Day 65 — A Faith That Dares to Admit Its Doubts

Main verse

“[…] Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
— Mark 9:24 (excerpt) (KJV)

Meditation

A father brings his suffering son to Jesus. He has already asked the disciples for help, but their intervention changed nothing. His hope is now mixed with weariness and disappointment. He says to Jesus, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.”

Jesus invites him to believe. The father does not pretend to possess a firm, flawless faith. He answers with a profoundly human prayer: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

These two realities coexist within him. He believes enough to come to Jesus, yet he still doubts. He wants to trust while carrying the memory of long suffering and a previous attempt that failed.

We sometimes think we must dispel all our doubts before approaching God. We fear that a question, a hesitation, or a fragile faith invalidates our prayer. Yet this man expresses both trust and unbelief in the same sentence.

Doubt can draw us away from God when we hide it or let it become a permanent prison. But it can also become the beginning of a deeper search when we honestly bring it before him.

True faith is not a performance of certainty. It may tremble and still keep reaching out. It relies not on its own strength, but on the compassion of the One it calls upon.

Today, we can tell God exactly where we stand. Even our lack of faith can become a prayer: “Lord, I want to trust you. Come to the aid of what still resists within me.”

Psalm

Psalm 42:5–11 (KJV)

⁵ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. ⁶ O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. ⁷ Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. ⁸ Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. ⁹ I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? ¹⁰ As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? ¹¹ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Further Bible reading

Mark 9:14–29; John 20:24–29; Jude 20–22

Suggested hymn

The Church Hymnal (1941), no. 246 — “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”

View the hymn reference ↗

Prayer

Lord, I bring you my faith and my doubts, my hope and my disappointments. Keep me from pretending to possess a certainty I do not have. Meet me as I truly am and strengthen what remains fragile. I believe; help my unbelief. Amen.

A thought to keep

Faith is not always the absence of doubt; sometimes it is the courage to bring our doubt to Jesus.

Personal Notes

What would you like to remember, pray about, or put into practice today?