Dear Friends,
This week one woman prayed with me according to the pattern of Luke 18:13 & Romans 10:9.
I received this email from a middle-aged woman in the UK, call her Stacy:
Subject: Resurrection
Hi
I have so many doubts about the above please can you help..
We met and I took her through the gospel message, to which she readily submitted. I explained the issue of doubts something like this:
Nobody can have 100% assurance of anything in this life. This might all be a computer simulation and we do not even really exist except as a few electrons in transistors and we are all avatars. The chances of that are small, but since it is non-zero, we cannot have 100% assurance of anything. Consider this passage:
Read Mark 9:14-27.
14 When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” 26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.
The man spoke honestly, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” What was his percentage of belief? The disciples, just moments before, were unable to heal his son. So how much faith did he have that Jesus could heal his son? Especially in light of his statement, “If you can…” Was his faith level 50%? 25%? Whatever it was, it was sufficient for Jesus to immediately heal the boy. Jesus did not say, “Go, and come back when you have 100% assurance, and then I will heal your son.” Whatever percentage of belief that the man had, it was sufficient for the healing. But after the healing, the man’s faith likely grew enormously, and he believed with a higher percentage that Jesus is able to heal.
So, too, you pray those same words, Lord, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” And then act upon that measure of faith as you proclaim the resurrection as in Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Often when I am introducing people to the resurrection, I use this passage in Mark 9, and we pray the words, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.” And then as soon as they proclaim repentance for their sins, Jesus’ Lordship, and the resurrection of Jesus, peace settles upon them—even visibly at times. As it settled upon Stacy. She thanked me repeatedly.
With us on the Zoom call was Alexandra Grieme, so Stacy is now in Alexandra’s care for the 13-weeks of Bible study in “Growing in Christ”. Stacy is also in daily reading of the scriptures.
After our meeting, I received an email from Stacy:
Thank you so much ..honestly, I really appreciate this and I will also remember, “work with the faith that you have.” It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I do have faith! …So glad we met up…im so grateful
Lord, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24
God bless,
Jim Tour
