Two Brothers, One Bible
Two Brothers, One Bible
Episode 324 - Double Minded
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And thank you so much for listening to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. We are so glad that you're here today. My name is Robert Wakefield. I am Peter Sears. Okay. I didn't expect you to do that. That kind of caught me off guard. Sorry about that. Okay. All right. Well, welcome to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. With that uh odd start there. Uh, it's really good to have you here. Uh, we are in the book of Gives. Uh, first of all, I've got to mention uh something that took place not too long ago. Okay. Uh we were uh I I drive and pick up cars for a car dealership every now and then. And uh someone in the car asked me, What do you do uh on Thursdays that you're not allowed to drive? And I said, Well, we'll record a podcast. Uh and he said, Oh, kind of what kind of what kind of podcast is it? I said, Well, it's called Two Brothers, One Bible. And what we do is we take some scripture and we break it down, we talk about it, we share stories, and it's really, really good. And so he downloaded it, and his girlfriend downloaded it, and she liked it. So I want to say hello to those three people. It's Jim and it is George and it's Edna. And they are new listeners to Two Brothers Win Bible Podcasts.
SPEAKER_01Welcome, glad to have you.
SPEAKER_00It's great, it's great that they are joining, and they will expect me to give them a $5 bill for saying their name. Oh, all right. And so I there you go. Well, there you have it. So I wanted to get those uh that put taken care of. So we're still in the book of James, we're still in chapter one, and we're gonna begin in verse nine. Uh six. Oh, six. We're gonna be in verse six. Okay.
SPEAKER_01So do you want to do the Monday trivia question?
SPEAKER_00Let's do the Monday trivia question, and let's do that.
SPEAKER_01So we're gonna be looking at verses six through eight this this podcast. And so here's the trivia question. If you listen to the the opening of the background of James, I said that there's 20 places where James and the Sermon on the Mount are parallel. Okay. So this is going to be one of those places. So the trivia question is where does James chapter 1 verses 6 through 8 parallel in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which is Matthew 5, 7, and 8. Okay. Or 5, 6, 7. So you need to find where it it matches.
SPEAKER_00Where it parallels. Yes. And send your answer uh to us, and we would love to hear from you. It says send fan mail. So you just answer that question there, and we would love to hear from you. All right. So that's a great question. So we're away to go, Peter. That's really good. So let's go ahead and read verses uh starting six and go through eight again.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00All right, let's do it.
SPEAKER_01All right. 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.
SPEAKER_00All right, so that is the word of the Lord. So let's get right into verse six here. Uh that says, But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. Here we go. Oh my goodness. James really lays it on the line. Yeah. You know, because how many of our prayers we let's just use weather, for example. Sure. We we got this big huge event coming up, and we really pray for good weather. But God, if you you know, if you're not gonna let the weather, you know, be good, well, let's still have a great you know, that's doubting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And and how many times in our prayer life do we do that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, even when we say if it's your will, right? You know, that gives a loophole. Well, it wasn't God's will. When when you use the word really pray, it's like, how intense is that? Oh, you know, because Jesus gives lots of parables about that that petitioning over and over, knocking on the door, asking and asking and asking. And I think our prayer life, if we really tracked it, was like, yeah, well, I asked for that one time and it didn't happen, and so I gave up.
SPEAKER_00Right. How many times have we done that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So there's none of that. And then what, like you say, when we pray, we're going like, ah, well, you know, this may be a long shot. I I think consistently our prayers are way under what God wants to do. Oh, sure. I think we're tying his hands in so many ways where God says, Boy, could you just give me a prayer that I could really do something with. And and we're saying, you know, if you if you could just add one more, and and God said, I want to do one more million.
SPEAKER_00And you know, that's that's the thing about our prayer life is that we we short God. Yeah we don't we say, well, okay, like you said, we give him we give him ways out. And and we shouldn't have to do that. We shouldn't even think of it that way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I I think, you know, trying to look at what James is saying here. I I really like the guy that comes to to Jesus and and he says, Go, your daughter's healed, and and he says, I believe, help my unbelief. I think we identify with that God because there is that mixture within us of belief and doubt. And and I don't think we're ever going to get to the place where James is where there's not a trace of doubt, because I think that's just part of our humanity. Right. But here's what I think is a difference for James and why he makes this statement. If we have a relationship with God where we know God, we know who he is, we know what he wants to do, we there's no mystery here. So this is a man who's consistently prayed for the wisdom of God, who's been on his knees, and so when he says, God, you need to do this, he knows because God wants to do this.
SPEAKER_00Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And so he's not, he's not, I don't know. It's not a matter of of if God will or maybe God, it's what I know you're gonna do it. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I know you're gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00That's so true. That is so true. Uh it's funny that you mentioned that because uh we not too long ago we we needed a guitar player. Yeah. And so we we were talking, all the priest team was talking, everything, and uh one uh one of the people said, you know, when we get a when we get a guitar player, hopefully we'll get one soon. I said, Oh, we're gonna get one. Yeah. And she said, Well, how are you so sure? I said, Because we're praying for that. Right. We're praying that a guitar player, not you know, I don't I'm not asking for you know anything major, just why don't you come and play guitar? And and the Lord provided that. Yes. You know, quickly too. Yeah, very quickly. Yeah. And the thing was, you know, we just we just cannot doubt the ability that God has to do things he wants to do for us. Yeah. And and the thing about doubt that is just really, really something, it's pulling between trusting God and trusting self. Right. That's where our struggle is.
SPEAKER_01Well, and see the problem uh that that James is addressing here with doubt, doubt is placed upon the character of God. So we're either saying we don't think he's sympathetic towards us, we don't think his power is great enough for that, or he doesn't think this is a big deal. And all of Scripture points to we have a God who knows us intimately. Right. He knows how many hairs are on our head. Here it's a God who wants good stuff for us. If if you being loving good fathers want to give your children good gifts, how much more so would God?
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01And so and and God has thrown as shown throughout the the pages of scripture, he wants to do amazing things through low people to show his glory. Right. And so it's not a matter of if God wants to or why would God want to. And so we need to diminish the amount of doubt we have when we're praying for God to do amazing things.
SPEAKER_00You know, and uh that was that prayer of that disciple that we read about, you know, you know, help my doubt. Yeah. Uh I'm praying that, you know, uh have you seen yeah, we want to show us the Father, you know, and and and if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Right. And and so, but help our doubt, and and we struggle with that as humans. Sure. Only because we're we live in a physical world. Uh we we see things that that are happening, and you know, it it's it's hard sometimes to to pray in a spiritual realm for for God to take care of things. Yeah. And so I think that's where our struggle lies a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you it you brought up an another story. We got to talk about Thomas, because I mean we call him doubting Thomas after all. And so, you know, Thomas is like us. So the disciples say we saw the risen Jesus, and and he comes off with this bad guy response. Well, unless I put my finger, you know. Right. And so, and then he meets Jesus. And and so Jesus invites them Hey, I heard you want to put your hands where the nails were, and he goes, He falls to his knees, makes the greatest confessional statement My Lord and my God. Right, and he doesn't take Jesus upon his offer, suddenly the doubt's gone. And so I said in the last podcast, we really see who we are and understand our role and our insignificance when we see the greatness and the grandeur of God.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01And so if we're praying to that God that we know is great and mighty and powerful and loving and kind and graceful, then that's who we're praying to. That's who we're petitioning to do something with. And so it's a matter of us having prayers to the one that are equal to the one we're praying to.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. And and you use the the story uh of doubting Thomas in uh that story. You know, Jesus said, Hey, when he said this is we're kind of straying here, but I love it. Uh when when Jesus looked at Thomas and said, Come and see the hands, hey, you know, it was right off the bat. Yeah, he wasn't even there. Right. But he knew. Yeah. He knew what Thomas said, and he said, Come stop doubting and believe. Right. And then that confession just you know, so this this doubting thing, it it's it's very human, but I think he is telling us that in order to gain this wisdom, we've got to put that doubting behind us. Yeah. And and and start using, you know, our faith in God that that he's going to be the good father that he is. Absolutely. All right, so we go to verse 7. Boy, we're zooming, aren't we? Uh-huh. Uh that person should uh not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Now, this is kind of a sober warning. Well, we didn't finish the rest of six things.
SPEAKER_01Well, the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. Have you ever been tossed around by the waves?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, I have.
SPEAKER_01It's exhausting, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it really is.
SPEAKER_01I remember one time Cheryl and I went to uh Hawaii, and uh we were there on the big island, and and man, those waves, they were like six foot. I'm six foot, and so they're just knocking me down, and I'm getting back up, knocking me down. I lost a pair of sunglasses. They're out there in the ocean somewhere. Someone finds them, they're mine.
SPEAKER_00Please return those to us.
SPEAKER_01But after a while, I mean in a while, I mean like 10-15 minutes, I couldn't do it. I was it was just out all the strength was just going out of me. And and so when James uses this illustration, this this flipping back between faith and doubt is is exhausting. Right, right. And so the only way to eliminate that is really to keep our eyes fixed on the cross, to to realize who we are in Christ, to see what he has accomplished on the cross for us, to to see who we are instead of who we're not.
SPEAKER_00Right. You know, that's a great point, Peter. You know, this this being tossed by like a wave in the sea, it's driven by external forces. When we take our eyes off of Jesus, yeah, those external forces, those things that we see happen to us, that's when we start doubting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh you you think of Peter. If Lord, if it's you right walking on the sea, call me out here. Yeah. And so he goes out there and he's walking on the water with me. And then he looked at the external forces. Yeah. And he saw all the waves and the wind and everything. And he says, Wow, I've it's physically impossible for me to be here. Yeah. How am I walking on this water? And he immediately began to think that's the same way with us. Yeah. The exact same way with us. When we start looking at our external circumstances more than focusing on the cross, like you just said, yeah, that's when we start doubting.
SPEAKER_01You're you're exactly right. So, you know, James is really encouraging us to not be these fickle people that were this way one day and we're that way the next day. And so that's what he's talking about there in verse six.
SPEAKER_00All right. So so now can we go to seven?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, seven's really insightful.
SPEAKER_00It is.
SPEAKER_01We've got to talk about seven.
SPEAKER_00Seven is that person should not expect anything from the Lord to receive anything from the Lord. Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's pretty strong. So, you know, when when we talk about prayer, we usually say there's three ways that God answers our prayer. And so it's either a yes, it's a no, or it's not now. James gives us a fourth one here. Oh, he does. He says, You're not going to receive anything because of the posturing of your prayer. And so God may say, I hear what you're saying, but I see the motive of your heart, and I'm not going to do that. Right. So literally, James is saying, uh, God's not going to grant a prayer because of our lack of belief.
SPEAKER_00That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's exactly what he's saying. And you know, it's uh another thing about it, it's our inability to receive the gift from God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because we're doubting. Yeah. Uh if we pray to him for the wisdom that he talked about earlier and and pray to through all these circumstances, if we pray in a way that we don't think he's going to answer the prayer, guess what? Yeah. He's not. Right. And how many times have I been guilty of that? You know, just praying something that, well, Father, I know you're probably not going to do this, but I'll ask for it. You know, that's the wrong posture, like you said. That is totally the wrong way to ask for anything from God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, it takes me back to the the example where Jesus talks about that widow who gives just that little bit of a mic, just and and he says that she far outgave everybody else because he knew what her her purse had. Right. You know, and so she gave everything she had, and although it wasn't much, it was all God knows when we pray, He He knows our heart, He knows our mind, He knows the sincerity, the period of it, He knows what we're thinking. And so it if we're praying out of a self-serving attitude, he He's not interested in that. No. If we're have more me's and I's in our prayer than he's and you's, you know. Right. And and so we really have to look. I mean, Paul or James, I keep doing that because we do the same thing. Paul so much. James, old Cowanese, who spent a lifetime on his prayers, is telling us how to pray. I think we need to pay attention.
SPEAKER_00I think so too. He's got something, he knows something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. He's a prayer warrior and he's saying, This is how you pray. He's telling us that that we've got to pray for this sincere place, and we can't have any doubt dogging us about what we're praying for.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And you know, and then I think he sort of sums it up in verse eight that such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. He's he's he's saying these these people are are thinking getting two sides of a coin at the same time. Right. And you can't do that. No, it's either heads or tails. And so he is actually describing uh these this kind of prayer life. Uh you've got two loyalties. You you're wanting God's wisdom, but you want to can maintain your personal control. Yeah. Uh you're wanting God's will, but you're maybe want the world's approval or something like that. Um and so that that's kind of this inner split. It it's it's a problem.
SPEAKER_01You know, when we put seven and eight together, uh James is saying that that what happens is if if you pray with a lack of sincerity, if you pray with uh a component of doubt in your mind, when you don't get your prayer, what you say is, I knew God wouldn't do it after all. Right. So we shift the blame onto God. God disappointed me, God didn't do it, God didn't hear my prayer. And what James is telling us is we need to look at ourselves and saying, What was wrong with my prayer? What was wrong with my attitude? Right. And and again, it may be I've only prayed once, or I didn't pray with sincerity, or I wasn't praying, uh thinking about God in his perspective, I was thinking about me. Right. And so James is encouraging us, don't be double-minded, you know. And so when he we talks about that, it's like, what's your motives? What what it why are you doing what you're doing? Right. And we are so double-minded. I just jotted a few down, you know, it it's the God versus the world. What are we gonna believe? Uh it's faith versus fear, it's hope versus doubt, it's it it's the the the low in mind and the the condition of of how we we look at things. And so uh faith is an anchor. Oh, that's and so when he says you're double-minded and unstable, we're unstable because we're not anchored in him. Right. He we're we're not rooted and grounded and and steadfast in in who he is, and therefore we're just all over the place, just like those waves he talked about in verse six.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, that's a great point that you made that uh be about being double-minded, uh being uh unsteady. It's kind of like when you get into a boat off a dock.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's hard to get into.
SPEAKER_00It is. You've got you've got one foot on the dock, and you step over into the boat and it moves. Uh-huh. And so you're unsteady. That is the picture that I see that James is drawing here. Great picture. If you're trying to pray in a way that you're being double-minded and you're thinking of only yourself, and I and God wants to hear what's on your mind. Don't get me wrong, He wants to hear that. But I think that you've got to be grounded in and not doubting what God can do for us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. And in your boat illustration, you've got to make a commitment. You can't stay like that for long. You either got to get back on the dock or get in the boat.
SPEAKER_00Oh, get in the boat. Because if you because if that boat gets away from you and you're still, yeah, it's you're gonna get wet. Okay, you're gonna fall in. All right. Well, that's gonna wrap it up for this episode of Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. I'm Robert Twakefield. I'm Peter Searson, and we will continue in James chapter one in our next podcast. Thanks so much for listening and God bless you, and we're gonna be the best.