Help thou mine unbelief

Mark 9:24

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

What a story of healing and deliverance this is! If you read the whole passage, you will learn that a man brought his son to Jesus who was afflicted by a dumb spirit. He first brought him to the disciples, and they were unable to cast him out. They had not the faith necessary to cast him out. So therefore, the young man was brought to Jesus and the father of the child said, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us!” And Jesus responded with those great words, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” That is an amazing and earth-shattering statement. All things are possible to him that believeth! That is all that is needed! Believe! Have faith and believe! But then, the father cries out, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!”

Help thou mine unbelief! Dear friend, have you ever felt your faith weak, anemic, frail, and inadequate? Have you ever felt that the faith you did have was mixed with unbelief? You wanted to believe! You wanted to have utter faith and implicit confidence that God would do that for which you asked. But something held you back. Your faith faltered just a little. You desired full faith, but struggled to attain such a lofty goal. Well, beloved, I am here to tell you that there are many others of your type and of your tribe. This is a large tribe. The tribe of people who truly believe, but the human tendencies of their minds have mingled in just a touch of doubt. But what is in the heart? Is it not true faith? It is! It is faith in the living God! This is what God sees. And here we see that Jesus did not require perfect faith, He only required personal faith. He only required that our faith be anchored in Christ and His power. Our personal faith may not be grandiose, but it is genuine. It may not be without fault, but it is without failure. We do not allow our faith to fail, for then it is not faith at all. Keep the faith! Keep it anchored in Christ! He will make up for any discrepancies and inadequacies. The worst thing that could be done would be to give up the faith. Do not give it up, but hold on with an iron grip, because the Lord sees that faith, and He will honor it in His time. For all things are possible to him that simply believeth!

“Dear Lord, we truly thank you that you are gracious and kind to understand our shortcomings of faith. Our faith is heartfelt. It is sincere. It is truthful. But it sometimes has a small portion, a tiny mixture of unbelief. But we hate the unbelief! Remove it we pray. We look to Thee, the Author and the Finisher of our faith! Help us to believe. In Jesus’ name alone we pray, Amen.”