There are many spiritual enemies trying to prevent any forward progress in your life and the spirit of doubt is one of the main culprits.

Let’s break some things down first. Most people want to move forward in their lives.

They want to get to the next step, just like Paul expressed when he said, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” in Philippians 3:14 (ESV).

Two things are needed to move forward.

 Number one, you first must know or have the knowledge that there is a next step to achieve from where you currently are. And number two, you must possess the ability to achieve that next step.

Moreover, let’s say that the step you want to get to, whether it’s in a relationship, business, or a health goal, is a major step and will not be accomplished easily without some sort of challenge. Some examples could be reconciling a broken marriage or scaling your business to a new territory.

These aren’t small feats, and they’re going to require faith.

Here is how the spirit of doubt works.

Not only will it stop you from believing in the possibility of better (step 1), but it will also try to make it personal by saying that you specifically can’t get to it (step 2).

And if you’ve made it past accepting both of those hurdles, it will then try to place a limit on just how much progress you can make.

“Sure, you may reconcile your marriage, but he may not love you better than before.”

“You may think your business can expand to this new territory, but where you are now will start to fail.”

Doubt constantly seeks to trip you up, like a stumbling block.

And you’re not alone.

Many people in the bible doubted God and His abilities or plans for their lives, so it’s no surprise that the Body of Christ still deals with this as much as they did back then.

Doubt constantly seeks to trip you up, like a stumbling block.

The Nature of Doubt

It’s very easy to doubt pretty much anything.

People doubt that God is and has always been in existence.

You can doubt that He loves you, that you’re important, or that you’re capable of accomplishing His Will for you. You can doubt the goodness in a thing and believe the opposite.

It’s doubt that caused the fall of mankind, when Eve doubted the truth God spoke about the tree.

As you can see, you can doubt almost anything!

Why is this important?

Because to overcome something, you must know its nature first. The spirit of doubt is very persistent. It’s unrelenting, so you must use your focus to overcome it by enduring. Just like the title says, you must continue to pursue whatever it is that doubt attacked in your mind and keep going.

How do you do this practically?

Oftentimes, it’s as simple as just continuing to move forward despite the feelings.

Imagine you’re watching a hurdle race. Start picturing doubt as a hurdle, and you’ll begin to understand how to defeat it. A runner doesn’t approach the hurdle and stop to look at it. Instead, they jump over it.

Some tips that will help you “get over” the stumbling block of doubt are to renounce the thought that entered your mind. Identify it out loud, so that it can’t remain hidden in your thoughts.

Then, speak the truth.

You are capable. You are whole. You are needed. The relationship will be restored and better than before. Your business is anointed to go into other territories if that’s where God is leading you.

Another quality of doubt is that it’s very dismissive and downplays the truth.

It bursts your bubble and takes the wind right out of your sails.

So don’t let it undermine you!

We all know how it feels to have a great idea.

But once you share it with someone who doesn’t consider it to be all that great, sometimes you can feel dumb about believing in its greatness.

This is another characteristic of doubt- it holds low expectations about the miraculous things God wants to accomplish in and through you.

When something is amazing and grand about your next level in the Lord, the spirit of doubt will say, “Eh, it’s just average.”

It will try to make you feel foolish for even believing in the potential of that blessing.

In these instances, you must employ the same action.

Build yourself up in God.

Psalm 19:1 says that “the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (NIV).

The apostle Paul also later says that we are God’s handiwork (works of God), created in Him to do good works in Ephesians 2:10.

God made a great work in the creation of the heavens, then made us as another great work, and now we are called to also do great works.

Doubt has no existence in that cycle. Nothing about you is average and can be undermined in Christ.

So don’t let it tell you that your aspirations to do amazing things are pointless.

Closing

We are in the days and hours of this earth where it will be such a tragedy to look back and see all of the missed glories we could have taken part in if we didn’t walk in doubtfulness.

Christ said to his follower Peter, who attempted to follow Christ by stepping out of a boat on a stormy night at sea, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31, ESV)

Peter was doing so well, as many of us are. He was walking on water!

But he started sinking when doubt began to press him in that moment.

And he doubted the awesomeness of that miracle. A miracle that he had already started to experience!

We must start identifying this evil spirit at work in our lives to do great things for God’s Kingdom.

Then, we must become aggressive against its persistence to steal away the seed of hope and faith for the miraculous in our lives.

Doubt will come against you but always remember that you can come against it just as strongly.

We do not have to live another day in doubt.

And over time, its influence over you will weaken because you will be able to hold onto the beautiful knowledge God has spoken over you rather than let it be stolen away.

Learn to detect its influence in conversation with others or in your own mind and dismiss it before it dismisses you!

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What are some other ways that you combat the spirit of doubt in your life? Please share below!