Heal My Unbelief | The Healer Week 3 | Pastor Candace Cortez

Heal My Unbelief | The Healer Week 3 | Pastor Candace Cortez

Mark 9:17-27: A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

A true believer joins the company of saints in living a life of believing in the invisible, the unexplainable and doing the impossible.

Romans 4:18-24: Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Believe Definition:

Greek (pisteuo): to be persuaded into a place of conviction, confidence, firm belief, firm hold.

The Greek adjective pistos is used to describe the act of believing and trusting, moving from the passive knowledge of belief to the action of believing.

We are all on a Journey of being persuaded by Christ, from mere belief to being fully convinced.

Journey of Persuasion Graphic (PDF)

“God is too kind to do anything cruel, Too wise to make a mistake, Too deep to explain Himself.”

Levels of Unbelief

A. Unbelieving Sinners

B. Unbelieving Believers Level of Unbelief

1. Mental Unbelief – wavering doubt influenced by the outward circumstances, relying on feelings, emotions, moods, what we can see and understand.

2. Emotional Unbelief – religious mental rejection of things not seen, understood or experienced, a habit of negative response, a knowledge of faith only.

3. Hardened Unbelief – processed, deep-seated unbelief that has experienced failures and disappointments with a wrong response to God, allowing doubt, questioning, blaming and ultimately rejecting God.

The Process of Cultivating A Believing Heart

Spirit: Faith is an attribute of the Holy Spirit and therefore must be birthed into the believer by a spiritual process and spiritual connection.

Mind: Faith is nurtured by the proper functioning of the mind. The spirit of faith is assimilated into the mind and merged with the word of God resides in the mind, creating a chemistry of growing faith.

Will: Faith is transformed into action through the will. Our will is the discipline part of faith, our ability to continue forward in spite of opposition.

Emotions: Faith is felt and expressed through a variety of our emotions but is not sustained by emotions.