How to Believe God Without Wavering James 1:5-8
A man at a fork in the road beneath signs pointing toward “Believe” and “Waver,” with a bright path on one side and a dark, stormy path on the other. “How to Believe God Without Wavering,” with the Light on Life Podcast logo.
What happens when you believe God and then the questions start coming? Did God hear me? Did I believe right? What if nothing changes? What if the mountain doesn’t move? Back and forth you go—believing and yet not believing, trying to stand on the Word of God while your head is riding a roller coaster. That’s wavering. Jesus warned us about it. James paints a graphic picture of it. And today we’re going to find out what wavering looks like, why the waverer should not expect to receive from the Lord, and how to stick with the Word all the way to the finish line. So grab your Bibles and let’s dive into How to Believe God Without Wavering, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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This Week: Identify the thoughts, voices, circumstances, and emotions trying to move you away from what God has said, then settle your heart and mind on His Word and refuse to waver.
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Accept the Challenge
Come. Believe. Stay Settled.
This week, bring your need to God and then pay attention to what happens in your thinking. When the questions start coming—Did God hear me? Did I believe right? What if nothing changes?—recognize them for what they are. Don’t ride the roller coaster.
Go back to the Word you believed when you prayed. Read it. Say it. Keep it before you. Refuse to let circumstances, emotions, or somebody else’s words move you away from what God said.
Remember: You came to God because you believed He is. Now stay with His Word because you believe He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Scripture:
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) — 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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Each week's podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week's question:
Join This Conversation
Question:
What usually puts the greatest pressure on you to waver after you have prayed—your circumstances, your emotions, other people’s words, or the thoughts running through your mind?
Share:
What Scripture has helped you stay settled when everything around you seemed to be saying something different from what God said?
Remember:
Real Bible faith does not have to know how God will do it. Your job is to believe Him and stay with His Word.
About Emery and Sharon
For nearly five decades, Emery has devoted his life to helping people grow in Christ through the power of the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Together with his wife, Sharon — his partner in life and ministry for 44 years — he equipped believers to live Spirit-filled, practical lives of faith.
At the heart of the mission is this: helping believers apply God's words so faith becomes active and unstoppable.
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Podcast Notes:
Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray.
Father God, thank you for Jesus — thank you for the great plan of redemption. It’s a redemotion that allows us to come to you because of Jesus. And so we come today in Jesus’ Name, asking you to give us a wisdom we can stand on and Lord, we take it by faith. We have it now. Thank for and we give you all the praise and glory for it in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Stick with the Word—Don’t Waver
Mark 11:23–24 (KJV) — 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Jesus said in Mark 11:23 that the person who speaks to the mountain “shall not doubt in his heart.”
Last time, we asked what doubt is and what it looks like.
The doubter is at odds with himself.
He goes back and forth: “God said it—but what if it doesn’t happen?”
He keeps weighing the possibilities instead of settling on the solution—God’s Word.
We saw that in Peter.
He asked Jesus for a word, and Jesus said, “Come.”
Peter acted on that Word and walked on water.
But when he shifted his focus from Jesus to the wind, he became afraid and began to sink.
Jesus caught him and asked, “Wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Peter had faith—he walked on water—but then he doubted.
Believe God. Reject Doubt.
Now let’s take this into the area of prayer.
What happens when you ask God for something, praying the prayer of Believing that You Receive, but waver in your heart?
James 1:5–8 gives us another passage on doubt. Let’s turn there and see what the Word says.
When You Lack Wisdom, Ask God
James 1:5 (KJV) — 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
So, here we have a case similar to Mark 11:24—the Prayer of Believing that You Receive.
The Prayer of Believing that you receive is a prayer you pray for your own needs.
It’s not a prayer you pray for others.
Here the individual’s request is for wisdom.
In the context of James 1:5, what is wisdom?
And with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word wisdom [sophia] means the capacity to understand and function by that understanding.
It’s a wisdom that God imparts to those who are close to God.
Sophias is practical wisdom or good judgment in the face of human and specifically Christian demands.
Now why is this a wisdom that God imparts to those who are close to God?
That’s a great question.
What characterizes someone living close to God?
When this person lacks wisdom—he’s in a trial and he doesn’t know how to handle it—he turns toward God for what he lacks.
He does not lean on his own understanding.
Sophias describes the Godward orientation of the people receiving this kind of wisdom.
So, if you possess a Godward orientation, that is, you think of Him first, that’s good news but it’s not enough to cash the check.
Being close to God doesn’t give you an inside track, you still must believe that you receive—you must do it without doubting.
Now, if you are just coming to Jesus—that is, you are in the process of developing a Godward orientation—there is also good news for you.
Faith is the requirement to receive anything from God and you already have it because you gave your heart to Jesus.
You’ve already trusted Him with the greatest decision of your life.
Now, you’re beginning to trust Him for the decisions you need to make to live your life for Him.
Ask for Wisdom If You Come Up Short
So, if anyone lacks wisdom—if anyone comes up short in their wisdom checking account—the next part is vital.
James 1:5 (KJV) — 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God
Even though God knows, you must ask.
At its core, ask [aiteō] is more than a casual request.
It can carry urgency and an expectation of an answer—even a claim on receiving one.[1. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 406.]
James speaks of asking for wisdom when you face trials.
James 1:2–5 (NASB 2020) — 2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom…
An ongoing trial can require ongoing wisdom.
So this is a prayer that you can and should pray repeatedly.
In the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we have the Apostle to the Gentiles praying the same prayer for wisdom multiple times.
Ephesians 1:15–17 (NASB 2020) — 15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
Notice that the word ‘prayers’ here is plural.
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
So you can ask for wisdom, over and over.
The wisdom I received yesterday was sufficient for what I faced yesterday.
But today is another day.
New day. New challenges. New need for God’s wisdom.
So I keep asking God for the wisdom I need as I walk out my daily challenges.
So, if you come up short in wisdom, just ask.
Our Giving God
Now get ready to shout for joy.
I mean glory to God, look at these next words.
James 1:5 (KJV) — 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
Woodenly, the Greek New Testament reads: ‘let him ask the giving God to all openly and without reviling and it will be given him.’
Focus on the two words giving God and learn something about your heavenly Father.
He is the Giving God.
The word liberally [haplōs] points to God’s way of giving—simply and generously.
So, your heavenly Father gives liberally, bountifully, and doesn’t blink an eye about it.
Why would the Spirit of God want you to know this?
Isn’t it obvious who God is and what He is like?
It should be, but it isn’t because we live in a world of tightwads.
Aren’t there people who are stingy in their giving and, when they do give, make you feel bad that you even asked for help?
The Holy Ghost wants you to understand that there is no comparison between the Giving God and the stingy man dominated by the sin nature.
God gives single-heartedly and without hesitation—and don’t you forget it.
Now we come to the gravy on the potatoes, the word reproach.
The KJV has it as ‘upbraideth’: the Giving God gives without upbraiding.
What does that mean?
The idea behind upbraideth [oneidizō] is to find fault with someone in a way that demeans them—to reproach or revile them.[2. William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 710.]
Another Greek dictionary, Louw-Nida, adds that the person being reproached may actually be to blame.[3. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 436.]
Now this will encourage your heart.
You may have gotten yourself into the mess you’re in.
You may have made the wrong decision.
You may have ignored all the red flags.
You should have known better.
But the Word of God says when you come to the Giving God for wisdom, He doesn’t demean you for needing to ask. He gives.
He sends the tow truck to get you out of the hole.
Isn’t that better than hearing condemnation when you asked for help?
“Yeah, but if they hadn’t done this or that, they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in.”
That’s exactly the point—the person in danger of reproach may actually be to blame.
You messed up. Who hasn’t?
But you still need wisdom.
And James says the Giving God doesn’t reproach you when you come asking for it.
If you were told not to drive a certain road because a huge crater had developed in it recently but you decided to drive it anyway and fell in, what would you appreciate?
Someone scolding you as they look down on you in the hole you are in?
Or, would you rather someone call a tow truck to get you out?
“I mean maybe we can do the life lesson later—right now I need help.”
I’m sure you get this.
So, the Giving God gives generously, without hesitation AND without holding it over your head or giving you a tongue-lashing.
We’ve all messed up sometime and needed help along the way, and that’s why we’re coming to God in the first place.
“Lord, help me out of the jam I am in and then teach me what I need to know so I won’t get in this mess again.”
That’s good Bible theology.
So if you lack wisdom, ask the Giving God for a supply and then learn from your encounter.
The Head Trouble of the Doubter
And now we come to the doubting piece.
James 1:6 (KJV) — 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
As much as the Lord wants to help you get through the trial you are enduring, you’re going to have to step up to receive that help.
The first word in this verse is the word—but: But let him ask in faith.
‘But’—means there is a condition.
In faith—without wavering—that’s God’s standard.
What can we learn from this?
We can learn that need alone doesn’t generate God’s giving response—faith does.
Now, here’s where the message meets Monday morning.
You already came to God asking for wisdom for the test.
That action already demonstrates faith.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) — 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But coming to God and believing that He is won’t ring the cash register.
There’s another part—there’s the ‘no wavering’ part.
Here’s the doubting piece again—we saw it in our opening verses.
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart…
Behind the English word doubt in James 1:6, stands the Greek word [diakrinomenos] which describes a person who staggers, wavers, and vacillates between two opinions.
This is a Jesus follower who is divided in his mind.
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
The person wavering thinks it impossible, or at least uncertain, that what he says will happen; he is at odds with himself, believing and yet not believing simultaneously.[4. Friedrich Büchsel and Volkmar Herntrich].
This guy, in James 1:6, has head trouble.
The guy, in Mark 11:23, is having heart trouble.
How do we know that these two are experiencing doubt differently?
Skip the next verse in James 1 and you will find the answer.
James 1:8 (KJV) — 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
So in these two passages, we have a heart patient and a head patient.
The doubter, the waverer of James 1:6 has broken thinking.
He’s not praying with settled confidence.
He’s firing a shotgun in the direction of heaven hoping something hits.
How does this play out?
Real Bible faith knows it has the answer—it is certain and sure.
The person who mentally agrees that the Word of God is true thinks he will get his prayer answered—and then he’s not sure.
He has confused the two.
You see real Bible faith is of the heart—the head doesn’t have anything to do with it.
So, if real Bible faith is not at home in the heart, all that’s left is what’s going on in the head.
And you know how that goes—right?—back and forth over and over.
To receive from God, you must get out of your head and into your heart.
Believe God. Reject Doubt.
The person who mentally agrees that the Word of God is true still thinks that he will get his prayer answered but then he’s not sure.
Faith does not anchor his heart and hope doesn’t anchor his soul.
How do we know these things about the waverer?
The answer to that is in the last part of James 1 verse six.
The Raging Mind of the Waverer
James 1:6 (KJV) — 6 …For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
The waverer or the doubter is like a driven wave.
The description is graphic.
James, via the Holy Spirit of God, gives us a picture through the word wave [klydōn].
The Greek shows it as a succession of waves—a wave train if you will.
Now all of that sounds almost relaxing—a wave train.
Who doesn’t enjoy the sounds of moving water?
Don’t be misled.
Translators gave us a better sense of this same Greek word klydōn in Luke’s gospel.
Luke 8:24 (KJV) — 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Raging of the water, now you get the picture—not just gently moving waves.
He that wavers is like a raging wave of the sea.
Close your eyes and think of the raging of waves in the midst of the sea.
What picture pops up in your mind?
Moby Dick popped up in mine—where Captain Ahab was trying to harpoon the whale.
The waters were anything but calm.
That’s one picture of the waverer—his brain is anything but calm.
So much consternation in his head as he sloshes back and forth: Do I believe God?—did I believe God?—did God hear me?—what if He didn’t?—what do I do if He didn’t?—how do I get out of the mess I am in?
What if?—what if?—what if?
Now, these rolling waves are driven waves according to James.
The word driven [anemizō] describes being moved by the wind.
So, these rolling, raging waves are subservient to the winds that impose their will.
If the winds blow from the south, the waves react in step.
When a crosswind blows from the north, again the waves mindlessly follow.
What an awful picture of the waverer.
He is a reactionary.
Does this remind you of a dog on a leash or a horse with a bridle?
He yields to the pressure of thoughts that compete with the Word of God.
Where do these thoughts come from?—sometimes well-meaning people and at other times hateful devils.
A person believes God for wisdom concerning a trial that he has fallen into and sits down to watch TV.
It’s an old western—which seems harmless until the preacher in the movie, dressed in a backward collar, says, “You never know what God is going to do.”
You hear that and you begin to think, “Yeah, you never do know—I wonder what God’s going to do with my situation.”
Wondering is a concealed form of wavering.
It’s wavering in a faith-colored chameleon suit.
How God does a thing is His business.
Your job is not to figure it out—your job is to believe that He will.
So, here comes the well-meaning relative who hears of the pending lawsuit against you.
What does she do?—she showers you with sympathy that seems so soothing.
“Oh, you poor baby, why did this happen to such a good person like you?”
And there you go—you just got sucked in by emotion—“Yeah, everything bad seems to happen to me.”
How different this is from the conviction of the Apostle Paul—himself stuck aboard a ship in the midst of raging waves.
Acts 27:21–25 (NASB 2020) — 21 When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve, came to me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.
Paul was surrounded on the outside by winds, raging waves, and the fears of an unbelieving crew.
But his gaze wasn’t fixed on any of those things—what he looked at was the Word of God delivered to him by the angel of God.
There it is—faith.
Real Bible faith—“Keep up your courage, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”
It doesn’t matter what the preacher on the old western said.
Some unbelieving screenwriter put those words in that actor’s mouth.
It doesn’t matter how soothing the sympathetic relative’s words feel.
Feelings have no power to deliver in the midst of difficulties.
Wherefore, sirs, I believe God that it shall be exactly as I have been told.
Do not allow yourself to be moved off of God’s Word.
The Instability of Being a Man with Two Souls
So, now, we have arrived.
James 1:7 (KJV) — 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Let not that man think—that is, don’t even have a smidgen of a presumptuous thought.
In other words don’t waste your brain cells.
A waverer should not waver on this point—he will NOT receive.
A doubter should not deny the reality of God’s Word—to receive you must believe in your heart and not vacillate.
And why is that?
Well, let’s ask James.
James 1:8 (KJV) — 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
The waverer is unstable.
The word unstable is [akatastatos] and gives the idea of a restless and uncontrolled person.
And what led to this state? His double-mindedness.
There’s the jewel in the crown.
The person who is double-minded [dipsychos] has two souls.
That’s the actual meaning—two-souled. Dipsychos.
Now it doesn’t mean this, but look at how that word is spelled.
Doesn’t it almost look like “double psychotic”? Wow!
The word double-minded is an adjective—it describes the waverer as being indecisive, uncertain, and torn between conflicting desires.
This guy cannot flat make up his mind—is God’s Word true or not?
Did God hear me—maybe not?
A yo-yo has nothing on a waverer.
What a dizzy way to live.
So you mean the Word of God talks about yo-yo Christians?
Yeah, you need to get this.
Are you going to believe God all the way to the finish line or not?
There’s nothing single-minded about this guy.
And that’s how we are supposed to live—single-minded and focused on the things of God.
Now the last thing in James 1:8 is the phrase ‘in all his ways.’
The serious doubter tries to navigate the challenges of the Jesus life with a roller-coaster mind—up one minute, down the next, twisting and turning with every circumstance that comes along.
This double-souled believer—now isn’t that a funny way to say that because believers are supposed to believe—is stuck in his dilemma.
This man will not receive anything from the Lord.
But it doesn’t just end there with one faith failure.
Doubt is a contagious disease that spreads into all the other areas of a person’s life.
He is, as the Scripture has decreed, unstable in all his ways.
If there is no other reason to deal with doubt, it’s these last five words—unstable in all his ways.
That’s not a label to be proud of.
Believers believe and you’re one of them.
So quit toying around with the things of God.
Set your heart.
Fix your mind. Stand firm on what “Thus saith the Lord.”
The circumstance is not Lord, Jesus is.
Putting the Word of God Into Action
So, let’s put the Word of God into action because we are doers of God’s Word.
If you need wisdom today, go to the Giving God and ask Him for it.
Don’t sit there trying to figure everything out on your own.
Ask the Lord.
God gives liberally, bountifully, and without giving you a tongue-lashing—even if you’re the one who got yourself into the mess.
But when you ask, ask in faith.
That means the battle may not be over just because you said, “Amen.”
Protect your head and your heart.
Did God hear me?
Did I believe right?
What if nothing changes?
What if this doesn’t work?
There’s the raging sea, James talked about.
Don’t allow doubtful thoughts to drive you like the wind drives a wave.
That also means be careful about the voices you allow to speak into your situation.
The preacher on the old western may say, “You never know what God is going to do.”
But you do because you are believing God.
The well-meaning relative may shower you with sympathy.
Your circumstances may be screaming something completely different from what God said.
None of those things changes the Word.
Your job is not to figure out how God is going to do it.
Believe God. Reject Doubt.
Your job is to believe that He will.
Paul stood in the middle of raging winds and waves and said, “I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”
That’s your picture for success.
Raging waves on the outside—but no raging waves on the inside.
Don’t be two-souled about what God said.
Don’t be the yo-yo Christian—up one minute, down the next, twisting and turning with every circumstance that comes along.
Believers believe and you’re one of them.
Set your heart.
Fix your mind.
Stand firm on what “Thus saith the Lord.”
The circumstance is not Lord, Jesus is.
So,—Believe God. Reject Doubt.
If this podcast helped you, consider sharing it with others.
You’ll find the Companion Study Guide and Teacher’s Guide for this episode on the Episode Resources page at emeryhorvath.com, as well.
Use those resources to go back through the Scriptures we covered today and get these truths down in your heart.
And remember the title of today’s podcast: “How to Believe God Without Wavering"
And join me next week as we continue looking at the Prayer of Believing that You Receive.
We’re going to continue talking about doubt—because doubt will torpedo your prayer life.
There’s more for us to see—so tune in.
You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life. those resources to go back through the Scriptures we covered today and get these truths down in your heart.
And remember the title of today’s podcast: “How to Believe God Without Wavering"
And join me next week as we continue looking at the Prayer of Believing that You Receive.
We’re going to continue talking about doubt—because doubt will torpedo your prayer life.
There’s more for us to see—so tune in.
You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.
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Visit the Episode →References
- Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 406. ↩︎
- William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 710. ↩︎
- Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 436. ↩︎
- Friedrich Büchsel and Volkmar Herntrich ↩︎