March 28th - Help My Unbelief

Does God heed our prayers if we have doubts? James 1:6-7 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” That sure sounds like doubt would cause our prayers to go unheeded.

But does believing and not doubting mean having NO doubt? Not likely. We probably will always have some lingering doubt. But we cannot ask in faith if we are FILLED with doubt.

In 2 Corinthians 5:7, we are told that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Walking by faith means we choose to believe, and then act on that belief in spite of our lingering doubt. We try to come to Him as unwaveringly as possible. And, just like a little child learning to walk, we can become more unwavering the more we practice “walking by faith.”

Mark 9 tells us about the father who brought his demon-possessed child to Jesus. The father pleaded “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” He was not filled with faith. He didn’t say “I know you can do anything!” He cam e with what little faith he had, asking with an “if.” Jesus responded “All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark then reports that “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!”

We can be so encouraged by this account. This father desired to believe with his whole heart. He had some faith, but he wasn’t filled with faith. He knew he still had some unbelief. But he did not let his lingering doubt control him. He brought it to Jesus. What a perfect model for us.

Let’s come wholeheartedly with what little faith we have, asking Him to deal with our remaining doubt. Let us take Him at His word, rest in His promises, and ask for grace to trust Him more.

Today’s Action:

Let’s read Proverbs 28 together, choosing to place our trust in Him alone.

“Those who trust in the Lord will prosper; those who trust in themselves are fools.” (Proverbs 28:25b, 26a) NIV