🕊️ PRAY HERE Devotion 🕊️ Please Help My Unbelief
Scripture: Mark 9:21–24 (NIV)
Verse 21: Jesus asked the boy’s father how long his son had been suffering. The father explained that it had been happening since childhood.
Verse 22: The father described how the evil spirit had repeatedly endangered his son’s life. Desperate for help, he asked Jesus to have compassion on them and help them if He could.
Verse 23: Jesus challenged the father’s uncertainty and reminded him of what is possible for the one who believes.
Verse 24: Immediately, the father cried out:
“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
(Scripture passage summarized from the NIV, with a brief quotation from verse 24.)
Devotion:
Have you ever wanted to believe God for something, but deep down inside, you were struggling with doubt?
You prayed about it.
You tried to remain positive.
You even told yourself that everything was going to work out.
BUT THE LONGER YOU WAITED, THE MORE YOUR DOUBTS STARTED GETTING THE BEST OF YOU!
Whewww! 😮💨
Sometimes we allow our thoughts to take us places that our faith never intended for us to go!
And here’s something I want you to think about.
IF YOU KEEP THINKING SOMETHING LONG ENOUGH, YOU CAN EVENTUALLY CONVINCE YOURSELF THAT IT’S TRUE!
You keep thinking nothing is going to change.
You keep telling yourself that things are only going to get worse.
You keep replaying every disappointment, every failure, and every time something didn’t work out.
And before you know it, you’ve convinced yourself that there’s no reason to expect anything different!
YOU HAVE ALLOWED YOUR DISAPPOINTMENTS TO BECOME YOUR EXPECTATIONS!
My, my, my! 🙏🏽
Have you ever met somebody who has tried EVERYTHING?
They’ve gone to every doctor.
They’ve applied for every job.
They’ve tried to repair the relationship.
They’ve asked everybody they know for help.
They’ve exhausted every option they can think of.
And because nothing has worked, they’ve reached the point where they don’t believe anything WILL work!
THEY HAVE PARKED THEIR CAR ON HOPELESS AVENUE! 😩
And they don’t plan on moving!
Somebody comes along and encourages them to keep trusting God, and their response is:
“I’ve already tried that!”
“Nothing ever works out for me!”
“I don’t want to get my hopes up again!”
And sometimes, without even realizing it, they’ve started believing:
“IF NOTHING ELSE HAS WORKED, JESUS PROBABLY CAN’T HELP ME EITHER!”
OOOOOOEW WEEEEE! 😮💨
Let’s look at our Scripture for today.
In Mark chapter 9, we meet a father who is desperately seeking help for his son.
His son had been suffering since childhood from a condition caused by an evil spirit.
The father described how the spirit would throw his son down, cause him to convulse, and even throw him into fire and water in an attempt to destroy him.
Can you imagine being a parent and watching your child suffer like that?
Day after day.
Year after year.
Watching somebody you love suffer while you feel helpless to do anything about it!
And here’s what makes this story even more heartbreaking.
THE FATHER HAD ALREADY ASKED JESUS’ DISCIPLES TO HELP HIS SON, BUT THEY COULDN’T!
Whewww!
He had brought his son to the people who followed Jesus, expecting help, and they were unable to deliver him.
Now, here he is standing before Jesus Himself!
And listen to what he says in verse 22.
“BUT IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING…”
WAIT A MINUTE! 👀
IF YOU CAN?
He’s standing in front of JESUS!
The One who has power over sickness, demons, and death!
But after everything this father had experienced, even he was struggling to believe that his son could be delivered.
HIS PAST DISAPPOINTMENTS WERE SPEAKING LOUDER THAN HIS PRESENT OPPORTUNITY!
My, my, my!
And isn’t that what happens to us sometimes?
We’ve been disappointed so many times that even when we’re praying, we’re not really expecting anything to happen.
We ask God for help, but in the back of our minds, we’re already preparing ourselves for another disappointment.
We say we believe, but our thoughts keep telling us:
“IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
“YOU’VE BEEN WAITING TOO LONG!”
“YOU MIGHT AS WELL GIVE UP!”
“NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE!”
And the more we entertain those thoughts, the more difficult it becomes to hold on to hope.
But look at what Jesus said to this father!
In verse 23, Jesus challenged the words “IF YOU CAN.”
Jesus turned the conversation toward BELIEVING!
And that’s when something powerful happened!
Verse 24 tells us that the father immediately cried out:
“I DO BELIEVE; HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF!”
HALLELUJAH! 🙌🏽🔥
NOW THAT’S AN HONEST PRAYER!
He didn’t pretend that his faith was perfect!
He didn’t act like he had never experienced doubt!
He didn’t try to impress Jesus with how spiritual he was!
HE ADMITTED THAT HE BELIEVED, BUT HE ALSO ADMITTED THAT HE WAS STRUGGLING!
Whewww! 😮💨
And I believe there are many people who can relate to this father.
“LORD, I BELIEVE YOU CAN HEAL, BUT I’M AFRAID OF ANOTHER BAD REPORT!”
“LORD, I BELIEVE YOU CAN PROVIDE, BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW I’M GOING TO PAY THESE BILLS!”
“LORD, I BELIEVE YOU CAN RESTORE, BUT I’VE BEEN HURT SO MANY TIMES!”
“LORD, I BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE A WAY, BUT EVERYTHING I’VE TRIED HAS FAILED!”
“LORD, I BELIEVE! BUT PLEASE HELP MY UNBELIEF!”
My, my, my! 🙏🏽
Sometimes that’s exactly where we are!
We believe in God.
We believe His Word.
We believe He has power.
BUT WE’RE STRUGGLING TO BELIEVE THAT HE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR PARTICULAR SITUATION!
And here’s what I want you to understand.
HAVING A MOMENT OF DOUBT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE STOPPED LOVING GOD!
It means you need His help!
And that’s exactly what this father asked for.
He didn’t walk away because his faith wasn’t where he wanted it to be.
HE BROUGHT HIS UNBELIEF TO JESUS!
OOOOOOEW WEEEEE! 🙌🏽🔥
STOP RUNNING FROM GOD BECAUSE YOU’RE STRUGGLING TO BELIEVE HIM!
Tell Him the truth!
Tell Him you’re afraid!
Tell Him you’re discouraged!
Tell Him you’re tired of being disappointed!
Tell Him that you’re having a hard time seeing how things could possibly get better!
AND THEN ASK HIM TO HELP YOUR UNBELIEF!
You don’t have to pretend with God.
He already knows what’s going on in your heart!
Now, here’s something else I don’t want you to miss.
JESUS DIDN’T TURN THIS FATHER AWAY BECAUSE HE ADMITTED HIS UNBELIEF!
Jesus went on to rebuke the evil spirit, and the boy was delivered!
Hallelujah! 🙌🏽🔥
THE FATHER’S STRUGGLE DID NOT STOP HIM FROM BRINGING HIS SON TO JESUS!
And that’s an important lesson for us.
Don’t let doubt convince you to stop praying.
Don’t let disappointment convince you to stop seeking God.
And don’t let the fact that something hasn’t happened yet convince you that God is unable to help you.
A DELAY IS NOT PROOF THAT GOD HAS NO POWER!
Now, this doesn’t mean every prayer will be answered exactly the way we want or when we want.
God’s power is not controlled by how perfectly we believe, and unanswered prayers are not proof that someone lacks enough faith.
But we can trust His character, seek His help, and continue following Him even when we don’t understand what He’s doing.
FAITH IS NOT PRETENDING THAT THE PROBLEM DOESN’T EXIST!
Faith is choosing to trust God while acknowledging that the problem is real!
And sometimes faith sounds like:
“LORD, I BELIEVE! BUT I NEED YOU TO HELP ME BELIEVE EVEN MORE!”
Romans 10:17 reminds us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
That’s why we have to be careful about what we continue feeding our minds!
If all you do is rehearse everything that went wrong, you’re going to keep strengthening your fears.
But when you spend time in God’s Word, you are reminding yourself of who He is!
STOP FEEDING YOUR DOUBTS MORE THAN YOU FEED YOUR FAITH!
Read His Word.
Remember His faithfulness.
Pray even when you’re discouraged.
And when those negative thoughts come, don’t automatically accept them as the truth!
JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK SOMETHING DOESN’T MEAN IT’S TRUE!
Whewww! Somebody needs that today! 🙌🏽
Maybe you’ve been sitting on Hopeless Avenue for a long time.
You’ve become so familiar with disappointment that you’ve stopped expecting anything good to happen.
You’ve allowed your circumstances to convince you that nothing can change.
But today, I want to encourage you to do what this father did.
BRING YOUR SITUATION AND YOUR UNBELIEF TO JESUS!
You may not have all the answers.
You may not understand how things will work out.
You may still have some fear.
BUT DON’T LET YOUR DOUBTS MAKE THE DECISION TO GIVE UP FOR YOU!
And don’t forget what happened in today’s Scripture.
A father came to Jesus with a suffering child, a history of disappointment, and a heart struggling between faith and doubt.
BUT HE STILL CAME TO JESUS!
And when Jesus challenged his unbelief, he didn’t make excuses.
HE ASKED FOR HELP!
Today, that can be your prayer too.
“LORD, I BELIEVE! PLEASE HELP MY UNBELIEF!”
Because you don’t have to have perfect faith to come to a perfect Savior!
DON’T MAKE HOPELESS AVENUE YOUR PERMANENT ADDRESS!
KEEP YOUR FAITH IN GOD, EVEN WHILE YOU’RE ASKING HIM TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR DOUBTS! 🙌🏽🙏🏽💙
✍🏽 Reflect & Respond
Today, I want you to examine what you’ve been allowing yourself to believe.
Have I allowed past disappointments to convince me that nothing good can happen in my present situation?
Am I feeding my faith with God’s Word, or am I constantly entertaining thoughts of fear, failure, and hopelessness?
Have I stopped praying or expecting anything to change because I’ve already convinced myself that God won’t help me?
And here’s the question I really want you to sit with:
HAVE I BEEN BELIEVING MY DOUBTS MORE THAN I’VE BEEN TRUSTING GOD?
Today, take some time to identify the negative thoughts you’ve been rehearsing.
Bring those thoughts before God in prayer.
Find Scriptures that remind you of His character, His faithfulness, and His promises.
And instead of pretending you don’t have doubts, be honest with Him.
LORD, I BELIEVE! HELP MY UNBELIEF!
🙏🏽 Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I believe in You, but sometimes my doubts, fears, and disappointments get the best of me. Lord, please help my unbelief. Forgive me for allowing negative thoughts and past failures to weaken my faith. Help me stop expecting the worst and start trusting You more. When I feel hopeless, remind me of Your power, Your love, and Your faithfulness. Strengthen my faith through Your Word, and help me trust You even when I don’t understand what You’re doing. Lord, I believe! Please help me where my faith is weak. In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen. 🙏🏽💙
🙏🏽 Need Prayer Today?
CLICK HERE, IF YOU NEED TO SUBMIT A PRAYER REQUEST TODAY. LET US SUPPORT YOU IN PRAYER.
💙 PRAY HERE 30-Day Prayer Journals
LET GOD — 30-Day Women’s Prayer & Surrender Journal
What I Can’t Say Out Loud — 30-Day Men’s Prayer Journal
Comments