How to stop being a double-minded Christian?

[Moonrise Lu]

In James 1:5-8 it says:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

I have come to realize I am definitely the "double-minded" person described. At times I am like "God is great! He has everything under control. I know the promises He has for me." ... a couple days later I feel like "is God even listening to my prayers? Will I have a future? Are You there, God?" I know this is not good, but it's just how I have been for a long long time. I don't know how to change it.

When I looked online about it, basically any article I found said "get rid of the habitual sin in your life". The big habitual sins I used to struggle with have been over for like 1-2 years. So I don't think it's that. It might be more about facing tough times? I have struggled financially and trying to find a fitting career for a long time. But does anyone have advice on how to stop being that double-minded Christian who will receive nothing from God?

 

[Razare]

You get rid of it, 1 issue at a time, you don't fix it all in one go.

For every given thing stated in scripture, we will be tempted to be double-minded. You fix being double-minded, when you believe scripture to the point that you're no longer double minded.

If someone tells you, "Jesus is not the son of God." If you respond with, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" Then that's a good start... I'm joking, but you get the idea. The idea is that no matter how bad it gets, there are certain things you believe and don't waiver on.

When you get like that on an issue in scripture, you stop being double minded. Life and feelings take you one way, and you don't change, and they take you another way, and you don't change your belief. That's when you're not double minded.

You get this way by reading and confessing scripture. Confessing what God's word says, helps shove out the thoughts which try to oppose God's word. If you do this enough what happens is... when you start going back into contradicting God's word, you arrive at this point where you are tempted but you go, "No wait, I believe what the word says anyway."

It may even get the point where you feel like, "I want to disbelieve and doubt God's word, but I no longer can honestly say that I do. I believe what it says, even though I feel and desire something different."

That latter sort of resistance helps if you're carnal, because it shoves you over the edge out of double mindedness. It's better to enthusiastically believe by true faith, but believing because you believe, also works.

So as you believe and confess, and do this with verses that have the truth concerning the issues where you have double-mindedness, believing those scriptures will end it.

 

[Goodbook]

All the promises of God are yea and amen.
here is how I think singlemindedly about God --and the important thing is to first believe Jesus came here to save us. That he died on the cross and rose again from the dead so that we can be reconciled to God. Thats one thing that underpins all the rest.

When you say God are you there and you doubt him then really you are doubting the resurrection...that Jesus died in vain, and your faith is in vain. because if Jesus is still dead in the ground there's no heaven and no revelation. But He isn't, and you need to sort out what you believe about that. How is a dead man able to give us the Holy Spirit?

if you first seek His kingdom and his righteousness ...all those things that you need will be added unto you.

 

[tturt]

We're to take every thought captive (II Cor 10:5) and renew our minds with His Word (Rom 12:2). The life application is when those erroneous thoughts come, immediately start thinking on His Word such as "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." (Jer 33:3) "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" Luke 18:1 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jer 29:11 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." Psa 37:23

This editing of our thought life can be difficult to do in the beginning but it will get easier.

 

[Near]

You brought up points about questioning God's presence. May I suggest getting into apologetics, that really boosted my faith. I recommend Reasonable Faith. There's tons of podcasts to listen to that are very informative.

 

[NJA]

In James 1:5-8 it says:
... a couple days later I feel like "is God even listening to my prayers? Will I have a future? Are You there, God?" I know this is not good, but it's just how I have been for a long long time. I don't know how to change it.

Hello Lu,

James goes on to say ...
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." 4:18

The mind is a machine that does what the heart directs.
I see that you desire what is right but maybe no-one has told you what is right by God ....

God says we need a new heart!

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you an heart of flesh" Ezekiel 36:26

i.e. you need to receive the Holy Spirit.

"the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5v5)

See Acts 2:4, 33; 10:44-46 for details.

I'm with people that have all received the same, if you contact your nearest we will be happy to talk & pray with you.

 

[~Anastasia~]

In James 1:5-8 it says:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

I have come to realize I am definitely the "double-minded" person described. At times I am like "God is great! He has everything under control. I know the promises He has for me." ... a couple days later I feel like "is God even listening to my prayers? Will I have a future? Are You there, God?" I know this is not good, but it's just how I have been for a long long time. I don't know how to change it.

When I looked online about it, basically any article I found said "get rid of the habitual sin in your life". The big habitual sins I used to struggle with have been over for like 1-2 years. So I don't think it's that. It might be more about facing tough times? I have struggled financially and trying to find a fitting career for a long time. But does anyone have advice on how to stop being that double-minded Christian who will receive nothing from God?

Please don't be offended, but what I read here is that you are basing your faith on how your life is going, and your concern in the end is what you "receive from God".

Think back to the early Church ... most of them were martyred for their faith. And yet they had great faith, and set the world on fire with the Gospel. But their faith was not measured (by them) based on what they "received from God". What they received were prison, torture, mocking, and death.

Except in some parts of the world, this is not what we expect to face for our faith right now.

What God wants for each of us is in the eternal sense. He desires that we be united with Him, that we overcome death and enjoy eternal life with Him. The scenery of our path along the way is not what He is most concerned with, but our destination. We tend to invest much of our desire in the temporal.

One thing that has helped me is to consider that no matter what comes our way, God can use that thing to form Christ within us, and ultimately to draw us closer to an eternity with Him. It is said that we should thank God in ALL things, recognizing that all that we receive from His hand is for our good, whether it be momentarily pleasant or (more often!) not. This can teach us to draw close to God and thank Him in adversity. I think this wisdom was demonstrated perfectly in the martyrs.

 

[Greg J.]

Hi Moonrise Lu,

It sounds like you picked the right passage to examine. Pay attention to the three verses before James 1:5-6. James is talking about not giving up in your fight to hold on to the faith you have in God in the face of suffering. He says that it is through your perseverance that you will grow into Christ's likeness (having knowledge, wisdom, and power to deal with whatever you need to). Are you really committed to doing what God wants? If not, either ignorance or lack of commitment can cause double-mindedness. In your fights you will need God's help. One of the ways you can get his help is to ask for wisdom to help you deal with situations. However, do you really know what it is you need help with? Usually, it is something having to do with our character (e.g., lack of faith), not the circumstance. Knowing God better through full commitment to him, Scripture, and obedience is going to wipe out your double-mindedness over time.

 

[Moonrise Lu]

All the promises of God are yea and amen.
here is how I think singlemindedly about God --and the important thing is to first believe Jesus came here to save us. That he died on the cross and rose again from the dead so that we can be reconciled to God. Thats one thing that underpins all the rest.

When you say God are you there and you doubt him then really you are doubting the resurrection...that Jesus died in vain, and your faith is in vain. because if Jesus is still dead in the ground there's no heaven and no revelation. But He isn't, and you need to sort out what you believe about that. How is a dead man able to give us the Holy Spirit?

if you first seek His kingdom and his righteousness ...all those things that you need will be added unto you.

You brought up points about questioning God's presence. May I suggest getting into apologetics, that really boosted my faith. I recommend Reasonable Faith. There's tons of podcasts to listen to that are very informative.

I don't doubt what God did or who He is. I believe all the bible, that God sent Jesus to die for us, and the Holy Spirit came after to be in us and guide us. I don't doubt He exists. But it always feels like when I pray it is going to "voicemail" or if I were to text God a prayer He would look it over then go on with his day they way you might ignore a text from your mom. If someone else said God doesn't care or listen to prayers I would say that's not true and then go find all the verses to back it up... but when it comes to me I guess I do feel it doesn't apply.

Please don't be offended, but what I read here is that you are basing your faith on how your life is going, and your concern in the end is what you "receive from God".

Think back to the early Church ... most of them were martyred for their faith. And yet they had great faith, and set the world on fire with the Gospel. But their faith was not measured (by them) based on what they "received from God". What they received were prison, torture, mocking, and death.

Except in some parts of the world, this is not what we expect to face for our faith right now.

What God wants for each of us is in the eternal sense. He desires that we be united with Him, that we overcome death and enjoy eternal life with Him. The scenery of our path along the way is not what He is most concerned with, but our destination. We tend to invest much of our desire in the temporal.

One thing that has helped me is to consider that no matter what comes our way, God can use that thing to form Christ within us, and ultimately to draw us closer to an eternity with Him. It is said that we should thank God in ALL things, recognizing that all that we receive from His hand is for our good, whether it be momentarily pleasant or (more often!) not. This can teach us to draw close to God and thank Him in adversity. I think this wisdom was demonstrated perfectly in the martyrs.

Hmm I hadn't considered that's how I sound :/ The way I was meaning it is, to me, it seems our main thing as Christians should be spreading the word of God and bring others to Christ. I am a really awkward person who sucks at explaining things and has social-anxiety half the time, so being someone (like a church leader) who can help others to God is not within my reach. So I have thought what I can do instead is make money so I can give that money to church and organizations so the people with that gift can have the means to do it all. But I am in this constant state of being broke with no promises in the future. So that takes away my backup plan for helping God's kingdom in some way. If I can't give then I'm useless to His kingdom, so why would God even pick me? I want to be of use in some way but I'm not. When I said "receive from God" I meant that I want to receive the means to help spread the gospel, even if it's from the background, not out of greed for my own gain, but to help others. Also other good stuff like adopting requires lots of money. That's why I'm focused on the gain. Is this a bad viewpoint?

Also there are a lot of verse pertaining to strong faith being rewarded or receiving the desires of our hearts which makes me think the lack of "reward" shows I am in the wrong place. Not that I only follow God for reward. I know the ultimate reward is eternal life. I just feel like God wants us to be doing stuff on earth too.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

In James 1:5-8 it says:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

I have come to realize I am definitely the "double-minded" person described. At times I am like "God is great! He has everything under control. I know the promises He has for me." ... a couple days later I feel like "is God even listening to my prayers? Will I have a future? Are You there, God?" I know this is not good, but it's just how I have been for a long long time. I don't know how to change it.

When I looked online about it, basically any article I found said "get rid of the habitual sin in your life". The big habitual sins I used to struggle with have been over for like 1-2 years. So I don't think it's that. It might be more about facing tough times? I have struggled financially and trying to find a fitting career for a long time. But does anyone have advice on how to stop being that double-minded Christian who will receive nothing from God?

the key word in James 1:7 is receive; James didn't say that God wouldn't give any thing to a double-minded man, but that the double-minded man will not receive any thing from God.

Rom 8:16-17 KJV
(16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
(17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

you receive things from God through placing faith (believing in) His promises to you in the Bible - but if you put more faith in what your bank accounts say than in God's promises of prosperity, then you won't receive the prosperity that God has already given you as a joint heir with Christ. in order to believe God for something He's promised you in His word, you must focus on His promise to the exclusion of all reports to the contrary.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

I think everyone to some degree has times in their life where they can be double minded. Its in us because sin exists. Most seem to overcome it. Though they still may have an occasion here or there where they are double minded. Thankfully we have a God that is forgiving, loving...etc. We gets we struggle and its why we need to turn to Him.

 

[tdidymas]

In James 1:5-8 it says:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

I have come to realize I am definitely the "double-minded" person described. At times I am like "God is great! He has everything under control. I know the promises He has for me." ... a couple days later I feel like "is God even listening to my prayers? Will I have a future? Are You there, God?" I know this is not good, but it's just how I have been for a long long time. I don't know how to change it.

When I looked online about it, basically any article I found said "get rid of the habitual sin in your life". The big habitual sins I used to struggle with have been over for like 1-2 years. So I don't think it's that. It might be more about facing tough times? I have struggled financially and trying to find a fitting career for a long time. But does anyone have advice on how to stop being that double-minded Christian who will receive nothing from God?

The Christian life is not a place, it's a journey. You're on the right track, in that you are seeing part of your problem of double-mindedness, and are trying to deal with it. What makes Christians righteous is their faith in Christ, and commitment to stay on the straight and narrow way that Jesus called us to walk, regardless of what they feel or what circumstances look like. Keep asking God for wisdom, He'll give it to you.
TD

 

[Serving Zion]

... it always feels like when I pray it is going to "voicemail" or if I were to text God a prayer He would look it over then go on with his day they way you might ignore a text from your mom. If someone else said God doesn't care or listen to prayers I would say that's not true and then go find all the verses to back it up... but when it comes to me I guess I do feel it doesn't apply.

Just going out on a limb here (please be lenient), could you consider James 4:3? Consider it along with Matthew 21:21. Why does someone have doubts about their request to God? I suggest it always must be that the asker is somehow ashamed to ask for it. I am not accusing you of this, but only sharing an insight of a possible cause in case it might be useful.

I am in this constant state of being broke with no promises in the future. So that takes away my backup plan for helping God's kingdom in some way.

I know the ultimate reward is eternal life. I just feel like God wants us to be doing stuff on earth too.

You might consider Matthew 22:21. I don't like that churches teach members to think that an agreed monetary tythe satisfies their obligations to Him, but I also suppose on the other hand consider together Matthew 25:27 with 1 Corinthians 3:15.

Consider the talents you do have though, rather than those you don't. If you have a heart that is genuinely willing to serve, you love God, you have scripture, you have time to pray, you have some computer skills, you have a friendly demeanor... These are things that all so often, money just cannot buy!

 

[insurchoftruth]

What makes us double minded, are the temptations which come our way, on a regular basis. If we are really convinced about what the Word of God says, in our hearts, then it will be easier to resist temptations and believe the Word of God and his promises. The reason we doubt, after we pray the prayer of faith, is because we are not truly and really convinced in our hearts, about what we believe, and in what the Bible says, about our situation. We need to ask God, to give us more revelation about his Word, so that we will be truly and really convinced, about what we believe, and about the promises of God. Once we are convinced, of why we absolutely believe what the Bible says about our situation, then when we face that difficult situation, we will be able to believe, and receive the victory from God. Mark 11:21-24

 

[faroukfarouk]

Hi, Ms. Lu, it's not so much some kind of final act of renunciation that might make us more holy, so to speak; but our sanctification comes by God's grace when we consistently feed on God's Word day by day and have a meaningful prayer life, as we seek to honor the Lord Jesus Who died for us.