Mark 9:22-24, "And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

This morning, many folks fall into unbelieving states to varying degrees. In fact, all of us do this from time to time in different ways. Many times people tell me, "If I was there, I wouldn't have doubted." Perhaps many of them are sincere in this belief, but I know that I would have doubted right along with the disciples and everyone else. When reading, I find myself quite frequently in the person of Peter. He was blessed above measure, and he still had to be dealt with by the Lord on numerous occasions for his unbelieving state. How many times in my life has the Lord blessed me to walk on water above the cares and tempestuous things of life? Then, how many times have I still looked upon them with fear and discouragement? We are in constant need of instruction and care by our Lord.

Here is a situation where a man brings his child to Jesus. The father beseeches Christ to cast the devil out of his son, but the Lord does not do it immediately. In times past, I used to wonder why the Lord waited before performing the miracle, but it seems that He straightened out the father before dealing with the child. The father is in a great state of unbelief by the language that he uses.  Notice that he doubts whether the Lord is capable of doing this. He says, "If thou canst...” when he should have declared, "If thou wilt...” Our Lord is capable of doing more than we can ask or think. He is capable of doing things with or without our knowledge. He is capable of whatsoever He pleases.