Prayerful Dependence on God: Faith’s Remedy for Unbelief

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’”
Luke 17:5

“Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.’”
Mark 9:24

Do you draw near to God in prayer, asking for the Spirit’s guidance as you seek to know and understand the promises of grace and mercy that are ours in and through Christ, as they are revealed in Scripture? Do you ask Him not only to teach you, but also to prepare and strengthen you to walk according to what He has taught?

Prayer is not merely one Christian duty among many. It is the practical confession that we do not possess within ourselves the wisdom, strength, faith, or grace necessary for the Christian life. We must seek and receive what we need from God through Christ, by the help of the Holy Spirit. Yet a lack of prayer rarely stands alone. Distrust sustains opposition to the practice of prayer, whereas neglecting prayer permits the persistence of unbelief unchallenged. Each gives room for the other, and spiritual growth is greatly hindered, leaving us in the dark concerning areas in need of growth.

When Unbelief Hinders Prayer

Unbelief, being a grievous sin for those, is often accompanied by fear or pride, hinders our willingness to acknowledge where our understanding is lacking, and restrains us from praying for the daily provisions of grace and mercy we require. When the ignorance in question results from culpable neglect rather than solely from our creaturely limitations, unbelief is fundamentally involved. It is important to note what is not being referred to here: not the spiritual blindness inherent in all individuals who remain dead in Adam, but rather that ignorance which can persist within the believer, a consequence of a weakened faith that refuses the light provided by God or a neglect of the means appointed for our spiritual growth.

If we persistently refuse to acknowledge what we lack, we will not earnestly seek from God what we truly need. As a result, we may remain ignorant concerning God’s will, the condition of our own hearts, and our true spiritual necessities. Pride feeds this ignorance by persuading us that no further growth is needed—thinking we have arrived—while fear simultaneously feeds it by making us unwilling to acknowledge an area of weakness because we know that an informed conscience may require some action to be taken. Self-reliance then tells us that we can manage without bringing the matter honestly before God. I believe that by being honest about this, one can quickly see the downward spiral that this spiritual battle leads to.

Prayer is therefore greatly hindered by culpable ignorance, fear, self-reliance, and pride. Moreover, true religion and the pursuit of holiness are hindered, while whatever religious practice remains may gradually be reduced to mere formalism, one of the characteristic errors of Pharisaism: mere externalism. The outward form seems to be maintained as one puts on a great show of religion through familiar lingo and practices, yet conscious dependence upon God slowly withers within while one becomes a shell of themselves.

The maxim, perhaps you’ve heard it before, “Fake it until you make it,” has no place in the life of a true and sincere faith, for that worldly way of thinking seeks to preserve the appearance of faith while refusing honest confession before God. Sadly, and most to be feared, a false profession of faith may eventually be exposed by a stubborn and unyielding heart that has been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The wilderness generation therefore provides a sobering and profitable lesson for our instruction, warning us against the sin of unbelief. The apostle warns the church:

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”
Hebrews 3:12

Yet the presence of a struggle with unbelief is not, by itself, proof of a false profession. The important question is what we do with that unbelief: are we encouraged by the grace of God to persevere in the faith, as the apostle’s jarring warning is meant to be received? A hardened heart excuses it, makes peace with it, or refuses to bring it to God. Living faith acknowledges it, flees to Christ, and cries out for help. The father in Mark 9 did not conceal the conflict within him. He carried it directly to the only One who could supply his need: “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

John Owen, in his discussion of the Holy Spirit’s indispensable work in enabling believers to pray aright, rightly emphasizes our need for the Spirit’s grace and mercy; he says:

“I cannot think that they ever pray aright who never pray for the pardon of unbelief, for the removal of it, and for the increase of faith. If unbelief be the greatest of sins, and if faith be the greatest of the gifts of God, we are not Christians if these things are not one principal part of the matter of our prayers.”¹

Owen’s point makes the relationship plain. Unbelief draws us away from prayer, although prayer in the Spirit is one of the appointed means by which remaining unbelief is exposed, confessed, forsaken, and overcome through a strengthened faith because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the source of our faith.

This ought to lead us to serious self-examination, because recognizing our ignorance is not the enemy of faith, but is often necessary to its conscious exercise. Sincere faith does not require us to pretend that we possess wisdom, strength, or understanding that we do not truly have. Rather, faith acknowledges our insufficiency and directs us away from ourselves in submission to the one true and living God, who faithfully supplies His people through Christ.

Pride says, in effect, “I know enough; I see clearly; I have no need to ask.” Unbelief may recognize a need and yet refuse to seek God for its supply. However, living faith confesses, “I lack; therefore, I will ask of God.”

The humble believer therefore need not be ashamed to confess ignorance, personal weakness, deficient understanding, or even faltering faith, because he knows where the remedy is to be found. Such confession is not an excuse to remain as we are. We confess our need so that we may seek grace to act upon what God teaches us and pursue godliness for His glory. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5). Likewise, the cry, “I do believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24), is itself an expression of faith, because it carries an acknowledged deficiency directly to Christ.

We should therefore ask whether our lack of prayer sometimes arises, not merely from distraction or busyness, but from an unwillingness to admit how much we truly need. We must humble ourselves, as the apostles did, and ask the Lord to increase our faith.

We ought to ask ourselves: Do I seek wisdom because I know that I lack it? Do I ask the Lord to expose the ignorance, pride, fear, and unbelief that remains within me, or do I quietly assume that my present understanding is sufficient? Do I pray merely from habit, or because I consciously recognize that all the good I possess, including growth in holiness, a clearer apprehension of truth, and the strengthening of faith, comes from God through Christ Jesus and is supplied by the Spirit?

Discerning the Spirit’s Testimony, the Conscience, and the Accuser

As we ask God to expose what remains within us, another important question arises: How should a Christian discern what is taking place inwardly? Not every inward impression is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, not every troubled feeling is an infallible judgment of conscience, and not every accusing thought can be confidently attributed to a direct assault of the devil. We should not attempt to distinguish these merely by how an impression feels. The Spirit’s conviction can be piercing, while satanic accusation can borrow religious language in a troubled conscience to wreak havoc; thus, every claim must be tested by the word of God.

The Holy Spirit is not merely one inward voice among several competing voices. He is God, and He always works in perfect agreement with the word He inspired. His internal testimony does not supply new doctrine, add another rule of faith alongside Scripture, or permit belief in what contradicts God’s revealed will. Rather, He illumines the understanding, applies the truth and promises of Scripture to the heart, produces the graces that accompany salvation, and “testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).

That testimony cannot be separated from Christ or from the gospel of adoption. The Spirit does not lead us back into a spirit of slavery and fear, but teaches the children of God to cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). He directs us away from any imagined worthiness in ourselves and toward the blood and righteousness of Christ, in whom all the promises of God are “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thus, biblical assurance rests objectively upon Christ and His finished work as revealed in the gospel, while it is confirmed inwardly through the Spirit-wrought graces to which God’s promises are made and through the testimony of the Spirit of adoption.

The Spirit’s testimony is therefore governed by the word, centered upon Christ, and shaped by the promises of grace and mercy that are ours in Him. He never grants us peace with sin; rather, He grants us peace with God through Christ and thereby strengthens us to make war against sin. He may deeply humble us and bring godly sorrow, but He will never contradict the verdict God has pronounced over those who are united to Christ: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

We must also understand conscience properly. Conscience is a natural, God-given faculty of moral self-awareness that bears witness concerning our thoughts and actions. Our thoughts may alternately accuse or defend us (Romans 2:15), but the conscience neither creates God’s moral law nor issues His final judgment. It can be informed by Scripture, but it can also be weak, defiled, seared, or misinformed. It may excuse what God calls sin, or it may condemn us where God has granted liberty. A sincere conscience is therefore not necessarily an accurate conscience.

For this reason, the Christian must neither violate conscience casually nor enthrone it as though it were infallible. It must be instructed, corrected, and cleansed by daily dependence upon the sufficiency of the blood of Christ and the truth of God’s word. The Holy Spirit uses the word through the conscience to bring conviction, but the conscience is not itself the Holy Spirit. Paul could say, “I am conscious of nothing against myself,” while immediately adding, “yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:4). Conversely, when our heart condemns us beyond what God’s word warrants, we must remember that “God is greater than our heart and knows all things” (1 John 3:20). The blood of Christ, who offered Himself through the eternal Spirit, cleanses the conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).

Scripture also identifies the devil as “the accuser of our brethren,” who accuses them before God day and night (Revelation 12:10). We should not immediately attribute every accusation to him, because remaining sin, painful memories, and a weak or misinformed conscience may also trouble us. Nevertheless, his characteristic purpose is clear. He seeks to separate sin from the Savior and turn conviction into condemnation. He may seize upon a real sin, or introduce a false charge, and then press the hopeless conclusion that there can be no mercy, no forgiveness, no right to pray, and no way back to God. He wants the Christian to hide from God precisely when the Christian most needs to draw near to Him.

The Holy Spirit, by contrast, exposes sin truthfully according to the word of God and leads us toward confession, repentance, renewed obedience, and faith in Christ. He does not minimize our sin, but neither does He deny the sufficiency of Christ. Satan may first tempt us to excuse sin and then accuse us mercilessly after we have committed it. The Spirit convicts us so that we will agree with God concerning our sin, turn from it, and receive anew the mercy promised to us in Christ.

Zechariah 3 gives us a vivid picture of this distinction. Joshua the high priest stands before the angel of the Lord in filthy garments, and Satan stands at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord does not pretend that Joshua’s garments are clean. He rebukes the accuser, removes Joshua’s iniquity, and clothes him in festal robes. In the same way, the Christian’s answer to a true accusation is not denial or self-justification, but Christ. Our answer to a false accusation is not submission to fear, but the truth of God’s word. In either case, our hope rests in God’s gracious verdict:

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
Romans 8:33–34

When you are troubled inwardly, ask what specific sin or falsehood Scripture actually identifies. Does the accusation lead you to honest confession and nearer dependence upon Christ, or does it drive you into hopelessness and away from prayer? Is your peace resting upon the person and work of Christ and the promises of God in Him, or merely upon your ability to clear yourself? Is your conscience being ruled and corrected by Scripture, or by fear, human opinion, personal scruples, and the traditions of men?

It’s important to note that a false sense of relief that dismisses actual sin does not come from the Spirit, as the Spirit never approves of impenitence. Similarly, a feeling of condemnation that dismisses Christ’s sufficiency isn’t true humility, because the Spirit of adoption and the spirit of bondage oppose one another. When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, as stated in 1 John 1:9. Genuine faith does not hide sin nor regard it as more significant than the Savior.

Prayer is therefore indispensable to discernment. We ask the Spirit to search us by the word, expose what must be confessed, correct our consciences, silence false accusations with the promises of the gospel, and strengthen us to obey. We do not merely pray, “Lord, make me feel better.” Instead, we pray, “Lord, show me what is true; expose what is sinful; grant me repentance; teach me to rest where You have promised rest; and strengthen me to walk according to Your word.”

Prayerful Dependence and Growth in Grace

Humility does not glory in ignorance, nor does it make peace with unbelief. It acknowledges both and brings them before God, seeking from Him the daily supplies of grace by which ignorance is remedied, unbelief is forsaken, faith is strengthened, and the heart is increasingly conformed to His revealed will. It is a daily reliance upon the Spirit’s help to illumine and guide the believer in knowing, understanding, and applying the word of God. It prays with David, “Let my cry come before You, O LORD; Give me understanding according to Your word” (Psalm 119:169).

In this sense, knowing that we do not possess all knowledge is essential to growing in wisdom and understanding, provided that this recognition drives us not into skepticism, doubt, or paralysis, but into true dependence on God. He “gives to all generously and without reproach” (James 1:5), and He commands us to ask in faith, without doubting (James 1:6).

Such prayerful dependence is a precious remedy for remaining unbelief and one of the means God has appointed for growth in grace and the strengthening of faith. It is also one mark of living, saving faith, for faith does not rest in the sufficiency of our understanding, but takes God at His word and brings its acknowledged need to Christ. Dora Greenwell expresses this beautifully in the first and second stanzas of her hymn, “I Am Not Skilled to Understand”:

I am not skilled to understand
what God has willed, what God has planned;
I only know that at His right hand
is One who is my Savior!

I take Him at His word indeed:
“Christ died for sinners,” this I read;
for in my heart I find a need
of Him to be my Savior!²

Hebrews 4:12–16 holds together what we are often tempted to separate. The word of God exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and all things are open and laid bare before Him. Yet the passage does not leave the exposed believer without hope. It immediately directs us to Jesus, the Son of God, our great high priest, and then calls us to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Therefore, dear Christian, be encouraged. We ought not attempt, in futility, to hide our weaknesses, nor should we make peace with lingering unbelief. We are to draw near confidently and humbly to the throne of grace through Christ, our great high priest. Take up the full armor of God so that you may resist in the evil day, and pray at all times in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:13, 18). With prayer and supplication, and with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God (Philippians 4:6). Let the apostles’ prayer remain upon our lips: “Lord, increase our faith!”

1. John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 4 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 277. ↩
2. Dora Greenwell, “I Am Not Skilled to Understand”, stanzas 1 and 2. ↩