A demon has possessed your young son, tearing and torturing him so that he is, at times, throwing himself into fires; at other times, he is throwing himself on the ground and wallowing in his own spittle.
What is your greatest need?
Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? You need deliverance and healing of your son.
It wasn’t so obvious to Jesus.
When he saw a man with such a son, He saw that the man’s greatest need was faith (Mark 9:17-25). Sure, He went on to deal with the needs of his son, but only secondarily. First of all, He addressed the man’s need of faith.
No matter how great our needs are in any situation, our greatest need is always faith.
Jesus’s challenge to the man to believe resulted in the cry that still resonates in every honest person’s heart: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” We are all, Christians and non-Christians, a mixture of belief and unbelief, of faith and doubt. We believe and we don’t believe. Why not then take up this cry in your heart and on your lips.
If you’re a God believer who believes in God but doesn’t believe in Jesus, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a head believer who believes with your head but not your heart, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you have a historical faith but not an influential faith, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a word-only believer, believing with your lips but not with your life, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you believe in salvation by grace but not in salvation by grace alone, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a majority believer, believing most of the Bible but not all of it, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a mere Bible-believer, believing in the written Word but not in the living Word, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a general believer, believing that Christ is the Savior but not that He is your personal Savior, cry “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re an easy believer, believing in Christ as Savior but not as Lord, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a slow believer, believing that salvation is vital but not that it’s urgent, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a just-enough believer, believing just enough to satisfy your conscience, or your parents, or your church, but not enough to satisfy God, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a Church-believer, believing enough to come to Church but not enough to come to Christ, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a secret believer, believing in private but not enough to go public, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a declining believer, believing the truth today but not as much as you did yesterday or many yesterdays ago, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you’re a doubting believer, doubting Christ’s power or willingness to save, cry ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Whatever mixture of faith and doubt, belief and unbelief, presently swirls in your life, do what this man did. Confess your unbelief, weep over your doubts, and take them to Jesus for pardon, removal, and replacement with faith.
That’s our greatest need and He can supply that greatest of needs.