Doubt
You are not sure any more, and you feel guilty for saying so. Perhaps prayers went unanswered, or something happened that you cannot square with a good God, or belief simply drained away quietly. Doubt is not the opposite of faith — indifference is. Scripture is full of people who asked hard questions out loud and were not thrown out for it. Bring the questions. They are safer in the open than in the dark.
Send a blank email to
doubting@mybible.emailEmail that address from any phone. Scripture comes back to your inbox.
No signup, free forever.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).
Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”Mark 9:24
The most honest prayer in the Bible, and Jesus answered it without hesitation.
Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”John 20:27
Thomas was given the evidence he asked for. Doubt was met, not shamed.
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1
Faith is defined here as trust without sight, which assumes questions come with it.
Be merciful to some, who are doubting.Jude 1:22
A direct instruction on how to treat doubters — with mercy.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.James 1:5
Without reproach. God is not irritated by your questions.
How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Psalm 13:1
This is in the Bible. Complaint addressed to God is still prayer.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?Psalm 22:1
Jesus quoted this from the cross. Feeling abandoned is not proof of abandonment.
When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted.Matthew 28:17
Some doubted while looking at the risen Christ — and were still sent out as his people.
If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he can’t deny himself.2 Timothy 2:13
His faithfulness is not contingent on the strength of yours.
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”John 20:29
A blessing spoken over everyone who believes on less evidence than they wanted.
Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds.Matthew 7:7-8
Searching is encouraged. The promise attaches to the seeking, not to certainty.
Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? … Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity?Habakkuk 1:2-3
An entire prophetic book that begins as a complaint and ends in trust.
Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.Galatians 1:8
Test what you are told. Scripture expects you to think, not merely to accept.
Come now, and let’s reason together, says Yahweh.Isaiah 1:18
The invitation is to reason, not to switch your mind off.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.1 Corinthians 13:12
Partial knowledge is the normal condition, even for the apostles.
It is worth noticing how many doubters the Bible keeps in the story. Thomas refuses to believe without evidence and is given it. Gideon asks for a sign twice, with a fleece, and gets both. John the Baptist, in prison, sends messengers to ask whether Jesus is really the one — and Jesus answers with evidence and then praises him publicly. In Matthew 28, some of the eleven doubt while looking at the risen Christ, and he commissions them anyway.
Then there are the psalms. Roughly a third of them are laments, and many are blunt to the point of discomfort: how long will you forget me, why are you so far off, why do you hide your face. These were Israel’s hymnbook. A community that sings that on purpose has made room for people whose faith is in trouble.
What Scripture asks of a doubter is not pretence but honesty in God’s direction. The father in Mark 9 says both halves of the truth at once — I believe, help my unbelief — and his son is healed. That is a prayer you can pray tonight without exaggerating your confidence. Keep asking, keep reading, talk to someone who will not panic at your questions. And rest a little on 2 Timothy 2:13: if we are faithless, he remains faithful. On the days you cannot hold on, you are still being held.
It is not treated as one. Jude 1:22 says “be merciful to some, who are doubting”. Thomas is given the evidence he asked for. John the Baptist questions Jesus from prison and is commended immediately afterwards. Scripture distinguishes between honest doubt that keeps seeking and hardened refusal to engage — and it deals patiently with the first.
Mark 9:24 — “I believe. Help my unbelief!” — is the one most people find they can pray honestly. 2 Timothy 2:13 is the anchor: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he can’t deny himself.” And Psalm 13 gives you permission to ask how long, out loud, without softening it.
Bring the questions into the open rather than carrying them alone. Ask God for wisdom, since James 1:5 promises it is given without reproach. Read the laments — Psalms 13, 22, 42, 88 and Habakkuk — so you know your questions are not new. Talk to someone mature enough not to be alarmed. And keep the ordinary practices going; faith is often rebuilt by habit before it is rebuilt by certainty.
Feelings rarely arrive one at a time. These pages sit close to this one.
More scripture, any time
doubting@mybible.email