And yet the
idea of abruptly cutting off the whole bad thing fills you with dismay.
You are afraid to do it. A sort of up-and-down life seems preferable to
a bold, upstanding victorious life. A sort of weakness or spiritual
cowardice follows, too; and one habitually doubting prefers to be a
pygmy, a dwarf, for Christ, rather than a real man, a warrior in Him.
Doubt has a dreadful reaction on the soul and mind. Its influence is
deadening and damning. It shrivels and dries up the joy and spontaneity
of service. It makes one feel inferior and weak. Instead of causing one
to fight, doubts lead one to give up the fight; instead of prompting
resistance, doubts make one lie down and get wounded and bruised. Doubts
make us failures. They blight, mar, and drag down. They are the devil's
own poison to kill off God's people.
There is only one thing to do to overcome doubts: have faith in God.
Kill the doubts, or they will kill you. "This is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE WINE OF PRAYER
I am troubled with listlessness in prayer. When I kneel to pray, my mind
wanders here and there out over the world--to my business, or probably
to some trifling thing that amounts to nothing.
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