"For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" -James 1:7

This is the singular passage in the Bible where God claims that He will not answer the man who offers up doubt-saturated prayers. In other passages He talks of the wicked man's prayers being an abomination to Him (Pro 15:8) and in another part of James, he says that when His people ask for things selfishly, that they might "spend them on their pleasures," neither will he answer those prayers (Jas 4:3).

But doubt?

Okay, maybe doubt is a little worse than most people perceive, but does it really deserve the same punishment as selfishness and wickedness?

Well...yes. Doubt is a grievous sin in the eyes of God. To doubt is to bring God down to man's level, to expect of him what you would expect of imperfect, treasonous  mortals.

Consider this, the word for "suppose" in the Greek means to "make like one's self, imagine, be of the opinion." Doubting is equating God to men, it is to make the Creator of all alike to the creature, to ask "did God really say?" ...In other words, is God really like that? Would God really do that? Does He really, always know best??

Is it any wonder that James equates doubt with being "driven and tossed by the wind"? We cannot allow our imaginations to drive us... there is no telling where we will end up.

Be assured, God is not in any way like us; His thoughts are high above our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Is 55:8-9). This is good news, because the Bible also says, "There is a way which seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death." (Pro 16:25)

Thank the Lord that He is not like us! He is predictably faithful and unchanging even though, as Lewis says, "He never does things the same way twice."