"When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him … 'Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him … 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.' 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 … The boy’s father said, '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 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 … Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up … Afterwards … his disciples asked him, 'Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?' Jesus replied, 'This kind can be cast out only by prayer'" (Mk 9:14-29).

We can all understand Jesus' frustration when he said, "You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you?" How often we lack faith! How often our faith is weak! And we can also identify with this dear father's instant reply to the words of Jesus, "Anything is possible if a person believes" when he said, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" The wonder is that somehow Jesus managed to do just that. He clearly felt deep compassion for the boy's suffering and for the father's own anguish.

Willian L Lane paraphrases Jesus' words: "As regards your remark about my ability to help your son, I tell you everything depends upon your ability to believe, not on mine to act." The father humbly identifies himself with "you faithless people" and trembles at the radical faith being asked of him. He is desperate to see his son healed and cries out to Jesus to strengthen his faith. Lane writes: "The exchange between Jesus and the father established the personal relationship necessary for the accomplishment of the deliverance." I find that so encouraging. When we recognize our faith is weak our prayer to Jesus "Help me overcome my unbelief" will be answered because it comes out of our relationship with him. Because he loves us so, he will always be there to help us overcome any doubts and fears.