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The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9:24 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
  • KJV And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
  • BSB Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
  • NKJV Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
  • NASB Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The father cries out, 'I believe; help my unbelief!' His honest prayer captures faith struggling against doubt.

Overview

This deeply human confession acknowledges genuine faith while pleading for help with remaining unbelief. It teaches that faith need not be perfect to be real, and that even our faith is a gift we may ask Jesus to strengthen. The father's cry has comforted believers for centuries as a model of dependent, honest prayer.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Luke 17:5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
  • Heb 12:2looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
  • Eph 2:8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
  • 2 Th 1:11To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power;
  • 2 Th 1:3We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you towards one another abounds;
  • Ps 126:5Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
  • Phil 1:29Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,
  • 2 Cor 2:4For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.
  • Acts 10:31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.
  • Ps 39:12“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
  • Jer 14:17“You shall say this word to them, “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
  • 2 Sam 16:12It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”
  • 2 Tim 1:4longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy;
  • Luke 7:44Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head.
  • Heb 5:7He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
  • 2 Kgs 20:5“Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to Yahweh’s house.
  • Heb 12:17For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.
  • Luke 7:38Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
  • Acts 10:19While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 9:24YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 9:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.