If in Doubt… A Prayer for the Week

He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?” Genesis 3:1b

O, the temptress. I hear you in the shadows. You slither into my lonely moments and whisper in my ear.

And yet… despite you. To spite you. Stomping you out! Ignoring your coy tactics! I make a choice. I rest in my choice. I cling to my choice.

I will not allow your sneaky voice of doubt a defining foothold. No whisper, seeking clarity, will recast my mission. I will not be defined by you, I will define you!

Instead:

• If in doubt… I’ll teach the Bible.
• If in doubt… I’ll say I don’t know.
• If in doubt… I’ll take the challenge.
• If in doubt… I’ll spend time with people my own age.
• If in doubt… I’ll compliment and encourage instead of criticize or question.
• If in doubt… I’ll be bold with what God’s laid on my heart.
• If in doubt… I’ll invest in people instead of projects.
• If in doubt… I’ll go with less planning, more doing.
• If in doubt… I’ll say yes to a wild idea.

Yes, these are scary times. And scary times make counter-productive doubts seem reasonable.

I’ve made a choice to stand as a crazy man, convinced that God can use me to change things. Circumstances mean nothing. Opposition is a joke. Logic is often illogical. Realism is veiled fatalism!

While it seems natural to teeter-totter, like Thomas, between faith in what God can do and doubt in what I can barely allow myself to dream about God doing– I reject doubt’s gravitational pull and fling myself forward in faith.

Let doubt not define me today. Instead, allow me to define my life as one who overcomes doubts with  radical, ridiculous, simple, and audacious faith.

Lord, hear my prayer.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Amen.