Even long-time Believers need help with unbelief. Unbelief isn’t doubt, but defined by Meriam-Webster Dictionary as a lack of faith. You may ask, “How can a Believer have unbelief?” Reality is, it happens to all of us. God, who made us, knew that ‘out of sight’ often means ‘out of mind.’ He knew that because He is spirit, there would be times in our lives when unbelief would creep in. Or perhaps, there was a time you prayed for something and did not receive an answer from God that you desired. It is especially difficult when we pray for someone like a family member or friend to be healed and the healing doesn’t come. The next time someone needs healing, a seed of doubt has been planted in our head that God no longer heals. So what can we do to help our unbelief?
Mark records an event where the disciples were trying to cast out a particularly violent and evil demon that had possessed a boy. This demon had thrown the boy into water and fire, hurting the boy physically, while causing his body to convulse. It also caused him to be mute and deaf. This poor child! The disciples tried to cast out the demon, but couldn’t.
The religious scribes and crowds are arguing with the disciples when Jesus shows up on the scene after having met with Moses and Elijah. He asks what is going on, and the boy’s father tells him how the demon has possessed his son and caused him so much pain. Jesus then addresses the scribes, crowd and disciples saying, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you (Mark 9:19?” Can’t you just feel His frustration?
Jesus then gets a background history of the son from the father. The father then pleads with Him to help his son if He can. Remember, the disciples have already tried to cast out the demon and failed. That seed of doubt had been planted, there was failure. The father was asking Jesus for help, not really understanding who he was asking help from. He was stuck in the realm of humanness, and questioning God’s authority over demons. Jesus, in His compassion understood the love and concern this father had for his son, but also knew the bigger issue of unbelief. Jesus first addressed the unbelief which erodes the soul, and then addressed the demon who possessed the child.
But Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again!” And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out… (Mark 9:23-26a).
After Jesus is alone with His disciples, they ask Him why they couldn’t cast out the demon. They were already given authority by Jesus over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7-13), so why were they unsuccessful with this demon? Jesus’ reply was, “…This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer (Mark 9:29).”
The answer is really amazingly simple – prayer. The same event is recorded in Matthew 17, and here, Matthew includes fasting as well as prayer. The point is, it seems that the disciples were trying to cast out this demon on their own power, as opposed to relying on Jesus’ power. It also seems because they weren’t using Jesus’ power, their faith that the demon could be removed was too little. In other words, without faith in the power of Jesus, nothing is possible. Jesus instructs his disciples after this miracle that faith in His ability is needed.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” And He said to them, “Because of your meager faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17: 19 & 20).”
Here we see Jesus addresses unbelief as lack of faith . Can you imagine being able to move a mountain? Jesus tells us, if we have this kind of faith in Him and His power that we are able to do just that. How many of us truly believe we can move a mountain? It seems impossible. But if God wants a mountain moved, and we believe in His power, then we are able to move that mountain.
Where does such faith come from? The boy’s father asked the right person to help his unbelief because faith comes from Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 says that He is the author and perfecter of our faith. If we want to move that mountain, then we need to pray to Jesus to “help us with our unbelief,” – to ask for faith, and the maturing of our faith.
As we daily pray for God’s grace and mercy on our lives, let’s also pray for help with our unbelief.
Photo credit: iDisciple. 2021. https://www.idisciple.org/post/10-distinct-differences- between-faith-and-unbelief
