Lord I Believe, but help my Unbelief

(9:24) And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears. The words “with tears” are not in the best manuscripts. Vincent, commenting on the words “cried out and said,” has: “the former denoting the inarticulate cry, the ejaculation, followed by the words, ‘Lord, I believe.’ ” Expositors says of the cry, “eager, fear-stricken cry.” Swete says, “His strength of feeling shows itself in a cry as piercing as that of the demoniac son.”

Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. The word “help” is boētheō (βοηθεω) “to run to the cry” of those in danger, hence, “to succor, bring aid, to help.” In verse 22, this verb is in the aorist imperative. Instant help is asked for. Here it is in the present imperative. Continuous help is asked for. “Be constantly helping my unbelief.” Swete says: “The father instantly responds to the demand for fuller trust on his part … He recognizes that the help he needs is in the first instance help for himself and not for his boy.… He believes, but his faith is defective, and its defect needs the Master’s succor.” The word “unbelief,” apistia (ἀπιστια), Thayer says, can be translated in this context by the expression “weakness of faith.”

Translation. And immediately having cried out, the father of the little boy was saying to Jesus, I am believing. Be helping my weakness of faith.

The Outline Bible Section Outline Nine (Mark 9)

(2) The struggle for faith (9:24) : The father says, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”

The Gospel according to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter Word and Phrase Study

9:24 “ ‘I do believe, help my unbelief’ ” This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE. Remember it is the object of faith, not the quantity, that is crucial (cf. Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6). Notice that Jesus worked with this man’s doubts, as He will with ours.

Jesus deals with the father’s faith, not the boy’s, because he has been possessed since he was a child. One wonders if one of the reasons the disciples could not exorcize the boy was the father’s lack of faith in them. Jesus often focused on parent’s or friend’s faith in effecting cures and deliverances. This father’s words admit his need and beseeches Jesus’ help to further his faith. This is a prayer we could all pray!

The Bible Reader’s Companion Mark 9

“Help me overcome my unbelief” (9:24). Faith has two aspects: objective and subjective. Objectively our faith is in Jesus, and He is unshakable. Subjectively our faith is often mixed with hesitancy and doubt. The way to overcome uncertainty is to remember that what makes faith valid is not its subjective strength, but the trustworthiness of its object. We can confidently affirm this truth: “I can’t, but Jesus can.”

https://soundfaith.com/sermons/204187-the-perfect-prayer

Unbelief and life of faith

Synopsis

Believers may go through periods of doubt and indecision, especially on account of difficulties in trusting God or accepting certain aspects of his will for them.

General examples of unbelief in believers

Abraham

(NKJV) — 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

See also

(NKJV) — 8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

Sarah

(NKJV) — 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Moses

(NKJV) — 21 And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”

Gideon

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(NKJV) — 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

(NKJV) — 17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.

(NKJV) — 36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Elisha’s servant

(NKJV) — 42 Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.” 43 But his servant said, “What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?” He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ” 44 So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Zechariah

(NKJV) — 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

John the Baptist

(NKJV) — 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

The unbelief of Jesus Christ’s disciples

Unbelief concerning Jesus Christ’s power over the natural world

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(NKJV) — 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

(NKJV) — 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

(NKJV) — 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

(NKJV) — 8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?