Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:17-27

"Then one of the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.'

He answered him and said, 'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.' Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

So He asked his father, 'How long has this been happening to him?'

And he said, 'From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.'

Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, 'Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!' Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, 'He is dead.' But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose."

The part I want to highlight is "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

Do I really believe Him? Yes, I believe on Him for salvation, but what about all the areas of my life?

In the Beth Moore study I am going through, "Breaking Free," it defines captivity as "A Christian being held captive by anything that hinders the abundant & effective Spirit-filled life God has planned." God has planned for us to believe in Him for all things.

Isaiah 43:10
"'You are My witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me.'"

In the story above found in Mark, the father says "I believe." The very next thing he says is, "help my unbelief." The next question I must ask myself is, "Am I calling upon God to help my unbelief?" I am human & will fail in my believing upon the One True God. However, He is the only One who can go beyond my humanness to help my unbelief.

Unbelief leads to not trusting Him. How can we trust in Someone when we do not believe they could bring healing, forgiveness, etc.? Unbelief is a huge stumbling block in the lives of many Christians, including my own. I can't count the times where I have not taken a step forward in my Christian walk because of my unbelief. I can't count the times where I have not prayed a prayer, given a word of encouragement, done a good deed to help someone out, because I couldn't get beyond my unbelief to know that God was bigger than me.

Lord, help my unbelief. Make my heart one of seeking truly after You alone. When my heart fails, may I look to You. It amazes this little being of mine that You who we are to believe in would take my hand and lead me into believing in You. It truly is all about You, my Father and Maker, Creator of the whole Universe. Why do You care so much for me when I am but a grain of sand in this Universe which You have created.

Numbers 23:19-20
"God is not man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it."