ARE YOU DOUDTING GOD?

The speaker, Norman Goodman, talks about doubting God and how it is a natural part of the human experience. He shares his own experiences and discusses the root causes of doubt, such as personal hardships and intellectual questions. He also explores biblical perspectives on doubt, using examples from the stories of Thomas and King David. Goodman provides steps on how to navigate through doubt, including acknowledging and sharing doubt, seeking understanding through reading and studying, and staying connected to a faith community. He emphasizes the importance of seeking God and listening to others' testimonies to overcome doubt. Good morning, Norman Goodman here, what is it, June the 3rd, 2024, and what I want to talk about today, first of all, I want to make sure, I hope everyone is doing well, I hope everybody had a great weekend. I hope a lot of you, I pray a lot of you visited the church on yesterday, which is Sunday, and had a great experience. I had no idea, every time I go into our church, Cathedral of Faith, on Portlock Road in Chesapeake, Virginia, if you're interested, G. Wesley Hardy is the pastor. Dr. G. Wesley Hardy, our bishop, is the pastor. Forgive me, every time I'm going to do a podcast where I go to church, the enemy wants to attack me in my throat, so bear with me. It only happens when I get ready to do this, so I know I'm doing the right thing according to the Lord and what he wants me to do. But in this podcast, I want to talk about, are you doubting God? As Christians, especially as young believers, as people that are fresh in the faith, we have a tendency to question if God is there. In this podcast, we're going to explore the depth and belief and spirituality and the human experience. Today, we're going to dive into the topic that many of us grapple with at some point in our lives, doubting God. I'm trying to go off a little bit of a script today because sometimes when I have thoughts in my head, I have to put it down. Normally, I'm not good at a script. I kind of will, you know, something will hit me and then I just go off of, you know, the Lord will just ramble off. So if it sounds like I'm kind of reading a little bit, I am because I'm trying to go off of a script, so I won't be all over the place. But we'll see how that goes. And the question is, have you ever found yourself questioning your faith, wondering if God is really there, or if he truly hears your prayers? If so, you're not alone, and you're not alone. I want to let you know that. Doubt is a natural part of human experience, and it comes often, and it can often lead to a deeper and a more resonant faith. Today, we'll explore why we doubt what the scripture says about it and how to navigate through these challenging times. You know, I don't know about you, but sometimes when you're praying or when things are going on in your life, the enemy will always attack you. Whenever you feel some doubt, always remember Ephesians 6, 12. You know, that's one of my favorite verses. We don't fight against flesh and blood. We fight against principles in the dark places. Whenever you're doubting, understand that you're under demonic attack, okay? And so that means you're in the right place. You're going in the right direction because if you're not doubting, then you're not under demonic attack. So the enemy wants to put that doubt in you, and that doubt is not necessarily a bad thing because what's going to happen is it's going to push you closer to God, where it should push you closer to God. Let's understand doubt. Let's go to segment one. Let's understand doubt. Doubt can arise from many sources. It might stem from a personal hardship, unanswered prayers, or the suffering we see in the world. Sometimes it's triggered by intellectual questions about the nature of God, the universe, or the teachings of our faith. Understanding the root of our doubt is the first step in addressing it. And sometimes, you know, my teacher in the Sunday School of Catholic Evangelism, we were talking, and we were talking about talking in tongues. And she said, maybe I'm intellectualizing the scripture too much, and that's why I can't grapple with speaking in tongues. And that could be true. Sometimes that we will intellectualize things to the point that we don't allow ourselves to let go and give in and become naked or raw to the Lord, you know. And that's a scary thing for a lot of us, to give everything to him. And that also can foster in some doubt as well. Let's look at Segment 2, Biblical Perspectives on Doubt. The Bible is not silent on the issue of doubt. Consider the story of Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, who famously doubted Jesus' resurrection until he could see and touch Jesus' wounds. Jesus didn't condemn Thomas for his doubt. Instead, he offered Thomas the evidence he needed. In John 20, 27, Jesus says, stop doubting and believe. And you know what? I'm guilty of that. I'm guilty of the fact that before it had to be tangible for me. I had to see it before I could believe it. And the one thing about faith, faith is the evidence of things not yet seen, okay, knowing that it's already there, knowing it's already done. It's already going to happen. You have the faith that is already going to be there. So you don't need to see it in the present at that moment or at all because you have the faith that is already there. Let me give you another example. In the book of Psalms, King David often cried out to God in moments of doubt and despair. Psalms 22 begins with the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And yet through his doubts, David always returned to the place of trust in God's faithfulness. You know, God is always faithful even when we're not. He's always faithful when we're not. He knows us. He knows us through and through. And he knows we're going to doubt because we're in the carnal, we're in the flesh. He knows it. That's why he gives us these examples in the scripture. That's why he gives us these examples so he can say, I know you're going to doubt, but let me show you this. And then you have these examples and then you're like, okay, all right, I can get past that point now. Okay? Segment three, let's navigate through doubt. So how do we navigate through doubt? How are we, how are, here, I'm sorry, here's a few steps. Acknowledge your doubt first. You have to acknowledge it. You have to own it, so to speak. I have to own my doubt. Don't suppress it. Don't ignore your doubt. Acknowledge them and bring them into the light. Ask God to go inside you, to dig deep inside your heart, to pull that doubt out, to pull it out, so you can see it right in front of you, right at the table, so now you can address it. Share your doubt with a trusted friend, pastor, or spiritual advisor. You know what? I used to believe that you didn't really need to assemble yourself. I used to believe that, and now I'm on the opposite side of that. It's assembling myself with my brothers and sisters at church, having these conversations. I learn so much. I learn so much. I'm out of my comfort zone, and it's amazing how transparent people are in church. When people are truly trying to get close to God and they're truly trying to develop their spiritual walk, people are transparent with each other. I mean, in the Sunday school class of all men, man, we were, like, transparent with each other. We were letting it out, and the fact of the matter is nobody was judging each other. Everybody was going to Scripture to help the next man get to the point that they were trying to get to, and that's to get closer to God and be the right husband, the right father, the right steward, the right everything that God expected for us to be. I mean, it's assembling yourself with people that are after the same thing and seeking the same thing is the best thing for anybody in your Christian walk. Assuming yourself with people that's going in the same direction, that will help strengthen you and help you resolve a lot of your doubt. Seek understanding. Dive deeper into your faith. Read the Scripture. You hear me talk about that all the time. Read the Scripture daily, night before you go to bed, constantly. This is how you get closer to God. This is how you get understanding because when you ignore that, you leave the door open for the enemy to come in and put that doubt in your mind. But when you're in the Scripture, then the Lord has given you all the tools to defeat the demon in those principalities. Study theological works. Seek answers to your questions. Knowledge can often dispel doubt. Always read other spiritual books. Read books from other authors that's in the same area. Like I said, I'm reading this book, Prayer That Wrought Out Demons. The book I read, I talked about a thousand times, Pigs in a Parlor. Those are other theological works. Those are works that can help you in your walk with Jesus Christ. Remember, pray, meditate. Spend time in prayer and meditation. Ask God to reveal himself to you in a moment of uncertainty. Sometimes the act of seeking God can bring a profound sense of peace and clarity. Like I said in the last podcast, are you seeking God's voice? Are you seeking him out? When you're seeking him out, he's going to clarify things. He's going to make things a lot clearer to you when everything is cloudy and foggy and you don't know where to go right or left. Seeking God out in his voice will clear all of that up. Stay connected. Always stay connected. Remain active in your faith community. Isolation can amplify doubt. I cannot overestimate that. Being in isolation, I used to be that way. I'm naturally an introvert. Being an isolationist, the enemy will work you over if you're by yourself, will literally work you over. I would definitely suggest do not isolate yourself at all. Do not do that. Make sure that you're in. I'm not saying you have to be part of a collective and you have to follow the crowd. Always have your own mind. But always be around like-minded people that's trying to go in the same direction. Because believe it or not, other people are going through that wall, are struggling just like you're struggling. Some have already been there and done that, and they can help you through what you're going through right now, especially your elders. But being surrounded by fellow believers can provide support and encouragement, like I just said. Segment four are stories of overcoming doubt. Listen to other people's testimonies. Other people's stories. I mean, when I say listen to other people's stories, you never know what other people have gone through and been through. I'm amazed sometimes when I listen to some of the stories at church. This man used to be a drug dealer. This person used to be a kingpin. This person went to prison for 25 years for a crime. This person went through this. And you're looking at the ladies, and some of them were on the street selling drugs. I mean, one of the gentlemen said he was meaner than a junkyard dog. He never cried his whole life. He used to carry two pistols on him all the time. Now he's like a sobbing baby all the time. He cries all the time. He can't. And I was laughing. I said, man, I'm with you, bro. I'm with you. We all were laughing. We were like, because we've become so open and raw with God that that sensitivity, as a man, we're able to express that without feeling like we're soft. You know what I mean? We're not betas, but we can express that because God has, we've allowed ourselves to let God encourage that to come out. And, you know, it's a beautiful thing. It really is. You know, encouragement, signifying encouragement and inclusion. If you're doubting God right now, remember that doubt does not disqualify you from his love. In fact, it can bring you closer to him as you seek and find deeper truth. Isaiah 4110 says, so do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Amen. Hallelujah. I'm telling you, man, I mean, you know, God is beautiful. And he's a disciplinarian. He's a great father. His son Jesus Christ. I mean, I can't say enough of what turning my life and changing the way I think and the way I approach the Lord has been a profound, had a profound effect on me in the last 12 months. It really has. In my household and with my wife. Just standing on his word. And I'm still learning, man. I'm still learning. And I'm thirsty for it every single solitary day. I really am. And I'm telling you, we just, you know, God is good, man. He is just, he's good all the time. He really is. And it's funny, right, that I'm saying that because I'm looking at a devotion on the Bible app. And I was, this morning I tell you I go to the Bible app. And it was funny, it was at Mark 22328, have you ever questioned God's intentions. And, again, this whole podcast, I was in church thinking about it yesterday because the pastor said something about doubting God. And I go to the devotion today and there it is. Right there. Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of all days, Matthews. And I'm going down to the prayer. And it says, the prayer is, merciful and forgiving father, how lucky I am to have you in my life. When I have been weak, you have forgiven me. And with each day I gain a stronger faith. Praise be you, my one and only Lord, for forgiving your only begotten son to us so that we would have a shining example that never strayed from your path. I beg that you strengthen me, my Lord, as you strengthen Jesus in his holy name. Amen. And it's talking about when I was in my weakness. And when you're doubting, you're in your weakness. And I'm like, the Lord is great, man. He just shows you stuff. He goes, see, you know, I got you set up, man. You're all good to go. You know, so I want to share a little thing here. Because I know in the mornings we get up and I'm going to read a little bit from prayers that ride out demons. And these are prayers to command the morning, the day, and night. I'm going to go over a little bit of those, okay? Because I was reading it last night and I was like, man, this is some great stuff to read in the morning and some great stuff to go to bed with at night. You know, because it helps strengthen your relationship with God and it also helps protect you from demonic attack in the morning and at night when you're sleeping. So let's start with the morning prayer. I command the morning to take hold of the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it. That's Job 38.12. I will have dominion over the devil in the morning. That's Psalms 49.14. Lord, make the outgoings of the morning to rejoice. That's Psalms 65.8. I receive your loving kindness every morning. Psalms 143.8. Release the beauty of your holiness from the womb of the morning. Psalms 110.3. Let your light break forth in my life as the morning. Psalms 58.8. Let your judgment come upon the enemy morning by morning. Isaiah 28.19. Let's go into some of the night prayers over here. Let the evening tides trouble the enemies that would attack my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, Isaiah 17.12-14. I bind and rebuke every spirit that would creep against me at night. That's Psalms 104.20. I bind and rebuke the pestilence that walk in darkness. Psalms 91.6. I will rest at night because the Lord gives me sleep. Let your angels guard and protect me at night. Lord, give me deliverance in the night season. Act 12.6.7. Lord, let my reign restrict me in the night season. Psalms 16.7. Your song shall be with me in the night. I will meditate upon you in the night. Watches. Psalm 63.6. I wanted to read some of those and hopefully you can take some of those scriptures and meditate on those. Before you go to bed, in the morning. That will help you with your doubt as well. That will help you with it. Understand, doubting is a natural thing in your conversion, in your growth. It causes you to get closer to God and understand that the enemy always wants to sow doubt anyway. When you feel a sense of doubt, you know that the enemy is trying to attack you, you know you're in the right place. That is your reasoning to get close to God, even closer to God and get into his scripture to know him. I just wanted to go over that a little bit with you. I hope that this, and I pray that this, that whoever listens to this, it will help you in your walk. Let's finish this with a prayer. Lord, in the name of Jesus, I want to thank you for today. I want to thank you for the knowledge that you've bestowed on us. I want to thank you for your wisdom. I want to thank you for what you're working for us on the other side, for your kingdom. Give us the courage and give us the strength to use the powers that you've already bestowed on us because we are believers. We are your children. We believe in the messiahship of your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for being you. We thank you for the blessings. We thank you for the light that shines in us because it represents you. Give us the courage to minister and evangelize to others. Give us the courage because you're there with us and you're going to protect us and your words are going to come through us. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. I want everybody to have a great and blessed day. Don't be afraid to minister. Don't be afraid to minister to people. Okay? But I want to thank you for joining me on this episode. If you have any questions or need someone to talk to about your doubts, feel free to reach out. And don't forget, subscribe and leave a review. Leave a review for this podcast, okay? Again, you can find me at MrNormanGoodman at mail.com if you want to. That's Mr. M-R. And my name is N-O-R-M-A-N-G-O-D-M-A-N at mail.com. If you want to leave an e-mail or something or a contact number and you need someone to talk to or pray with, I will be available to you, okay? Have a great day. And Norman Goodman signing out.