Lord I believe; help my unbelief.

Do you ever struggle when your experience does not line up with what you believe to be true?

In Mark 9, a man brings his son to Jesus. The child has been possessed by a spirit for years that causes him to be mute, foam at the mouth, and have convulsions—which can be life threatening if he is near water or fire.

The father had brought his boy to the disciples first who could not cast the spirit out, so he proceeded to find Jesus and say,

"If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

Jesus replied, "If you can? All things are possible to him who believes."

Immediately, the father cried out and said, "I do believe, help me with my unbelief!"

Later when asked by his disciples why they could not cast the spirit out, Jesus said, "This kind can only come out by prayer."

Because we read the scriptures, it is easy to know the right answer to questions about what is possible with God. Jesus said all things are possible to those who believe, but sometimes I find myself weak in faith even when I know the right answers.

It is easy to deceive yourself by knowing what you should believe instead of being aware of where your faith is really at. Although it would be fantastic to have great faith with everything I face in life, the truth is:

I am still human.

Sometimes, like the father in this story, I have enough faith to ask God for help in my time of need, but struggle to believe that what I'm asking for will come to pass. Whenever I feel this way, I test myself by asking my heart a quick question about what it is believing without allowing my head to interfere with the "textbook" answer.

Sometimes it is aligned with what I know to be true, but sometimes it is not. I've found that when you discover unbelief, the solution is prayer.

Notice, that although Jesus said all things are possible to those who believe, when the disciples asked why they could not drive the evil spirit out he told them that "this kind" can only come out through prayer.

At a surface level it appears that Jesus is referring to the evil spirit here, however upon further introspection, I came to the conclusion that he was referring to the unbelief that the father in this story was experiencing.

Notice that Jesus did not pray for the evil spirit to leave but, rather, commanded it to leave. And it did, but only after the boy's father asked Jesus to help his unbelief.

So what does this mean for us?

Discovering unbelief within ourselves is nothing to be afraid of.

Being honest about it, in submission to the Father, is an opportunity for Him to align our hearts with what we know to be true in our minds. Contrary to what we may think, He actually wants us to come to Him with our doubts so he can help us.

I am writing this because this week is Resurrection Sunday...

And there just might be some people attending who know that Jesus could be the way but have some unbelief.

Pray for them.

I would encourage you to pray that Jesus would make himself true to them, and that unbelief would not hinder their ability to start having their own relationship with him. Pray that they are able to be honest with themselves, and honest with God that they need his faith, so they may fully experience His Kingdom.

Blessings,

Dean