Help My Unbelief

Mark 9:17–27; Psalm 62:8 NKJV

Have you ever felt that you needed to sound more confident in prayer than you actually felt?

You believe God is able. You know He is faithful. Yet the situation in front of you leaves you wondering how things could possibly come together.

A few years ago, I found myself at the end of my rope—the end of myself. I was living in my cousin’s basement, money was scarce, and I couldn’t see how I was going to get back on my feet.

I was doing what I could to move forward, but even the immediate needs felt overwhelming. Could I afford enough gas to get to work? How would I pay my bills? When would I be able to find a place of my own?

I believed God could and would direct my circumstances. I just couldn’t see how.

I had hope. I also had worries that followed me through the day. The needs were immediate, and I couldn’t see how I was going to meet them.

I reached a place where about all I could say was, “I believe; help my unbelief.”

When I read the father’s plea in Mark 9, I recognize something of that struggle.

He had watched his son suffer since childhood. He brought him to the disciples, but they had been unable to help. Now he stood before Jesus with his son’s need still unresolved.

As Jesus called him to believe, the father cried out with tears:

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” — Mark 9:24 NKJV

There is an expression of faith and an admission of need in the same prayer.

He believed, and he recognized that he needed help believing. He brought Jesus his son’s suffering and his own struggling faith.

That honesty speaks to me.

Sometimes I know what I believe about God, but I struggle to trust Him with what I cannot see. I can speak confidently about His faithfulness and still become frightened when I think about tomorrow.

That was where I found myself in that basement. I believed He could make a way. I needed His help while I was looking at needs I couldn’t meet and a future I couldn’t figure out.

The father’s prayer gives us words for that place.

We can tell God that we believe Him and ask Him to help us where trust is difficult. We can bring Him the fear we’re reluctant to admit, the disappointment we don’t know how to explain, and the questions we’re afraid might make us sound faithless.

Psalm 62:8 invites us to:

“Pour out your heart before Him.”

The same verse calls us to trust Him at all times and reminds us that God is our refuge. We can come to Him with what is actually in our hearts.

And we should keep reading the account in Mark. Jesus intervened in the boy’s suffering. He cast out the spirit that tormented him, took him by the hand, and lifted him up.

The father had brought a real need to Jesus, and Jesus delivered his son.

We can bring Him real needs, too. We can ask boldly for His help with the circumstances while also asking Him to strengthen our trust.

Perhaps today you believe God is able, but you cannot see how things will come together. Perhaps hope and worry are sharing the same space.

You can bring Him that struggle. You can keep coming while your voice shakes and your questions remain.

Lord, I believe. Help me trust You with what I cannot yet see.