Mark 9: 14-29
It is amazing how quickly we can move from confidence to crisis when all chips are down. Unbelief is such a disease in the life of many people that we need to pray that God will deliver us from its dangers.
- Problem of unbelief
God warns us against unbelief
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Numbers 14:11, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”
We make the same mistake of unbelief when we begin to doubt God because of the failures of God’s people. How many people today are convinced that God has let them down because the church or other Christians have let them down?
If your faith in God is identical to your faith in the church or your Christian friends or your pain-free life, then you do not believe God.
- The requirement of faith
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Because a problem has been presented to the Master does not remove the fact that Faith is essential. On a serious note, the enemy will fight at hard when they know the judgement that is awaiting them.
Don’t despair when Jesus is handling your case. There may be issues He will like you to take note of.
Your challenge is not the issue, but you need faith as a grain of mustard seed but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mark 6: 5-6 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
And he went about among the villages teaching.
The power of God is limited by unbelief not because God is incapable to act apart from our faith but because he consistently chooses not to act apart from faith.
Faith originates with God and faith ends in God. That is, faith has no ultimate purpose other than to lead us to satisfaction in God.
The father of the boy said in Vs 24b – Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
He was honest in this saying.
Unbelief is treatable… It can be cured.
The problem is that most people, when they struggle to believe, turn away from God. And when they do this they prove that they really never believed him to begin with.
True faith is total abandonment to God, believing that he is able to do anything,
The remaining disciples had attempted to heal the father’s son, who is described as being possessed by a demon. The boy’s symptoms include an inability to talk and hear as well as epileptic-type problems like convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and paralysis.
- The cure for unbelief
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
It was not only the man that was struggling, the disciples too had issues.
They had failed by fighting spiritual battles in their own strength. When Jesus says “this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” he is referring to the supernatural work of fighting demonic powers. We dare not fight the battles of this life in our own strength for then, indeed, we will meet our match.
Isaiah 40:31
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
No matter how great the past successes, following Jesus will always take us into things that are beyond our abilities. He will constantly make us aware of how inadequate we are for the work that must be done.
The easiest way to check the temperature of our faith is to evaluate our prayer life. O how easily we move away from it for no other reason than we simply don’t think we need it.
Nothing pleases God more than to grant faith to those who desire it.
Abraham’s faith was so deep that he was willing to offer his only son Isaac to God because God commanded it!
That is, true belief and radically transformed faith.
True belief obeys God regardless of the cost.
True belief does not leave God because of inconvenience and difficulty.
True belief does not come to Jesus at night (Nicodemus) but in the open.
True belief loves Jesus and seeks him, not because of what he does for us, but because of who he is, how great he is, and how I owe him everything.
Friend, do not remain with basic, shallow belief that does not lead to life change.
Take the road of faith. Let your faith grow. Grow deeper with your Savior.