Help My Unbelief

Mark 9:24
“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

The father in the verse above found himself in a quandary. His child was sick, and the only one who could heal the child was Jesus. Jesus, on the other hand, told the father in verse 23, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The predicament that this father faced was that he believed Jesus could heal his child, which was evidenced by the fact that he brought Jesus to his child, but he still had to deal with the unbelief that maybe Jesus couldn’t heal his child. The only thing this father could do in this situation was to pray and ask the LORD to help his unbelief.

Do you find yourself in the same situation as this father? You know that God can answer your prayer; you think. Every Believer deals with this problem of unbelief. What this father faced with his child is what every Believer faces in their prayer life. Let me share with you several observations that will help you with your unbelief.

First, doubt shows up at every spiritual opportunity of faith. Doubt is the enemy of faith; so when faith has an opportunity to do something great through the life of the Believer, doubt always shows up to attempt to squelch any act of faith. You have to realize that your doubt is not an anomaly; you are just like every other Believer. Just like every Believer has some amount of faith, likewise, every Believer has some amount of doubt.

Second, belief is the key to open the door to all possibilities. Jesus said in verse 23, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The problem is never what faith can do; the problem is what doubt keeps faith from doing. No matter what your situation may be, your belief in what God can do is the key to opening the door to all possibilities. Your situation is never too big for God, but you must be careful not to allow your situation to become too big for your faith in your mind. Whatever your situation is that you face right now can be solved if you will just believe.

Third, you are the choice-maker at which voice you will act upon. You have two voices begging you to listen to them. Doubt is telling you that it can’t be done, but faith is telling you that all things are possible with God. You have a choice; are you going to let the voice of doubt keep the possibility of faith from happening, or are you going to act upon the faith you have to see what God will do? My friend, God is not asking you to act upon someone else’s faith, He is challenging you to act upon your own faith. You will never see the power of faith as long as you listen to the voice of doubt.

Fourth, acting on the faith you have is the key to the LORD springing into action. It was this father’s faith that caused Jesus to immediately act and heal this child. All this father did was tell Jesus that he believed, but asked Him to help his unbelief. You are going to find that God will supplement the lack of your faith with His power if you will just act upon whatever amount of faith you have. The problem is never going to be if God is powerful enough to deal with your situation; the problem is always if the Believer will act with the faith they have.

You can listen to doubt and continue to deal with your situation every day, or you can act on the faith you have and see what God will do with it. The question I ask you is this, which voice are you going to listen to?

Author: Allen Domelle