by Jay McMullan
© 2011

Undeniable Proof that Believers Pray in Doubt and Unbelief
Part 5

One of the proofs I have that most believers pray in doubt and unbelief is that they tend to pray over and over and over for the same thing. Going before the Lord day after day after day and crying and whining, asking Him for the same thing over and over is not scriptural and it shows that you are not praying in faith but rather in doubt and unbelief.

I will say it again, you do not have to pray over and over and over, crying and whining trying to get something from God. How pitiful for a believer to act such a way! This is where believers that have been believers for a number of years start having a problem with me. In reality, It is not a problem with me but a problem with the Word. If you will get hold of this, it will change your life! Let’s see what the Word has to say about all of this.

Mark 11 (New King James Version)

23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

You may have read this scripture many times and not gotten it. Let’s break it down bit by bit. These are the words of Jesus, just as true and sure as if He were sitting bodily in front of you speaking them to you.

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea.” First of all, Jesus is telling us to speak to your situation. What are we supposed to speak to it? We tell it to leave, get out of our life when it doesn’t belong there. The Bible has a lot to say about our profession or “what we say”. (1 Tim. 6:12; Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23). So next time you hear a preacher say that all that confession stuff is a bunch of baloney, tell them to prove it to you from the Word and then you can prove that it is important!

“and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done.” Notice he does not doubt! Why? Because He has gone to the Word, FIRST, and built his faith (remember faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God). Not only does he believe God can, he believes God will. Notice again the word, “says”. You must speak to your problem! These are Jesus’ words, not mine!

“he will have whatever he says.” Do you like to have your prayers answered? I sure do!
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Here is one of the keys to answered prayer. When are you supposed to believe that you receive the answer to your prayer? Is it when you see the answer in your hands? NO! Jesus said, when you pray the prayer of faith, to believe you receive WHEN you pray! Read that over and over until you get it! The Bible tells us that we are not to be moved by our physical senses (For we walk by faith and not by sight 2 Cor. 5:7). If you go to the Word of God and find His promises, then you can pray the prayer of faith, believing that you receive, when you pray! How exciting and how unpopular this is among so many believers because they are so ignorant of the word of God. Hosea, the prophet, said that God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). This is why so many of you believers are living in defeat. You have not found what God’s will is and then prayed believing you receive an answer to your prayer WHEN you pray!

What does James, Jesus’ brother have to say about the prayer of faith?

James 1:5-8 (New King James Version)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 4:3 (New King James Version)

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

The reason so many of you have not had answered prayers is because you are either not asking in faith or you are asking amiss. In other words, you are praying in doubt and unbelief, going before God crying and whining like an orphan instead of a child of God! Let me say it over and over and over, you do not have to ask God over and over for an answer to prayer when you know what His will is. Others of you are lusting after something that is not in God’s will for your life.

Paul talks about this in Hebrews. This passage of scripture has always been my favorite.

Hebrews 10:35-36 (New King James Version)

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

So, let’s say you’ve found scriptures that show God’s promise for your situation. Then you went before the Lord in prayer. You prayed, believing and knowing not only that God can answer your prayer but that it is His will and that He will answer but you don’t see the manifestation of the answer to your prayer. Paul says you need patience, don’t throw away your confidence or your faith! Once you have done what you are supposed to, found scriptures for what you are praying about, then prayed and believed you received, you need patience to wait for the promise to come about. If you ask your earthly father for food when you are hungry, do you think you have to keep begging him? How much better is God than even the very best father on this earth?

In the book of Daniel we have a story about how he had prayed and then he also fasted to get an answer to prayer. The Bible tells us he prayed, then he fasted for 21 days until Michael, the archangel brought his answer to prayer. The thing to note here is that Daniel’s prayer was answered the very first day that Daniel prayed. We have no record that he asked God over and over and over for the answer to that prayer.

Daniel 10:12-13 (New King James Version)

12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

Once, while teaching about the prayer of faith versus the prayer of doubt and unbelief, I was asked about the parable of the persistent widow.

Luke 18 (New King James Version)

 1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

We are told, “Not to lose heart.” Don’t give up on your faith. When you have prayed, like it says in Hebrews and done what God told you to do, do NOT lose your confidence. Believe your prayer was answered when you prayed. Also remember as you read this parable that this is an unjust and ungodly judge. God is better than even the most just and the very best judge!

When the widow went before this unjust judge we must assume that she had a valid claim against her adversary but his unjust judge refused to do what was right. He finally realized that by her continual appeals, he would go ahead and avenge her. Then Jesus went on in the parable to tells us that God will not make us cry out all the time but that He avenges us speedily. Then Jesus goes on to ask if there will be any faith when He returns to earth. Will He find people that pray the prayer of faith and believe they receive WHEN they pray because they have prayed according to His will in His word knowing that He will avenge us because His word says so?

If we do not immediately see an answer to prayer and then we keep pestering God, we are in doubt and unbelief. We obviously did not believe we received an answer to prayer when we prayed. Most of the time you will not see an immediate manifestation of the answer to your prayer. If you don’t, God tells us to plead our case with Him. As His children, we have a right to have our prayers answered immediately. Not because of what we have done but because of what Jesus did!

Isaiah 43 (New King James Version)

25 “ I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
      And I will not remember your sins.
       26 Put Me in remembrance;
      Let us contend together;
      State your case, that you may be acquitted.

If you don’t see answers to your prayer and you have prayed the prayer of faith, put Him in remembrance of what His word says. Go back to His throne to contend with Him and state your case, not to beg and complain and cry and whine like an orphan! I believe it pleases the Father when you do this. His word is true and will always be true no matter what. His promises are truer than any promise of man.

Matthew 7 (New King James Version) 

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Never in this scripture or in Luke 11:9, which says the same thing, is it implied that we must continue bugging and troubling God to get what He promises. When we ask, we receive; when we seek, we find; when we knock, the door is opened! The Dake Annotated Reference Bible says, “The idea here is to demand something that is due one because of family and
redemptive rights.” You see, as a believer, you are a child of God. As one of His children you have certain redemptive rights just as you would on earth as being your parent’s child.

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