Sometimes as you read the bible certain things will pop out at you and make you think. Often times it takes a situation or a problem in your life to bring them to mind. The Holy Spirit will help believers recall scripture to remind us of God’s word and his comfort. One scripture that comes to mind in extreme situations is the one where you see a man come to Jesus with a sincere heart.
The passage begins were a father comes to him with a son possessed by an evil spirit. This person had the spirit in him for a long time and it became violent to the point where it harmed its host. He brought him to Jesus and begged for His help, then Jesus replied in Mark 9:

Mark 9:23 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.
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.
Just in that sentence “I believe, help me with my unbelief” says so much about his sincerity.

While he believed Jesus could heal his son we had doubts that he actually would. The big reveal in his words showed that he did not hide his unbelief.
All of us carry some sort of unbelief even when we believe. Many times I have come across the faithful where they believe that God can heal them up to a point but either cannot or won’t because of their sin. Some even believed that God hated them. The pleading of “help me with mu unbelief” in those situations is exposing your doubts to God so he can see your heart in the matter and your willingness to accept the outcome.

In the reverse if we do not approach Him with our unbelief we live a lie and that is a sin. He wants us to present ourselves and all our faults to him. He cares for us and wants to help us in our suffering. When we come to Him with our doubts we are being sincere.

To understand belief we have to know that Jesus is they author of our faith and that through others like that father in the book of Mark they show us that He can an indeed help our unbelief.

To remind us who gave us even the faith we have we have to look at Hebrews 12
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In Christ always,                                                                                           
Steve Koenig
Lake Shore Fellowship