How do we pray???

[FredBotswana]

If you’re now struggling with Faith (doubt, unbelief, double-mindedness), how do you pray about it? Do you cast it out as in “you spirit of doubt, unbelief, double-mindedness, I cast you out of me”, or you pray as in asking God restore your faith as in “Father God restore my faith etc etc”????. Same as Fear( worry,overthinking, anxiety) , should it be “you spirit, I cast you out”? or “Father God help me with this fear”????

 

[Lynx]

Howdy and welcome to the Forum.

For the purpose of clarification, I'm going to rephrase your question the way I think you're asking it, and then ask you if that is what you meant.

"When you are praying against doubt and unbelief, should you be taking up the authority God has given you and praying against it, or should you be asking God for help with it? Same question about fear and anxiety. Should you be proclaiming God's power against it, or asking God to take care of it for you?"

Is that what you are asking?

 

[FredBotswana]

Howdy and welcome to the Forum.

For the purpose of clarification, I'm going to rephrase your question the way I think you're asking it, and then ask you if that is what you meant.

"When you are praying against doubt and unbelief, should you be taking up the authority God has given you and praying against it, or should you be asking God for help with it? Same question about fear and anxiety. Should you be proclaiming God's power against it, or asking God to take care of it for you?"

Is that what you are asking?

Thank you. That's how I wanted to phrase it

 

[Lynx]

Thank you. That's how I wanted to phrase it

Interesting question.

We are commanded to love. That means it is a decision for us to make, and God told us to make that decision. That is up to us. We are told to take authority against demons. That one is up to us.

The Bible says give us this day our daily bread. That is something we ask God for, not something we command into our lives by the authority God has given us. That is up to God.

About faith and doubt, fear and anxiety, that's a good question. I can't off the top of my head think of any specific verse that pertains to it.

 

[Mem]

God's word possesses the Supreme Authority over demon's and serpents. You can either 'correct' the demons with God's word when they try to introduce doubt into your thinking or lie to you about God's power to deliver you from them. Even though I might know such verses as "Be still and know that I am God..." and "Fear not, for I am with you..." by heart, it seems to 'reinforce' it, again, in my spirit, to revisit them. It's like seeing them written, no matter how many times, edifies me and this makes sense since God's word is "living" and "sharper than a two-edged sword..."
And as I think on it further, I wonder at the meaning of "able to divide soul and spirit" is conveying its ability to separate that 'double-mindedness,' dividing our unbelieving flesh tendency to doubt from the believing spirit so that our faith may flourish unhindered!

 

[Mem]

p.s. At university, I learned about different ways each student may be inclined to 'learn' best. For example, some learn best by reading (seeing) the text, some by listening to it being read (hearing), and others by copying it and writing it out (doing), So, when I especially need an 'extra boost,' I write out entire passages so that I see and hear God's word as I "do it."

 

[Deuteronomy]

If you’re now struggling with Faith (doubt, unbelief, double-mindedness), how do you pray about it? Do you cast it out as in “you spirit of doubt, unbelief, double-mindedness, I cast you out of me”, or you pray as in asking God restore your faith as in “Father God restore my faith etc etc”????. Same as Fear( worry,overthinking, anxiety) , should it be “you spirit, I cast you out”? or “Father God help me with this fear”????

Hello Fred, when I'm struggling against thoughts of doubt, unbelief, and/or double-mindedness, or fear, anxiety and/or overthinking, my first line of defense is perhaps best described in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (especially v5, see below).

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2 Corinthians 10​

5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we ~take captive~ every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ​

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Specifically, I "take captive" or REFUSE to accept any/all thoughts that stand in opposition to the truth that is found in God's word (and that as soon as such thoughts begin to enter my mind). So, knowing God's word and also continually growing in your knowledge and understanding of both it and Him, is paramount for a Christian (it is, among other things, how we ready/prepare ourselves each day for battle, yes .. e.g. Ephesians 6:10-18).

I believe that our choosing to REFUSE or TAKE CAPTIVE all of the errant thoughts/temptations that enter our mind throughout the day is the principal way that we obey another command in the Bible, one that brings with it a wonderful promise from God, as well

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James 4​

7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil ... and he will flee from you. ​

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God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello again Fred (@FredBotswana), continuing with one of the thoughts from my last post, the better that we know and understand the word of God, the more that we give the Holy Spirit to teach us, comfort us and guide us in our daily Christian walk with Him. In fact, it can actually become pretty difficult to sin (whether in deed or thought) when you truly know and understand the word of God well because every time you are tempted to do so (to sin, that is) the Holy Spirit will bring a well-known verse or two or three from the Bible to the forefront of your mind to remind you why you shouldn't

The regular practice of our Christian spiritual disciplines certainly helps us with this, disciplines such as Bible Study, Prayer, Fellowship and Witnessing. There is a 5th discipline however, one that is far less popular and has been far less practiced in recent times, but is, nevertheless, the one that provides the most help (by far) in regard to our daily battle against temptation & sin.

David put it this way in the Psalms.

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Psalm 119​

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.​

11 Thy word I have treasured (hidden/stored up) in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.​

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There is no way better to know God's word (and to make it readily available for use by the Holy Spirit in the moment by moment of our daily lives) than choosing to commit His word to memory. Don't worry, I'm not talking about memorizing the entire Bible (or even entire Books or Epistles in the Bible), rather, I'm referring to memorizing a collection of key verses and passages instead.

If you have any interest in hearing more about Scripture memorization, how to get started, what you can expect, which program(s) are best, etc., please don't hesitate to ask me (either right here or via a PM Conversation instead .. if the latter, just click on my avatar and then click on "Start Conversation" to get a PM started w/me).

I won't kid you, Scripture memory work is just that, work (at least in the beginning anyway), and it can actually feel a little bit legalistic too, but in my experience, there is no Christian spiritual discipline that will end up being more of a blessing you (and to others who God brings across your path in this life), not even close

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)