Devotionals for the Heart: God can help you believe in Him if you ask

Asking God to Help My Unbelief
A devotional by Aubrey Taylor

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”—Mark 9:23-24 (NKJV)

Lately, the Lord has been asking me the question, “Do you believe?”

Repeatedly, I find myself answering, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

This situation makes me think deeply about what we want out of our life. And it makes me wonder, “Why are so many of us hesitant to ask or believe God for great things?” Though we read of miracles throughout the Bible and hear of modern miracles such as the “unexplained” disappearances of cancer cells in a person’s body, it is so easy to act as though those things were for other times or other people. We would never deny that it is within God’s power to do them, yet we are reluctant to ask for these miracles. Or if we do ask, we do so with lingering doubt.

Let me say that it is important to recognize that God’s answers to our prayers may not look like we expect or want them to. However, we have to check our heart when we pray. For example: When I pray for someone’s healing, why do I feel the need to tack on, “God, even if Your ultimate healing is to bring that person home to be with you.” Am I genuinely relying on God’s sovereign plan or am I safeguarding myself because I already believe that what I’m asking for isn’t going to happen?

Even as I write this devotional, I have to let that thought sink in. For many years, I have unwittingly fostered the attitude that what I am asking God for probably isn’t going to happen. Even when He has given me a specific promise, I tend to treat it with an “If God blesses me with this” mindset, rather than a “When God fulfills His promise” mindset.

Recently, I have been convicted about that, and I have started to open up to God about it. My fear of Him not coming through, coupled with the tendency in many churches to brush these things aside, left me feeling alone and sitting on this promise in silence instead of pursuing it prayerfully with trusted friends. I was even discouraged from talking to my husband about it.

Where does this fear of believing come from? God spoke to people many times in the Bible. He made promises and fulfilled them just as He said He would. Battles were won, miraculous provisions were made, people were healed or even brought back from the dead. Who are we to think that the God who did those things thousands of years ago doesn’t work the same way today? Has He changed?

Malachi 3:6 says that God never changes! Hebrews 13:8 (ESV) says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Numbers 23:19 (ESV) says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

I know how it feels to think, “Maybe I heard God wrong.” For those like me who are a little thick-headed or slow to hear, God is patient. Sometimes, He confirms things over and over until we get it. I really don’t believe that it is wrong to ask for confirmation either, especially if it is a matter of importance. God already knows that sometimes we lack faith, so it is better to be honest with Him about it than refuse to keep an open line of communication with our Father in Heaven.

It’s time to grab hold of God’s promises! I’m not saying to, “Name it and claim it.” I’m saying, “Take God at His word.” Maybe it simply means speaking honestly about what God has told you, or maybe it means acting on those things.

Remember: God can give us the faith we need to please Him and move mountains. All we need to do is ask Him, believe in Him and put our faith into action.

Let’s Pray: Dear Lord Jesus, please forgive me for any areas in which I have allowed unbelief to prevent me from walking in Your promises. Even if they remain unfulfilled, help me to begin to walk as though they are assured because in You, they are. If I need to share my prayer requests with trusted friends who genuinely believe in You, help me to tell them how they can support me in prayer. If there are actions I need to take, empower me to do those things. May You be glorified as I take increasing steps of faith. In Jesus’s Name, I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “What Faith Can Do” by Kutless. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

The only child of a single parent, Aubrey Taylor filled her younger years by creating characters and writing stories. This ended around age sixteen when music, friends and part-time jobs began to fill her time. After that came college, work, marriage, and children. 

It wasn’t until the world was beginning to come out of the COVID pandemic that God led her back to her love for writing, coupled with a passion she’d always had for history. It was time to start a new adventure!

Along with writing devotionals, Aubrey is the author of the German-perspective 20th Century Fiction series, Gott Mit Uns. She lives in Upstate New York with her husband and three children. When she’s not writing or taking care of her home and family, she enjoys singing and dancing with friends from a German choir and a Bavarian folk dancing group. She is also a lover of Jesus Christ, The Holy Bible, history, German culture, tea, and cats!

~*~
Connect with Aubrey:
Website: https://www.aubreytaylorbooks.com
Blog: https://www.aubreytaylorbooks.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aubreytaylorbooks/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aubtaybooks8
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aubreytaylorbooks/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21846520.Aubrey_Taylor
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/aubrey-taylor
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Aubrey-Taylor/author/B0973KWXV8