Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:14    And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
Mark 9:15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
Mark 9:16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
Mark 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Mark 9:18 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.
Mark 9:19 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.
Mark 9:20 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.
Mark 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mark 9:22 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.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mark 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mark 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mark 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

To visualize the setting of this story.
Jesus , Peter, James and John had just came down from the mountain of Transfiguration, a real mountain top experience. now they came down into the daily troubles of life.
They came down to see failure. The other 9 Disciples had failed to cure a boy with an evil spirit. Yet in Mark 6:7 Jesus had gave them power over unclean spirits. Here the father of the boy needed help that they so desperately need and wanted.
This man had demonstrated a hopeful belief maybe a desperation type of faith by bringing the boy to the disciples.

I want to focus on three verses here Mark 9:22 - 24.
I call your attention the desperation of the father of the boy in verse 22
Mark 9:22 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.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Have you ever been at the end of your hopes? His hope in healing from the disciples was gone.
I remember a preacher once that would say when everything is going wrong, look up " Help is on the way "

Then he sees Jesus.
In my minds eye, he looked at Jesus and said "if you can...please"
Jesus is all powerful! Nothing is impossible for my Lord.
Jesus gave the key.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Some Bible scholar give a different rendering to Jesus' answer, some say He may have been repeating the man's question as " If I can?" then He makes the statement " believe! all things are possible to him that believeth. "
I have found myself in the same place as that man many times, all natural hope seems to be gone.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Some of us Christians have trouble believing because of our unbelief.
Do you ever find yourself believing but still hung up on unbelief?
The word used for unbelief in Greek is ἀπιστία apistia (ap-is-tee'-ah) n. meaning  faithlessness
There is a strong relationship between believing and faith.
The word used for believe in Greek is πιστεύω pisteuo (pist-yoo'-o) v. meaning to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit

I berlieve this man was asking Jesus to increase his faith and decrease his doubts

Sometimes we might believe things in our mind or intellectually believe but that belief we have is just not strong enough to risk anything of value.
A evangelist friend of ours had an expression I like. He would say, 'live, die, or sink or swim he would live for Jesus'.
Today in the Middle East there are Christians that are given a choice, convert to Islam or die.
Their belief in the power of the cross endures them to the end sometimes even death. They are a true overcomer.

I believe the English word ' belief ' is used only one time in the KJV of the NT. ( 2 Thess. 2:13 )
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Yet that word it is the same Greek word that is called ' faith ' in Heb.11:1 πίστις pistis (pis'-tis) n. meaning:
1. persuasion, i.e. credence
2. (morally) conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher)
3. (especially) reliance upon Christ for salvation
Heb.11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
see how thy compare.

Can anyone believe without knowledge?
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
that was a message from God to the man. This was knowledge revealed to that father of the young boy.

The man had some belief but it was hampered by unbelief.
Jesus had pure belief and is willing to give.

a measure of faith is given, its up to us to apply.

Romans 12:3    For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Jesus will build our faith, our beliefs if we trust Him and yield to Him.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb.11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

It says, ' But without faith or without belief ..."
What does this mean for us?
On one hand believing has power, on the other hand unbelief bring defeat and doubts
You and I have the privilege of going to Jesus as that man did and humbly saying " Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
By the power of the Holy Spirit we can reject unbelief.
By His power we can chose to believe.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

God can speak to us many ways. He will never tell you anything contrary to His word.
He gave that man knowledge when He said " all things are possible to him that believeth."
Jesus never lies. He is truth.
There is something that happens to many Christians.
We may have a problem, sickness, bills etc that we are praying about. There are many promises in God's Word that we can claim.
What God has done in our lives and many others is often called illumination of His Word.
It might be almost like a verse gets lit up as it fits in your prayer request.
For me that is a personal promise directly from God.

Many have seen words light up in their minds like "Repent", "Trust", "Seek ye first", "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ", :Come up to me", "Whosoever will"

A suggested Prayer