peace that is beyond understanding? Where is that sense of God's presence and fellowship?"

The attacks escalate as forces both internal and external seek to neutralize one of the believer's most powerful weapons: his faith. Much is at stake. For if this faith can be crushed, the enemy can send the believer head-long into the miry swamp of bitterness and despair, his testimony destroyed, and the God he claimed to love, the recipient of hate and cursing."

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