Help Me Overcome My Unbelief!

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24b, NIV).

“I believe, Lord, but help me overcome what I can't believe you can handle. Help me to believe you will take care of everything. Help me to trust you more!” This is the cry of my heart. It reveals areas where I lack faith, but it also reveals how my faith has grown. “I believe” reveals my faith at this point in my life. “Help me overcome my unbelief” reveals my hunger for greater faith. Think about it. As I grow closer to Him, I know Him more, and understand what His power means in my life. But at the same time I am more conscious that I fall short of complete trust in Him. This is the soul's growth. There is increased ability to believe, and then comes an obstacle that brings a plea for greater faith. This plea is a cry to overcome my unbelief. It is a cry for me to let go of everything that hinders my ability to believe, and have complete trust in Him that the obstacle will be overcome.

When my heart cries out for Him to help my unbelief, He hears my cry, and answers my prayer with more faith. He also reveals where I still fall short in trusting Him. With that awareness and my surrender, He imparts the power to walk the path that leads, step by step, upwards and closer to Him. It is a journey where one moment I believe His truth absolutely, and then in the next moment I am faced with another obstacle to my faith. That obstacle spurs me onward again with a cry for more faith, and inspires me to surrender what I cannot overcome. He answers my cry and my surrender once more with greater faith.

A life of faith moves upward one step at a time‒over each obstacle and each barrier. When facing each obstacle I continually surrender each problem with faith that He will take care of it. Each day I press on to discover His prize in the midst of each storm. His prize is the peace that passes all understanding. His prize is His power for each additional obstacle to come. His prize is His presence that never leaves or forsakes me. In this journey of life I find that my surrender of each obstacle to Him conquers my unbelief, and He rewards me with greater faith to believe He will not fail me.

Lord, you meet me in each moment that I need to believe for your best. In these moments you always create in me a hunger to trust you more. You meet each need with more faith as I surrender what I cannot handle to your faithful care. I trust you to continue to give me the faith I need for this journey. One day I will know without a doubt that my journey of faith has been worth each obstacle along the way. In each surrender I will have learned greater faith to overcome my unbelief. I will know your unchanging faithfulness, and I will believe.