10/02/2017
The day after going to the altar and accepting Jesus Christ as our savior, Satan begins to work at us... will our faith withstand the onslaught? Believing is easy on the mountain, but when we go back to the valley we must cry out to the Lord for help... prepare yourself for that moment.
In Mark 9 we read about Jesus healing a boy who had an unclean spirit. In this account the boy’s father pleads for Jesus to help them. He relates the boy’s condition and then begs using these words...
“”.... But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."”
Mark 9:22 ESV
Jesus doesn’t just heal the boy, but he does what is always required before He performs a miracle... He looks at the faith of those who will receive the miracle. When we ask Jesus to heal us, or help us, is our request made out of faith or desperation? In the case of the possessed boy there was initially desperation on the part of the father; so Jesus told him of the requirement...
“And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes."”
Mark 9:22-23 ESV
At that moment the father was brought to the place of choice. In His desperation he would have preferred that Jesus just unilaterally heal his son, but now he has been asked to engage in the process. What will he do? For many of us we have to sleep on it, or at least think about it for a few minutes, but not this Father...
“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"”
Mark 9:24 ESV
He cried out to Jesus by first assuring Him that he did believe, but then he went a step further by asking something for himself, another request for help came... “help my unbelief.”
There have been numerous occasions in my life when I have needed a miracle, and on those occasions I have leaned on my faith as I approached the Lord, but in all of those occasions I have had the feeling that my faith is not what it should have been and felt the need to pray the request this father made...”help my unbelief.” There are also those times when I have been busy trying to make the something happen myself, only to realize what I am doing, and when I come to this realization I cry out in that moment of desperation... “Jesus help my unbelief.”
You see, faith is not like many things in our lives that are either yes or no. It isn’t like a light switch on the wall that is either on or off... faith is more akin to a dimmer switch that turns the light brighter or dimmer. In order for it to remain bright we must keep the knob of our faith turned far to the right. Sometimes we are on our knees begging for compassion and realize that our faith might be too dim. At that moment we cry out to Jesus for his help with it; we call across the room of desperation to Him... “help my faith Jesus! Lord, please turn up the rheostat of my faith! Reduce my resistance to you!”
When we are walking along the way with Jesus there are times when we are traveling across an open landscape in which the sun shines on us all the while, but then we come into a lightly forested stretch in which we pass from shade to light and back again... and finally there are also those times when the forest is so heavy and dark that it is like night, and our eyes strain to see. This analogy is true of the light of our faith, and the landscape of our lives which is constantly changing as we journey with Jesus. There are times when our faith is bright within us, times when it is sufficient but fluctuates, and finally there are those times when we struggle to find it. In all of those degrees it is appropriate to pray “help my faith” to Jesus.
You might be thinking to yourself that you are in an open field with no obstruction, so why would it be necessary to pray for Jesus to help my faith? It is already as bright as the sun! Well, Paul can help with this question let’s listen as he describes his experience...
“At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'”
Acts 26:13-14 ESV
God shines brighter than the sun; there is always room for our faith to grow brighter, and no end to the travel of the rheostat that we can ask Jesus to help us with. To pray for His help with our faith is always appropriate and beneficial. Never lean on your own understanding or settle for a faith that you feel is good enough; bright enough.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the endless brightness of my faith in you. I thank you for allowing me to know you better, and for my faith which increases as it encompasses each new realization of your power, glory, or love. Holy Father, you are without limit and your light shines brighter than the sun. As I walk in this, your light, let my faith also increases in its brightness. Jesus hear my prayers for help; hear me when I cry out to you “help my faith.” I need you Lord because this is a Road I have never travelled before and it is lined with snares and obstructions that would undo me without my faith in your provision and guidance. I am asked to have faith in the goodness and power of our Father, but sometimes my faith wanes and I am tempted to believe that the problems I am facing are beyond His ability or desire to fix... help my faith in those moments. Increase my belief beyond what is expected and fill me with the peace and joy that is brought by absolute assuredness in the Father’s goodness and grace. As we walk this way together, and we pass from light, to shade, and dark... let your light fill my faith and light the way... lead me Jesus and provide me with the miracles and blessings of the father through my faith.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."”
John 8:12 ESV
Rich Forbes