And have mercy on those who doubt.
– Jude 22
That’s the verse. That’s a pretty easy verse to memorize. Have mercy on those who doubt. Have mercy on those who doubt.
Jude 22 calls us to show mercy to those struggling with their faith.
And just to get the context, verse 20 says, “You, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you’re waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” And then he says, “And have mercy on those who doubt.”
You see the struggle of faith here? There’s a command in verse 20 to build ourselves up in faith. And verse 21, to keep ourselves in the love of God. The clear implication is that there are temptations every day that you and I will face to not grow, be built up in our faith, and to not stay in the love of God, but to wander from the love of God.
And then for verse 22 to stay right after that, “And not just in your own life, have mercy on those who doubt, on those who are struggling in their faith.” And based on that verse, I just want to encourage you today, well, what? Are you doubting? Are you experiencing struggles in your faith? I’m guessing that many people who are listening to this right now are doubting in different ways. I think about, just to confess in my own life, there are things that I’m praying for, that I’ve been praying for for a long time and God is not answering in the way I long for him to answer, at least not yet. And there’s doubt that can creep in.
Jude 22 teaches us the role of encouragement in faith restoration.
So I wonder, God, why this or that? Or God, are my prayers even mattering? Are you even listening? Those doubts can creep in in so many different ways in all of our lives. And we need brothers and sisters in Christ who just shower us with mercy in the middle of our doubts, who have faith for us.
I think about one instance not long ago where I was really doubting in faith when it came to praying for this particular situation, and a sister in Christ joined me in praying for that situation with a kind of faith that I didn’t have. And God answered so powerfully and so clearly. I was, well, in one sense, convicted of my lack of faith, but I was also encouraged by the mercy this sister in Christ showed me by praying alongside me with faith, by building up my faith with her prayer.
This verse teaches us about the gentle guidance of those in doubt.
And so I just want to encourage you today to look for opportunities to show mercy to those who are doubting, and maybe even at very deep levels, doubting the core truths of the gospel. Have mercy on them. Walk with those who are doubting in a way that points them all the more clearly in the end to the truth and the love of God for them. Oh God, we pray. Amidst our doubts, we praise you for your mercy toward us. Even those moments where we’re tempted to question some of the most basic things about who you are and how you love, or whether you love us, God, we praise you for your mercy with us.
It’s so clear that you are God and you love us so much, and yet we so often find ourselves doubting. God, thank you for your mercy toward us. And we pray that you would help us to show that mercy toward others, to have mercy on those who doubt, to build others up in their faith, praying for them, even as we are now, in your Holy Spirit. And as we keep ourselves in your love, help us to encourage others to stay, to remain in your love and to wait on your mercy, to trust in your mercy. As you have mercy toward those who doubt, help us to have mercy toward those who doubt.
Prayer for the Croatian-speaking Jewish People
And God, we pray specifically today for Croatian-speaking Jewish men and women, children in Croatia who have many doubts about Jesus being the Son of God, being God in the flesh, the Messiah. God, we pray that you would open their eyes today to the truth of who Jesus is, that you would lead someone to share the truth of Jesus with them, that they might come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God, we praise you for opening our eyes to Jesus in faith and for keeping us in faith amidst the struggles of faith we have. And we pray that you’d help us to be a reflection of your mercy to those who are struggling in faith today. In Jesus’ name, we pray, according to your Word in Jude 22, have mercy on those who doubt. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
