When Our Faith Fails Part 4
Help My Unbelief!
Scriptures: Mark 9:17-24; Mark 6:5-6
Introduction:
Some of you know that one of my best friends from my days in the Air Force was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last year. He began treatment and was doing better but developed some complications last month. They have recently called in hospice as they believe they have done all that they can do. I will be flying to North Carolina early Thursday morning to go and visit him. Some have wondered if I was going to say goodbye and pay my last respect. To them I say no, I am going to encourage him and pray for his healing as I know no other way to pray. I believe in my heart that this is something I must do and as longs as there is breath within him, I will continue to believe God for his healing. Now this may sound strange to some of you, but let me explain. For the last few weeks I have been teaching on the subject “When Our Faith Fails”. In this series of messages I have focused on how what we believe impacts our faith. In the first three equations I discussed how stupidity, unbelief and wrong beliefs directly impact our actions and our faith. Based on our earlier discussions you should have an understanding of why I must pray for his healing once I get there. I cannot walk into his room believing that God does not want to heal him. That for me would open up questions that I cannot answer – like why not? According to God’s word healing is available for all of us even though we sometimes do not experience it. And since I do not have the right to determine who will be healed and who will not be healed, I will continue to stand in faith for anyone who is sick believing God to heal them. Notice I keep using the word “believing”. This speaks to a core belief that I have that my God is a God that heals not a God that makes us ill for we are His children. I am sharing this situation with you to introduce the fourth faith equation that we will focus on this morning.
The fourth faith equation states: “Faith + Some Beliefs + Action = Some Results”. All of us have some faith and some beliefs as it pertains to spiritual things. We have all had at least one prayer answered and that took some faith; some belief; and some action. The faith was demonstrated in the patience you exercised as you waited on your prayer to be answered. Your belief was demonstrated when you actually decided to pray about your situation and understood that God would answer. Finally your action was the actual prayer that you made to God. It is so easy to discount the small things as we listen to the testimonies of others who have experienced God answering the “major” prayers. What I need all of us to understand this morning is that even the small levels of faith powered by some beliefs are important as we continue to grow in Christ. So to get all of us on the same page for this morning, I want to share with you some everyday occurrences in your life that demonstrate your faith and your belief. I am using everyday examples so that you will understand the times that you have walked in faith and have demonstrated what you believe but maybe did not connect the dots as to the impact on your spiritual life. So consider these examples:
o If you woke up this morning and got dressed without once wondering if your legs or arms would work – you walked in blind faith and a strong belief. Remember, there are many people who must test their legs or arms before they use them to ensure that they will perform they way they are supposed to. If you did not think about it, you walked in faith because you believed your arms and legs would work and you did not consider that maybe your legs would not support you. Consider what would happen if you operated this way with God and you never doubted your interactions with Him.
o Whenever you say grace over your food to give thanks for it or to bless it, you are operating your faith and your beliefs. In this simple action you state that God provided the food for you and you are giving Him thanks for it. Also, because you do not know whose hands prepared it sometimes, you ask God to bless it believing that it is done when you asked Him. Again, this takes a certain amount of faith. Why say grace over your food if you did not believe God gave it to you or would bless it if you asked him to?
o At night when you go to bed and you remember to say your prayers and thank God for getting you through another day and watching over you through another night. The next morning you wake up realizing that once again God has answered your prayer. Simple? Well consider the person who goes to bed not knowing if they will wake up the next day. I knew a young woman who was sick and she was afraid to fall asleep because she knew there was a potential that she would die in her sleep. On the night that she died, I believe she passed from one temporary dream in her sleep to eternity with Christ. But my point is, whenever she went to bed, she really did not know if she would wake up the next day and that was a major concern of hers.
These are just three small examples of where we have used our faith; saw results based on our beliefs and maybe did not go back and really consider the fact that God had interacted with us. Our faith is powered by what we believe and once that is decided, then we take some action. This morning we will examine a story about a father who wanted his son healed at all costs. Turn to Mark the ninth chapter.
I. Some Beliefs
In the ninth chapter of the book of Mark there is a story of a man who came to Jesus for help for his son. His son was demon-possessed and there was nothing that he could do about it. Let’s pick up the story at the seventeenth verse. “Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast it out but they could not.’ He answered him and said, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.’ Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him and he fell on the ground and wallowed, forming at the mouth. So He asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:17-22)
In verses seventeen and eighteen the father of the demon-possessed boy came to Jesus. He described the terrible things the demonic spirit was making his son do. After he described what his son was experiencing he told Jesus that he had brought him to His disciples but they could not cast the demon out. When you examine this father’s faith, he did have some faith because he made the decision to bring his son to Jesus’ disciples for them to cast the demon out. He also believed something would happen if he took the action of bring his son to Jesus and His disciples. So here we have faith, some belief and some action but no result. The disciples could not cast the demon out. So let’s examine what the man did next. Instead of leaving, he by-passed the disciples and went directly to Jesus. He told Jesus what was happening with his son and that the disciples could not heal him. In verse nineteen Jesus expressed his frustration. What is unclear is whether Jesus was frustrated with the man; His own disciples or with the people in general. However, what is known is that He was frustrated with their lack of faith. Maybe this man did not really believe that Jesus’ disciples could heal his son; or maybe the disciples themselves did not believe that they could do it. Whatever the case, Jesus became frustrated. He asked the father to bring his son to him. When Jesus witnessed what was happening to the man’s son, he asked the father how long it had been happening. Once the father answered Jesus, notice what else he says in verse twenty-two: “……But IF You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” This statement tells us that the man still had some faith and a little belief. Having watched the disciples fail, he now wavered on whether or not Jesus could even help him. The “if” can have a couple of meaning. First it could mean the man questioned whether or not Jesus had the “power” to cast this demon out as His disciples had failed. It could also mean that the man knew Jesus had the power, but questioned whether or not Jesus had the desire. Based on Jesus’ response to the man, I believe it was the first, the man was asking Jesus if He had the power to do it.
We often come to Jesus in the same condition as this man. We have been praying, fasting and waiting. When all of our resources run out, we come to Jesus in a frustrated state and ask Him “If” He will help us. Unlike this man, we know that Jesus has the power to do it, but we wonder “if” He will do it. It is easier for us to believe that He will not do it so that we can be surprised when our prayers are answered. We are always prepared for disappointment so it is easier to walk through life with that expectation than for the opposite. For us, as with this man, the outcome is the same. Whenever we come to Jesus with an “If” mentality, we are basically telling Him that we do not have the belief within us to take a firm stance on the results. That firm stance cost something and many of us are not willing to make the sacrifice that is needed to take the firm stance. For example, after all was said and done the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the demon out. Jesus said that kind could only come out through fasting and prayer. He was saying that it was a spiritual battle. Through the commitment to the fasting and prayer the disciples would have had what they needed within to handle the situation. Remember, most of our battles are won or lost before the fight ever starts because it is being fought on the inside. If you are unsettled on the inside, in your spirit, the outside results are going to exemplify what has happened on the inside of you. But let me finish this story.
When the father asked Jesus to do something “if He could” Jesus turned the table on him and asked him a question. Look at verse twenty-three. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Faith is not enough; you must add some belief to your faith. Your faith is sealed by what you believe. Let me say it this way, when you believe something strongly you actions line up with that belief. Your faith is so focused, so razor sharp that it becomes unwavering. The only thing that can make our faith fully active spiritually is what we believe. Jesus did not say to this man, as He had said in other passages, about having faith, He asked the man if he could believe.” We sometimes confuse faith and beliefs. Remember this equation states “Faith + Some Belief = Some Results.” I think in all sincerity that when we really examine the Scriptures the equation should be: “Faith Powered By Belief = Results”. It does not matter what we are doing, we cannot remove what we believe from our faith – they are linked in such a way it is impossible to have faith without believing. So when we examine this man we find that first he must have heard something about Jesus and His disciples for him to make the decision to bring his son to them. Next he came to them expecting and believing something. He wanted something so he took action to get it. When the disciples failed, he did not let that stop him, he went to Jesus. When he had Jesus’ attention, Jesus asked him if he believed. Jesus told him that all things were possible to the one who believed. Jesus could have sensed some wavering in the man based on what he had experienced with Jesus’ disciples, but I also think that Jesus was sending a clear message to His disciples that they had to also work on what they believed also. Now here is the point of this story, look at what the man said to Jesus in verse twenty-four. “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” This father cried out that he believed that Jesus could heal his son but just in case he did not have enough belief, he asked Jesus to help him. The man had some belief, but he recognized that maybe it was not where it needed to be. He did not want his son to suffer because he did not have enough belief to power his faith.
I want to share this with you because I believe if we take the proper steps towards what we believe a lot of things we experience will handle themselves. If we change our beliefs, things that bother us today will not bother us tomorrow. Let me demonstrate quickly how important our beliefs are as it relates to why our faith fails. Remember, our faith will only be as strong as our belief. In Mark the sixth chapter (also Matthew chapter thirteen) there is a familiar story of Jesus visiting His home town. As He was teaching in their synagogue, many to the people heard Him and wondered where He had gotten this knowledge. They questioned who He was because they all knew Him. They knew Him as Joseph’s Son, not as some prophet. They could not believe that He was anything more than Joseph’s Son. Mark 6:5-6 records this: “Now He could do no mighty work there. Except that He laid hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief…….” Jesus had the power to raise the dead; heal the sick; cast out demons; walk on water; calm the storm; give sight to the blind and anything else that the people needed of Him. But in His hometown all He could do was heal a few sick folks. Nothing had changed about Jesus: it was the people and what they chose to believe. They did not believe that He was anyone special or could do anything special therefore He couldn’t. Did you get that? Because they did not believe; Jesus could not act.
Faith + Some Belief + Action = Some Results. When our faith is powered by some belief, we will experience some results but it may not be the results we are looking for. We hold and control the rope that binds or loosens Jesus’ hand spiritually. If I tie up His hands then He can do nothing. If I loosen His hands then He can do all things. What Jesus is able to do is totally dependent upon if I have tied His hands. The rope that binds is our unbelief. Unbelief ties Jesus’ hands because Jesus is not out to prove to us that He is, He wants us to accept that fact as fact. My unbelief in any area literally takes Jesus by the hands and wraps His hands so that He is unable to do anything about my situation. When I tie up Jesus’ hands with my unbelief He is not able to send forth the Holy Spirit to come to my rescue. I can confess that I have great faith, but if it is powered by unbelief, it will not get me anywhere. But when I change my unbelief to belief, then things start happening. I have loosed Jesus hands so that He may act on my behalf. I do not question His identity; His authority; His desires: His ability: or His love for me. I know all of this and believe it without wavering and now it does not matter what I walk through, I know that Jesus has my back. This is critical for us to understand. Because Jesus has our backs it does not mean that we will not experience bad times. It does not mean that we will not have some troubles, heartaches and pains. Actually it guarantees that we will because our enemy would love to use these things to make us stop believing in the goodness of Christ. But when you know that you know that you know that Christ has your back, there is nothing that you will go through that you will feel alone and forsaken. Yes there will be times when your heart will attempt to waver, but your spirit will kick in and your heart will be strengthened if you firmly believe what you should.
I started this message out by sharing with you that this week I will be flying out to visit my friend. I have been praying for him and will do so again when I am in his presence. I am believing God for his healing because that is the only way I know to believe. But some of you may be wondering what happens if he is not healed. Did I fail him? Did he fail himself because of his own lack of belief in healing? Would it be better for me just to go out there and say my final goodbyes and just wait until I see him again on the other side? All of these questions and even these concerns are valid. According to Scripture we all have a date with death. It may come through a sickness; an accident; or many other ways, but it will come. But just because we have a date with death does not mean that death is knocking at the door every time sickness invades our bodies. For this reason I will always, let me repeat that, always pray for healing and full recovery for anyone I pray for. I understand that I (as have you) have been given the power to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. But we are no more powerful than Jesus and our hands can be locked too. But our hands being locked by someone’s unbelief is not really the main problem – the main problem is that we do not act because of our own unbelief. Who am I to think that I can pray for someone and they will be healed? Who am I to think that I can come upon a demon-possessed person and cast it out? Who am I to think that I can heal a blind man when I am wearing glasses myself? Who am I to think that I am so worthy that God can use me to impact the life of someone else? How embarrassing it will be if I pray for someone and they do not get well; or worse, I pray for them and they die. What would people think of me if I proclaimed myself to be a healer and no one is ever healed? Have you ever had any of these thoughts when you read about what you should be able to do just because you are a Christian?
Our lives are much simpler when we can live without doing anything to bring attention upon ourselves. If I can go through life and help a few folks without ever having my faith come into question, then I can be considered a great Christian. I choose to live a life that is quiet and I will let those pastors and other ministers who have a calling on their life do all of that other stuff and then if it does not work, well it is on them. All I will tell you is this: what we believe will come out in our faith and in our actions. The fact that we are not taking any action to pray for the sick and believe for them to be healed is evidence enough about what we really believe as Christians. The fact that we depend upon others to do anything pertaining to walking in real faith is evident of what we believe. The fact that we think we are not worthy to do anything more than what we are doing is evident of what we believe. The fact that we are tired or people trying to get us to do more and being offended when people ask us to do something other than what we want to do is evident of what we believe.
If you get nothing else from this message understand that the core of who you are as a Christian is dependent solely upon what you believe. If you do not believe something there is nothing that Jesus, The Holy Spirit or God can do about it. Think about it – your results rests in your hands. Unbind Christ so that He can truly work in your life.
Next week I will conclude this series by focusing on the last faith equation. May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
P.S. For those of you reading this, please add Michael to your prayer list and when you pray, believe God for his complete recovery. Thanks for your prayers.
