Help My Unbelief

Suppose you were a pastor and you have just finished preaching on the need for faith. One of your members put up his hand to make a personal request. He said, “I believe, help my unbelief,” what would you suppose he was doing? Perhaps you might think he was just being a smart Alec. Or would you think he was speaking out of both sides of his mouth? More significantly, would you scold him for failing to understand the whole essence of your sermon?

But the man has tears in his eyes, so you, as the pastor, are completely confused. Thankfully, the preacher in this story is Jesus and He did not see any need to scold the speaker. Why not, you may wonder. Well, the man believed, did he not? He already had faith. But he felt he needed help. Secondly, it is with such transparency that all our relationships grow. Particularly with God, who sees into our hearts and could see that the man was still struggling with unbelief.

Whenever we approach God, we must do so transparently like this man and the woman at the well of Samaria. When Jesus asked her to fetch her husband, she could have fudged. “He is on a trip; he is in the field, etc.” But she was transparent and the bible records that she received both salvation and a commission on the same day. God is big enough to handle our deepest needs. Sadly, we cannot say the same for our pastors. They would have scolded a man who said “I believe but help my unbelief.”

The Man Received Healing

This man, like the woman at the well in Samaria, received the help he requested. Do you see the emphasis on transparently desiring help from God? That is what makes private prayers more effective than public ones. When you pray in church, you are guarded in what you pray in case someone is listening. But when you go into your closet, as Jesus recommends, you can fully expose yourself to God. And this is important since He is the only one who can save you.

The man knew that, and although a crowd was gathering, he didn’t care. He asked for help with his area of struggle. “Lord, I am a man of faith, or I would not have come to you but help my unbelief.” All this while, his son was convulsing with epilepsy and foaming at the mouth. I can imagine that the father was truly desperate. If Jesus could not help him and he had to take the boy back home, he was done for.

He threw caution to the winds and stopped praying, “Our father, who art in heaven.” He came right out and said, “please help my unbelief. You can teach me later, you can scold me tonight, but right now, help me.” This is the sort of prayer that receives instant answers and this case was not an exception. Jesus commanded the tormenting spirit to come out of him and return no more. In a short while, the convulsion ceased and the boy received total healing. All because the father asked Jesus, “help my unbelief.”

Areas of Unbelief

What about us? Are we pretending we don’t have areas with which we need help just because we are pastors? Well, then, don’t be surprised if your struggle continues since God is only the helper of the helpless. This man recognized his helplessness and Jesus helped him. And he did not require a thesis or an epistle either. All it took was one short sentence. “Help my unbelief.”

We now come to how a man or woman of faith can require help with unbelief. What is it that will cause me to come to Jesus and say, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief? For one thing, if you did not believe, you would not be coming to Jesus. You would not be referring to Him as Lord. So you do believe is why Jesus is your Lord. Now, how about the ‘help my unbelief’ part? How does that jibe with your being a man of faith?

These are all very great questions and until we truly get it, we may hide our need for help with unbelief. Let me use myself as an example here and I don’t do this often. However, sorting out this seeming paradox is sufficiently important for me to break my own rules. Being a medical doctor, I am aware of the sinister nature of every symptom in my body. Every cough, every blood stain, every cramp that a non-doctor would overlook throws me into panic mode.

Help My Unbelief Is Not  A Lack Of Faith

Not so much anymore, now that I understand why that man of faith said “help my unbelief.”  You see, believing in God for salvation and other things comes easy to most of us. But in the area of my training, that is another whole matter. So, I got to thinking that our weakness in the spirit comes from the area of our secular strength, our expertise. That hypothesis received confirmation recently when the economy started to tank.

Every so often, I would check our family investment accounts and all would be red, bleeding. Of course, the news was full of stock market trouble and so I knew the fund bleeding had something to do with that. But I did not know enough of its nitty-gritty to panic. I remember telling someone we had lost approximately seventeen percent of our investment. It turned out it was closer to twenty percent but I had no skills in that area. And because I was clueless, I was unable to panic. There was no need to ask God to help my unbelief.

Now, think of yourself. In what areas do you need to run to God and say, “help my unbelief”? Don’t let it surprise you that it is in the area of your expertise. Don’t fight it. You see, God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. When we are weak, we are strong. As a corollary, where we are strong, we are weak and need to cry out to God, “help my unbelief.” It is a very scriptural principle and there is no shame.

Maranatha!