Help My Unbelief
The prayer I'm praying in this season
I’ve never been one to have a “verse of the year” or “word of the year,” but occasionally a Bible phrase or a hymn lyric seems to rise off the pages and become a recurring theme in the moment.
For most of this year, the words of Psalm 90:1 have been at the forefront of my mind: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” A few translations render this word, “refuge,” but I prefer the word “dwelling place.”
Our family is currently in the midst of a season of growth and transition. I have a daughter in college, a son about to graduate and go off to college (and thus all the requisite decision-making and anticipation that comes with this), a daughter about to start driving, and another one who will be driving within a year. This is a fun season but one where parents like us are constantly wondering and worrying about the future: college, scholarships, weddings perhaps/hopefully, etc. We believe we’ve done our best to raise our children in the Lord. We want them to launch well into adulthood. Yet there is so much uncertainty, so much out of our control.
I’m not a worrier by nature, but I worry in this season. Occasionally, I’m awakened at night with concerns about my kids. And yet I’m constantly comforted by the fact that God is our dwelling place in all generations. He’s the constant when things change, facts change, finances change, circumstances change. God goes ahead of us in the future seasons. He’s there preparing the way. He’s here now, preparing us.
Lately, another small phrase from Scripture has encouraged me. It’s the simple phrase from Mark 9. A desperate father meets Jesus. He is in a desperate situation with his son. He’s tried everything, including traveling to meet Jesus’ disciples, who, fresh off the Transfiguration, cannot do anything to help his son. The Scripture doesn’t tell us this, but I can imagine how many religious leaders, medical experts, and specialists he’s seen, all leaving him at the end, shaking their heads and offering no relief.
So this desperate dad manages to get Jesus’ attention in a crowd. He asks him to heal his son. He’s got nothing left. “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us (Mark 9:23).” Jesus responds, “‘If you can?’ Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
To which the father says, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” I love that. This is the essence of faith. We know God can do the impossible. We know the Father will care for us and bring us home. Yet, in the midst of the complexities of life, when things are difficult or confusing or uncertain, we find it hard to believe.
We know God loves our children more than we do. We know his desires for them are bigger than ours. We know his glory and our good are aligned. And yet we just cannot sometimes see past what is in front of us.
We know God loves us more than we can imagine. We know we have salvation in Christ and a future in Heaven. We know God can answer. We’ve seen God answer before. But at the moment that medical diagnosis arrives, at the moment that prodigal hasn’t yet returned, at the moment that job offer doesn’t materialize, we tremble. Of course, God can do anything. But will God do that one thing in my life? We wonder. It’s a good prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
It humbles us and reminds us that we even need help in asking for help. God is so gracious, he not only meets us in our weak faith but helps us have stronger faith.
Chris Tomlin recently wrote a song about this passage in Mark:
I believe, God, help my unbelief, God
I’m down on my knees, God
Free my soul and break this heart of stone
Oh, I believe, God, help my unbelief, God
When my eyes can’t see, God
Light my way, give me the faith to say, “I believe”
So, a line for me right now is, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
A few new notes:
I wrote about the stolen Ukrainian children in Russia and the First Lady’s advocacy.
I did an interview with the “Faithful Politics” podcast on my new book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism.
I also did a long interview on the Let Us Reason podcast on patriotism and nationalism.
I’ll be doing a Q and A this Thursday with pastors at Christ Fellowship Church in Mansfield, TX with The Center for Religion, Christianity, and Democracy.