We all believe; it is trust that we find challenging.
Doing is natural to us; depending on someone else is exceptional.
Answering comes easily to us; asking is more awkward.
Some life situations are unchangeable unless we trust someone who is trustworthy and can do more than we can and do it more effectively.

Those are some of the thoughts I have today as I reflect on something that I read. I preach at Richmond Chinese Evangelical Free Church this morning at the English service. Yes, occasionally I have an opportunity to do this once again. I thought that sharing some of the lessons God has been teaching me might be helpful to you too. I am preaching from mark 9:14-29 on the theme, “I believe, help my unbelief” which as you can remember is a prayer uttered excitedly and urgently by a father who was convinced that his son was infected with an evil spirit that caused the boy to be self-destructive, uncontrollable, irrational and non-communicative. The Canadian Olympic theme song refrain says, “I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one. I believe together we’ll fly. I believe in the power of you and I.” It’s an enjoyable song of solidarity but the power of you and I falls short when addressing the profound issues of life. While Jesus took three disciples, Peter, James and John to a mountain where Jesus was transfigured, the remaining nine disciples were challenged to cast out this evil spirit when the father brought his son for deliverance. The power of them blew it. They couldn’t fix the boy and the father was very disappointed. When Jesus returned, he reproved everyone’s unbelief but his prescriptive remark was, “all things are possible to one who believes.” That’s when the father prayed this prayer, “I believe, help my unbelief.” When later the disciples asked Jesus why they had not been able to deliver the child, he told them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” This is a transferable lesson to the many life situations which are beyond our ability to change or remedy or fix but All Things are Possible to One who Believes and Some Of These Situations Can Only Be Changed By Prayer.