27 Jun Are You Ready? (Rev. Donna Burrows)

Overcoming Doubt Faith Overview

In this powerful sermon ‘Are You Ready?’ Rev. Donna Burrows delivers a timely message about spiritual preparedness in challenging times. Awakened by God with the urgent question ‘Are you ready?’, she explores what it means to stand strong in faith as the world grows darker. The primary obstacle believers must overcome is doubt and unbelief, which Satan uses as weapons against our faith. Using vivid illustrations like contaminated water being displaced by clean water, Rev. Burrows explains how we must consistently feed our faith through God’s Word, prayer in the Holy Spirit, and fellowship. She emphasizes that faith is a daily discipline, not just a crisis response – comparing it to marathon training that requires consistent preparation. The sermon addresses Satan’s deceptive tactics, often disguised as our own thoughts or reasonable-sounding advice from others. Faith is ultimately a choice to believe God’s promises, and we must guard against becoming double-minded or wishy-washy in our trust. Rev. Burrows challenges listeners to live in persistent faith, knowing that God’s favor rests upon us and His covenant of peace will never be removed from those in Christ.

Overcoming Doubt Faith Outline

• 0:00 – Divine Wake-Up Call: Are You Ready?: God’s urgent question about spiritual preparedness for challenging days ahead
• 3:00 – The Primary Obstacle: Doubt and Unbelief: Identifying the biggest barrier to victorious faith in our daily walk
• 8:00 – Satan’s Deceptive Roar: Understanding how the enemy imitates God’s authority to deceive believers
• 12:00 – God’s Unchanging Favor: Reassurance of God’s covenant love and absence of condemnation for believers
• 16:00 – Persistent Faith for the Last Days: Building faith like spiritual muscle through daily discipline and practice
• 22:00 – Feeding Faith, Displacing Doubt: Practical methods for strengthening faith through Word, prayer, and fellowship
• 28:00 – Faith as Daily Choice: Understanding faith as an intentional decision to trust God completely

Scripture References

1 Peter 5:8, Proverbs 19:12, Romans 8:1, Isaiah 54:9-10, Luke 18:8, Hebrews 11:6, James 1:6-8, Hosea 4:6, Hebrews 11:1

Key Takeaways

• Faith requires daily discipline and feeding, not just crisis-moment prayers, like training for a spiritual marathon.
• Satan disguises his voice as our own thoughts or reasonable advice from others to plant seeds of doubt.
• God’s anger was fully satisfied at the cross – He shows favor and mercy, not condemnation, to believers.
• Doubt makes us double-minded and prevents us from receiving anything from God according to James 1:6-8.
• We must actively displace worldly influences with God’s Word, like clean water displacing dirty water.
• Faith is ultimately a choice to believe and trust God’s promises regardless of circumstances.
• Persistent faith requires speaking God’s Word aloud, praying in the Spirit, and acting on biblical truth daily.

Overcoming Doubt Faith Notes

Rev. Donna Burrows begins this compelling message by sharing how God woke her abruptly with the urgent question ‘Are you ready?’ This wasn’t merely about general preparedness, but specifically about making conscious decisions to stand strong in faith amid the challenges of increasingly dark times. As the world becomes more chaotic, believers must be spiritually prepared for what lies ahead, understanding that God has great plans for each member of the body of Christ.The primary battlefield for believers is overcoming doubt and unbelief – the greatest obstacles to victorious faith. Rev. Burrows explains that Satan continuously works to trip up believers, sowing seeds of doubt in their hearts. However, believers are not defenseless; they have the Holy Spirit as their wonderful helper. She emphasizes the importance of not becoming easy targets for the enemy, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.The imagery of Satan as a roaring lion is particularly significant. Drawing from Proverbs 19:12, which describes a king’s anger as like a lion’s roar, Rev. Burrows reveals Satan’s deceptive strategy. As a great impostor, he imitates God but twists and perverts truth to deceive believers. Satan wants to imitate the true Lion of Judah and convince believers that God is angry when they mess up, preventing them from boldly approaching the throne of grace for mercy and help in times of need.However, the truth is radically different. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, and God’s favor rests upon believers like dew on grass. Through Isaiah 54:9-10, God promises that just as He swore the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth, so He has sworn not to be angry with His people. All of God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus at the cross. While our heavenly Father may correct us out of love and occasionally challenge us to evaluate our spiritual condition, His kindness and covenant of peace will never be removed from us.Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow and unjust judge concludes with a penetrating question: ‘When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?’ The Amplified translation renders this as ‘persistent faith,’ highlighting the need for sustained, unwavering trust in God. Rev. Burrows challenges believers to guard their hearts diligently, ensuring their faith doesn’t become weak and ineffective through neglect.Using a powerful visual illustration, she compares faith to clear water in a glass. When worldly influences contaminate our faith, it becomes cloudy and brownish like dirty water. However, through the principle of displacement, we can pour in clean water – representing God’s Word – until all the contaminated water is replaced. This demonstrates how believers can overcome spiritual compromise by consistently feeding on Scripture, attending church, and fellowshipping with other believers.Faith requires consistent nourishment through the washing of God’s Word, prayer in the Holy Spirit, and speaking faith-filled words aloud. Rev. Burrows strongly encourages those who haven’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit to seek this gift, especially for the challenging last days ahead. Faith must be exercised daily like spiritual muscle-building – we cannot expect to run a spiritual marathon without consistent training. When crises come, those who haven’t been building their faith will crash and burn.Daily faith applies to every area of life: protection when driving, provision for daily needs, divine health instead of frequent healing, and power to overcome bad habits. This isn’t presumption but acknowledgment of God’s faithfulness in all circumstances. Faith invites God into our daily situations, maintaining the relationship He desires with His children.Receiving from God isn’t automatic – everything comes through faith. Using the illustration of offering a wrapped gift to children, Rev. Burrows explains that while God’s gifts are freely given, we must deliberately reach out and take them by faith. According to James 1:6-8, we must ask in faith without doubting, for those who doubt are like waves tossed by wind. Double-minded, unstable people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.Faith ultimately boils down to a choice – will we believe God and trust His Word or not? Satan’s subtlety lies in speaking through our own thoughts in first person (‘I’m too stupid,’ ‘I can’t do that’) or through others whose words sound reasonable but are designed to deceive. Believers must learn to quickly spot, resist, and overcome unbelief while staying firmly planted in faith.

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