Faithless or Faithful? Anything is Possible if You Believe.

Help us to have the faith of a child.
And to pray.
For I can do everything through Christ,
who gives me strength. 

When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. "What is all this arguing about?" Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, "Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it." Jesus said to them, "You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. "How long has this been happening?" Jesus asked the boy's father. He replied, "Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can." "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. "Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak," he said. "I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!" Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, "Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit?" Jesus replied, "This kind can be cast out only by prayer." Mark 9:14-29  (Underlined for emphasis.) 

At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, "Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him." Jesus said, "You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well. Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, "Why couldn't we cast out that demon?" "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew 17:14-20  (Some manuscripts add verse 21, But this kind of demon won’t leave except by prayer and fasting. Compare Mark 9:29)

 

The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn't do it." Jesus said, "You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?" Then he said to the man, "Bring your son here." As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father. Luke 9:37-42

 

Meditate. Consider another healing and the power of faith.

 

Jesus, along with His disciples Peter, James, and John, had just had a truly marvelous mountain top experience. Jesus had gone through a transformation, glowing with spiritual enlightenment and fulfillment. They had heard God speak from a cloud saying, “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Then they came down from the mountain to be confronted by this man and his demon-possessed son, whom the other disciples could not help. They tried to cast out the demon—but they couldn’t do it. Jesus rescues the boy and restores his health. We assume that the kid could speak after that.

The father asked Jesus to help him, if He could. IF! Jesus pronounced…Anything is possible if a person believes. Ultimately, the dad asked Jesus to help his unbelief. We all need that—help with our unbelief. More faith. We don’t read that Jesus prayed…just that He states that casting out demons requires prayer…and some translations add fasting. Fasting. Does that indicate that if we give up food, we are closer to God? He hears our prayers…always. Fasting may just help us focus on putting Jesus first in our lives—seeking Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength in the spirit—not the desires of our heart or stomach! I think that by bringing this to our attention, Jesus is challenging us to focus on Him, to trust Him, to believe and obey. Can you do that? I don’t want Jesus to see me as a faithless and corrupt person. Yet for me…it is not by my strength, but by the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Like that father…help my unbelief.

            There is so much to understand and believe about Jesus from these scripture passages today. What is your take away?

 

Prayer – Lord Jesus, help my unbelief.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ As for us, we can't help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13

 

© 2026 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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