Help Me With My Unbelief

One day as Jesus was teaching, a man brought Him his son who had an evil spirit, and asked Him to heal the boy.

Here is how the story played out:

²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:21–24 ESV)

First the man stated he believed, but then he asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. The man said to Jesus “if you can” showing that while he believed enough to ask Jesus for help, his faith was still incomplete.

While he believed Jesus could heal his son, he didn’t fully understand what this meant. Because his faith was in its infancy, he was still drinking spiritual milk. (1 Corinthians 3:2)

This man should not be singled out, however, because just a few verses before this Jesus said they were all part of an unbelieving generation. (Mark 9:19)

Imperfect Faith

The way Jesus handled the man’s confession of imperfect faith is a lesson we can all learn from.

How did Jesus respond to this moment of doubt? Did he rebuke the man for not having strong faith? Did he tell the man to come back when he had mature faith? No, He met the man where he was and healed the boy.

This should be a comfort to all of us.

We can come to Christ before we are perfected in the faith. In fact, it is necessary because we will never be perfect on this side of eternity. We don’t have to become clean before approaching God. Jesus wants us to come as we are, and then he will begin to change who we are.

There are no perfect people in the church, just people who understand they need Jesus. Many people in the church have questions also.

When We Doubt

From time to time, most of us have doubts creep into our minds, and more often than not, it leaves us with feelings of guilt. But there are examples in Scripture that should ease our minds.

In Luke 17:5, after hearing Jesus’ words about forgiving others, the apostles asked Jesus to help them increase their faith. This was their way of saying, “I believe, help me with my unbelief.”

The apostles had faith in Jesus, but it was still incomplete at this point. Even after the resurrection, they didn’t have complete faith because they were still expecting an earthly kingdom. (Acts 1:6) It wasn’t until they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when they finally understood.

There is also the story about when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water during a storm. Peter stepped out of the boat and began walking on the water toward Jesus, but he became afraid and started to sink. He cried out to Jesus to save him and Jesus did, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:22–33 LSB)

Peter had enough faith to step out of the boat and take the first steps, but not enough faith to make it all the way to Jesus.

But the greatest example of doubt is John the Baptist.

John the Baptist proclaimed to all who would listen that Jesus was the Messiah. Even when he was in the womb he knew Jesus was the Messiah. (Luke 1:41–44) Yet in his moment of darkness he doubted, to the point that he sent his followers to Jesus to ask him if he was the Messiah. (Luke 7:19) This was him calling out in his way, “I believe, help me with my unbelief.”

If the Baptizer can have doubts it can happen to anybody.

How Do We Respond to Doubt?

So, what should we do when we have these doubts? The examples we have seen give us the answer. We should not be ashamed of our doubts. But rather, like the man with the demon-possessed son, Peter and the apostles, and John the Baptist, we should bring our doubts to God and ask Him to help us with our faith. We do this through prayer.

Jesus did not condemn any of the men in these examples. Having doubts once in a while is normal. The question is: how do you react when the doubts come? Do you bring your doubts to God or do you let them fester and weaken your faith?

Doubt doesn’t necessarily weaken your faith, unless you let it spread like the yeast of the Pharisees. (Matthew 16:5–20) It’s what you do when the doubt comes that matters; if doubt causes you to go to God and prayerfully examine what you are questioning, it could actually strengthen it.

When we doubt it doesn’t necessarily mean we are weak, it can mean that our faith is still growing. We can use our doubt as an opportunity for growth, but if we don’t do anything about it we will weaken our faith.

So, like the man with the demon-possessed son, we should cry out to God, “I believe, help me with my unbelief.”

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