LORD, Please help my Unbelief!
Unbelief is a major stronghold in many believers’ lives. It is simply making a conscious decision not to believe what is true. It is disobedience to the Word of God. The Word of God in Romans 15:13 says that those who believe are filled with all joy and peace in believing. This scripture is a good place to start examining our heart to see if it is flooded with joy and peace. Mine is certainly far from it. If the evidence of a believing heart is joy and peace, where is mine? It makes me wonder if I really believed. Please know that I believe in God with all my heart and mind. I believe in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I believe in my Lord and Savior who died for me and reconciled me to the Father and baptized me with the Holy Spirit. So then, why am I lacking joy and peace? Why am I always in need, lack, depressed and insecure? This has caused confusion in my heart. The more I contemplated Rom. 15:3, the more I became anxious to find the truth. In James 2:19 the Amplified Bible says, “You believe that God is one; you do well to believe that. The demons also believe that and shudder and bristle in awe-filled terror-they have seen His wrath. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish (spiritually shallow) person, that faith without good works is useless?” This means that my knowledge of God is just on the surface. It is accepting the fact that He is God. That means I know God as I know World history. I have knowledge of the cold war, slavery, colonialism, etc. But I don’t have the same knowledge as my mother did who fought in the Italian war in Ethiopia. She spoke about it with passion because she had firsthand experience. I, on the other hand, can only speak about it from head knowledge with no attachment at all. So is my knowledge of the Lord.
Most Christians read the Bible, go to church, and hear a Holy Spirit sermon from the Pastor who received it firsthand. The pastor teaches from revelation knowledge given to him by God. This revelation knowledge comes from the pastor surrendering to the Holy Spirit by sitting under His feet and cultivating a relationship with Him. Yet we choose to depend on the pastor’s knowledge of God and not seek Him for ourselves. We lack an intimate knowledge of Him that will make us believe His living Word at face value. Sitting under the feet of Jesus will allow us an opportunity to search our heart and see things that are contrary to the Word of God. For instance, consciously we believe that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus. However, in our heart we are focused on the symptoms. Our mind is constantly meditating on how we are feeling, what the doctor said or what we have read online. This causes us to doubt the Word which is not seen or felt. Our symptoms present real evidence that we can feel. The doctor’s report validates what we feel. The pain is real and keeps pulling us to doubt the Word of God. If we keep struggling with truth, we will become double minded Christians. James 1:7 says, not to expect to receive from the Lord (paraphrased). How can God’s healing power manifest in us when we doubt Him? How can any of our prayers be answered if we are not believing?
Unbelief is the opposite of faith in God and His Word. Unbelief comes from a hardness of heart. It is sin, a major stronghold that keeps people out of the promised land. The King James Version Dictionary definition AV 1611 defines the word UNBELIEF in four parts. Incredulity; the withholding of belief; as, unbelief is blind Infidelity; disbelief of divine revelation.
Disbelief of the truth of the Gospel, rejection of Christ as the Savior of men, and of the doctrines He thought. Distrust of God’s promises and faithfulness.
Weak faith God wants us to trust His word, be dictated by His Word, obey His Word, and be directed by His word. God’s desire is for us to trust Him and His Word, to believe the truth written in His Word. God’s Word is true. When we become disobedient to His will, unbelief settles in our heart and bruises our mind. Unbelief is an issue of the heart that is callous and doesn’t accept the truth. An unbelieving heart does not easily surrender to the Lord. An unbelieving heart always calculates, manipulates, and does what it thinks is right. It is filled with pride and thinks only of self. It always wants to sit above God’s throne and be the head of its own life. When we distrust His Word, His promises we are being ruled by a spirit of unbelief. The spirit of unbelief is a controlling spirit that says, “I don’t believe, I already know the answer, I know the way, or I know better.” The Word of God in Hebrews 3:12 advises us, “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God.”
Unbelief is fear, while faith is to totally trust and depend on God. Unbelief will say to our heart, “what if…” and doubt kicks in, and says, “yea, suppose it doesn’t happen;” then fear steps in and says, “What do I do?” The statement, “what if…” is the foundation for doubt and unbelief. There was a point in my life when I walked in unbelief. Unbelief gripped me for years, until one day, by God’s saving grace, I came across a scripture that set me free. Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” was my answer to victory. It was God challenging me to make up my mind to trust Him so that I can please Him.
In the beginning of my ministry, I found it very difficult to let go of my former advertising business and experiences. The world told me that I was strong willed, go getter. I believed it. I had trained myself to think in a way that everything must add up for me to take action. Therefore, I worked hard to make everything line up or add up perfectly so that I can win. If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t believe it. I tried to implement all that I knew from my advertising life into my ministry and found out that it all contradicts the Word of God. Since I was a new Christian, all I knew was what people told me to do. They would say, “confess the Word and everything will be fine”. It took me several years to recognize that there was more than confessing the Word. I needed to look deeper into the issues in my heart. I had given permission for unbelief to rule over my heart. There is a great part of me that believed in God’s Word, and I confessed it, but yet, still unbelief would always popped up to contaminate the truth. Fear, doubt, worry, guilt, and insecurity played a great deal in my life to hold me back, and to try and keep me from success. These roadblocks kept making me doubt and detour from my journey. I struggled to make decisions and to go forward. I have seen unbelief take total control of me. I knew that I needed serious deliverance. I became desperate to know Him, and to see the manifestation of His Word. I pushed for a supernatural manifestation to set me free. One thing that was always clear in my mind is that I loved God and wanted to please Him. I just didn’t know that I was a slave to unbelief. Hebrews 11:6 opened my eyes to know the truth and the truth set me free ((John 8:32). The road I traveled to get to where I am today was very painful. I had to take the Word face value. I needed to let go of all that I had been holding onto. No more do I do things in my own strength; No more calculating; no more doubting.
When we are in situations where we feel that our prayers are not being answered, and have waited for long periods of time for the manifestation of God’s word, what do you do? The healing didn’t manifest, your relationships are not mended, your business is failing, and you cannot see the miraculous power of God in your life, what do you do? You have prayed, fasted, given to the poor, yet none of these things seems to help. “Why hasn’t it manifested? All these questions are like the saying, “All roads lead to Rome.” So, now what; well, now it’s time for a true wholehearted heart search – what is in your heart? What are you meditating on? Whose voice are you listening to? Let’s look at truth, found in Jesus’s own words, “Because of your unbelief”. Matthew 17:20. Let truth set you free, Jesus’ truth, John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” When unbelief comes and tries to control your thoughts, focus on who He is. He is the Creator, owner, possessor for the whole Universe. He is love, compassionate, and faithful. He is mighty in power, Alpha and Omega – the Beginning and the End. El Elion the Most High God. The High and lofty God. There is nothing too hard, too difficult for Him. Trust that He has your best interest at heart. Walk by faith and please Him. To Jesus belongs all the Glory, Honor and Praise.
