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Mark 9:24 - Lord, I Believe; Help My Unbelief.Mark 9:24 (ESV) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"INTRODUCTION Jesus' words do not mean that we can automatically obtain anything we want if we just think positively. Jesus meant that anything is possible if we believe, because nothing is too difficult for God. We cannot have everything we pray for as if by magic; but with faith, we can have everything we need to serve him. The attitude of trust and confidence that the Bible calls belief or faith (Heb. 11:1, 6) is not something we can obtain without help. Faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9). No matter how much faith we have, we never reach the point of being self-sufficient. Faith is not stored away like money in the bank. Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus. [Life Application SB] COMMENTARY PEARL It is faith that connects us with heaven, and brings us strength for coping with the powers of darkness. In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong.... Look not to self, but to Christ.... Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" [Mark 9:24]. You can never perish while you do this--never. {DA 429} COMMENTARY In today's verse, Jesus promises the impossible to all who have faith in Him. The verse is taken from the following account: Upon descending from the Mount of Transfiguration with His three disciples, Jesus met a crowd of people, among them a father desperate for healing for his demon-possessed son (Mark 9:14-17). Christ's other disciples had been unsuccessful in performing the miracle (v. 18). Pleading, the father appealed to the Savior, "If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (v. 22). Jesus replied with today's verse. God's promise is not conditional upon Himself - "With God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37). God, ever compassionate, is always willing and able to help us. The condition lies with us. We are unwilling to believe in Christ's ability "to save to the uttermost" (Hebrews 7:25). In this we cheat ourselves of His promises. It is when we exercise faith in those promises that they will be fulfilled. In response to Christ, "immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:24). And Jesus did. He cast the demon out of the boy (vv. 25-27). Is your hope dying, like the father's or the impotent disciples'? Remember that even faith the size of "a mustard seed" (Matthew 17:20) will land you in God's kingdom. Dear Lord, I believe; please help my unbelief! Help me to exercise faith in Your ability and desire to save me. [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing Facts] In a moment of honest self-examination, the father of the demon-possessed boy acknowledged both belief and unbelief. He believed that Jesus could restore his son to health, but he questioned whether Jesus would do so. Sometimes we feel the same way. We see how God has delivered others and believe that God is able to help, but we are afraid that God will refuse to help us. Perhaps we are afraid that God will think us unworthy of his deliverance. God never works that way. Not only is he able to help us, but he also wants to help us. All we have to do is turn to him in faith, ask for his help and forgiveness, and do what we can to follow his revealed will for us. God will do the rest. [Life Recovery SB] The father's response reveals a struggle that goes on in all of us. "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!" (9:24) is the honest confession of a person who has believed enough to bring his son to Jesus, yet whose doubts and fears continue to trouble him. It is important here to note that despite the man's confession of his inner struggle, Jesus did heal the son. Christ does not demand that we have an unwavering faith in order to act for us. He does require that we have enough faith to be open to the possibility of God's miraculous intervention in our lives, however dark the doubts that swirl within our hearts... While Jesus has all power, it requires faith to open up our lives to an experience of that power. This does not mean that we must have a perfect faith. In all of us, faith and unbelief remain in tension. But we must have enough faith to come to Jesus and appeal to Him if He is to act for us. [Victor Bible Background Commentary] God is always seeking to teach you the way of faith. Your training for a life of faith requires many areas of learning, including the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, and the courage of faith. Often you will pass through many stages before you finally realize the result of faith - namely, the victory of faith. Genuine moral fiber is developed by enduring the discipline of faith. When you have made your request to God, and the answer still has not come, what are you to do? Keep on believing His Word! Never be swayed from it by what you may see or feel. Then as you stand firm, your power and experience is being developed, strengthened, and deepened. When you remain unswayed from your stance of faith, even in view of supposed contradictions to God's Word, you grow stronger on every front. God will often purposely delay in giving you His answer, and in fact the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes. He worked this way in the lives of all the great Bible characters. Abraham, Moses, and Elijah were not great in the beginning but made great through the discipline of their faith. Only through that discipline were they then equipped for the work to which God had called them.... It is this discipline of faith that will bring you into a knowledge of God that would otherwise be impossible. [Streams In The Desert By Cowman] If your doubts still persist after facing them, praying about them, and developing the habit of talking to yourself with a Scripture passage that refutes them, then seek the help of a minister or a Christian counselor. God has given us three resources to help us whenever we get into spiritual difficulties: the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God. The final answer to doubt may come as you share with an experienced Christian the things that are going on in your heart. If you are not able to get the kind of help I am suggesting, then get in touch with your nearest Christian bookshop and ask them to recommend some helpful reading on the subject. Whatever you do, don't allow yourself to settle down into a complacent attitude about your doubts. Adopt a positive approach and determine to do something about resolving them. This will ensure that even though your doubts may take a certain amount of time to be cleared away, they will not be able to degenerate into unbelief... If the only thing you are able to do is pray, then that by itself will prevent doubt from becoming unbelief. If you also adopt the principle of "talking to yourself" from the Word of God, then you have in your hands the strategy for overcoming doubt. Father, help me, whenever I don't know what to do, to turn naturally to prayer. Then no moment will be empty or fruitless. But help me also to utilize the power of Your Word, the Bible. Let these two things become my central strategy. Amen. [Every Day With Jesus Bible with Selwyn Hughes devotional re John 20:27] ONE LINERS Prayer is an antidote to unbelief, because it shifts our focus from what we can or cannot do to the LORD, who can do all things. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary] Every step toward Christ kills a doubt. Every thought, word, and deed for Him carries you away from discouragement. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler (1822-1909) LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY Mark 9:24b - Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2015/20150228-1944.html Mark 9:24b - Faith Comes Alive! http://www.abible.com/devotions/2008/20080229-1307.html Mark 9:24b - Faith Comes Alive (some additional thoughts). http://www.abible.com/devotions/2009/20090312-1122.html Ephesians 2:8 - Saved by GRACE through FAITH. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2016/20160702-2136.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/ |