Mistake: Doublemindedness

James 1:5-8:
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.
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.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Doublemindedness is not having made up your mind.  Therefore, you look one way and then look another way.  You think you are receiving something – no, wait, look at the circumstances!  You think you are healed, no wait, there is still pain in your body, so maybe you aren’t healed after all.

James warns you that if you are doubleminded, you cannot receive anything from the Lord.  The passage starts by talking about wisdom, but the principle applies to everything.  Faith is the certainty that you have something, not the 90% probability that you have it.  The man who is in faith will look only to God and His Word to determine the truth.  You may be aware of pain in your body, but you can believe that you have received your healing and not let it go or question it just because you get a contrary feeling in your body.

Your flesh will tell you that you are being stupid, that you are not really healed, and that you had better just admit that you are not in faith.  That is why you need patience to go along with your faith (Hebrews 6:11-12).  It is possible to believe for something and then lose it by being doubleminded.

Peter walked on water when Jesus called him.  This was an absolute miracle, and it was based on Peter’s faith in Jesus’ word, "Come!"  But then Peter got doubleminded.  He looked at the circumstances and started sinking.  Did he really receive a miracle?  Yes, he actually did walk on water when it wasn’t frozen!  Peter received something miraculous but he lost it by being doubleminded.  So it is possible to receive a miraculous healing and lose it through doublemindedness.

This is why it is so vitally important that you pay attention to the Scriptures about healing.  Meditate on them until they become a part of you.  That is the only way that you will prevent yourself from being doubleminded.  The idea is to put so much of the Word into yourself that it becomes your natural response to adverse circumstances.  You can be sure that adverse conditions will come and that your faith will be challenged.  Choose to keep your eyes on God and His promises instead of your physical condition, no matter how disagreeable it is right now.  Your condition is subject to change, but God and His Word are not!