The Demon of Doubt

By Phil Wood

Scripture: Mark 9:14-29, Matthew 17:14-20

I have a friend who asks hard questions. "How can I give myself," he asks, "how can I surrender myself to Jesus when I can't see him and I can't hear him?"

I think my friend is a believer and what I think he's saying when he asks these questions is, "Help my unbelief!"

When Jesus heard a man express this prayer, "Help my unbelief," he ordered an evil spirit to come out of the man's son, and with a shriek it did. That man saw Jesus in the flesh. He experienced the healing of his son before his very eyes. He witnessed the end of a problem that had been tearing him apart for years. I'm going to surmise the man went home that day no longer struggling with unbelief.

But what about my friend?

Later, the disciples asked Jesus, "Why couldn't we drive the demon out? In Mark's version of the story, Jesus answered simply, "This kind can come out only by prayer." In Matthew's version of the story, Jesus' answer was a bit different. "Because you have so little faith," he said.

The man whose son was healed had also demonstrated a lack of faith saying, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." When Jesus called him out on that lack of faith, the man (unlike the disciples) immediately recognized how small his faith was, and prayed for help: "I do believe; help my unbelief!"

Jesus answered that prayer immediately. In an instant, he not only healed the boy, he healed the father. 

I know my friend has to pray this prayer for himself, and I hope he does, over and over. In the meantime, I'm praying it for him, and for myself, and for all who are occasionally possessed by demons of doubt:

Lord, help our unbelief! Help us recognize when our faith is shallow and to pray for help immediately. Cast out the demon of doubt. Give us eyes to see, and ears to hear your amazing response. Amen.

P.S. Isn't it great to know you're praying for something that you know for sure is in the Father's will?