Doubt Is the Enemy of Imagination

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Daring Faith

Doubt Is the Enemy of Imagination By Rick Warren — Jan 8, 2016 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 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.” (James 1:5-7 NIV) Doubt is the enemy of imagination. When you were a kid, you had a great imagination. But the older you get, the more your imagination grows rusty. You stop imagining what things could be, and you just start living the way they are. You get stuck in the status quo, which is Latin for “the mess we’re in.” Doubt and fear neutralize what God wants to do in your life. It takes courage to imagine. Do you know why most people don’t imagine? Because they’re afraid of failure. Courage is doing the thing you fear the most. If you’re not afraid, you don’t need courage. Courage is when you’re scared to death and you say, “I’m going to do it anyway.” Every great thing that we’ve done at Saddleback Church, I was scared to death to do. But I just said we’re going to do it anyway. Why? Because I’m not about to let fear dominate my life. So I move forward, trembling. Courage is when you do the right thing while you are afraid. You may wonder, “Should I wait until all my doubts are gone?” But you have to move against your fears. You have to ignore all the insecurity you’re feeling and just go for it. James 1:5-7 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 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” (NIV). Your imagination is either going to be governed by fear or it’s going to be governed by faith. That’s your choice. If you let your imagination be governed by fear, you’re going to go around being freaked out, stressed out, and worried all the time. When you allow fear to control your imagination, you live a miserable life. Instead decide that you’re not going to allow fear to dominate. Let your faith dominate. Trust in God. Then you can move forward in faith and allow your imagination to be filled with all kinds of possibilities, because all things are possible with God. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What’s the big thing you believe God wants to do in your life but you’ve let doubt hold you back? Would you be afraid to truly open your mind and life to every possibility of God? Why or why not? When you ask God for something in prayer, why does he want you to believe in faith that he will answer? Our Gift: Daring Faith Study Kit Do you want God to do miracles in your life? In this series, Pastor Rick shares why faith is the key to miracles and challenges you to grow and be stretched in your faith so that you can experience God’s blessing, spiritual maturity, answered prayers, and even miracles. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Daring Faith teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: What Happens When You Have Faith Message 2: ​​​​​How to Get Ready for a Miracle Message 3: Daring to Believe Message 4: Daring to Imagine Message 5: Daring to Give God My Best Message 6: Daring to Plant in Faith Message 7: Daring to Commit Message 8: Daring to Be Generous Message 9: Daring to Wait on God Message 10: Daring to Go In Faith PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe