How to strengthen faith: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief”
Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Sermon by Archpriest Andrei Ovchinnikov after the Divine Liturgy
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
“I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.”
These words, like the groan of a human heart struck by sorrow, stand at the center of the gospel event, which we read about today at Sunday’s Divine Liturgy.
These words were spoken by a father who had a possessed son. This event occurred simultaneously with the Transfiguration of the Lord. Only the Lord shone and was transformed on the mountain, but this event took place on earth, at the foot of Tabor.
The Lord left nine disciples on earth, and He was with three above. And these nine apostles could not cast out the demon from the unfortunate sick youth. And these are the words that the father said - they are very close to each of us, because our faith also needs to be strengthened, because it is very weak, it constantly fluctuates, and is overwhelmed by all sorts of temptations.
The saddest thing is that our faith is divorced from our life; it is almost dead and fruitless. Therefore, today in the sermon it is appropriate for us to talk about how we can strengthen our faith.
This is the most important problem of our Christian life, which we must worry and think about. Because without faith it is impossible to please God - these are the words of the Apostle Paul from the Epistle to the Hebrews.
So: the first means of strengthening faith is shown to us in the Gospel in the words of the unfortunate father: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.” These words are the shortest prayer addressed to Christ. The first means of strengthening faith is prayer .
We must believe that the source of all good is God. Faith is a fruit of grace, a spiritual gift of God, which is given to a person who strives for this gift.
But prayer is the way and means to acquire this gift of grace . Therefore, we must constantly, perhaps as the first request in every prayer, turn to God with the words: “Lord, increase my faith, make it alive, make it consist of specific deeds, because faith without deeds is dead .
They may object to us: “How can I pray when I don’t have this very faith? When my heart lost touch with God. I don’t feel His presence in him.” And here we need to understand the meaning of Christian feat.
Whether you believe or not, whether the grace of God has touched your heart or not, you must work in prayer. For a new Christian there is no other way.
At first, work is necessary, sometimes seeming fruitless, monotonous, performed daily without any particular results. But that's not true. The Lord awaits our faithfulness. The Lord wants us to be patient, the Lord wants us to show that we truly love Him.
And if a person is faithful in his small deeds, the Lord will definitely come to his aid. He always stands next to us, the Lord does not want a person to have any suffering, senseless sorrows, misfortunes - nothing like that.
He wants to give a person only one joy, one happiness and even bliss. But a little effort is needed on our part, Christian labor is needed. And this is the first step that we must take on the path of gaining faith.
The second means of strengthening faith is visible example. If a real Christian lived next to us, we would become like that too. As they say, whoever you get along with, that's how you get on. One of the most difficult trials that befell us is the lack of an example.
The prophet David also exclaimed that the monk had become impoverished . And so the Lord allowed us to live in a time when around us we see almost no example of Christian life - there are no holy fools, no elders, no ascetics, no saints. Perhaps, of course, they exist, but, according to the sayings of the holy fathers of ancient times, they, these people, are saved exclusively by humility.
Maybe they are among us, but we don’t see them, because a holy person is, first of all, humble and he performs all his deeds secretly - for God.
What can we do? We need to refer to the book. There has never been a time in the history of the Church when there was so much wonderful soul-saving literature on the shelves of churches. And there has never been a time when people showed such indifference and indifference to the study of their Orthodoxy.
We must constantly read about Christianity from a variety of sources, starting with the Holy Scriptures and ending with wonderful Orthodox magazines addressed to Orthodox women, youth, and children.
This is all blessed food that strengthens our faith . And without difficulty we will never strengthen this faith. If we need to strive for a good example, try to see and remember it, then it is also very important to beware of temptation, to beware of the negative influence on our heart, on our will .
And the same prophet David says that with a saint you will be reverend, but with an evil man you will be corrupted. And often we forget about this warning.
Faith, no matter how weak, needs careful guarding. And this treasure is stolen with the help of people who have turned away from this faith, who build their lives not according to the will of God, but according to the will of the devil.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of such people around us, and often we do not notice this danger, but one empty conversation, when sacred things are ridiculed or spoken about with skepticism, can sow terrible seeds of doubt in our hearts.
We must look very carefully at who we communicate with, who our friends are. We must take care.
And, probably, for a Christian the most salutary state is loneliness, but not just with oneself, but with God .
The word monk is from the Greek word "monos" meaning "alone", but not with oneself, but with the Lord. And for us, living in such a time, it is useful to communicate less with people, and turn to God more - He is our best friend, He is our most faithful helper, Who will never betray us, will not turn away and will always come to the rescue.
And, finally, the third means that can strengthen our faith is the one that is talked about in many books... But today I would like to give an example not from the Patericon, but from the wonderful novel by F. M. Dostoevsky “The Brothers Karamazov”.
There is a chapter in this novel called "The Unbelieving Lady." We are talking about Elder Zosima - this beautiful image is taken from real life - they say that Dostoevsky wrote his Elder Zosima from the contemplation of St. Ambrose of Optina.
So many people came to this old man, and one day a rich landowner came and began to say that she was losing faith in her immortal soul, in eternity and in God Himself. And she asked the elder to give her advice on how she could gain faith.
And now Dostoevsky speaks through the mouth of Elder Zosima a wonderful edification that each of us needs to learn. He says that faith is acquired through the acquisition of active love experience, that is, when a person himself practices active love. He constantly tries to fulfill this most important commandment of the Gospel.
This lady said that she wanted - in a fit of spiritual inspiration - to become a nurse, to work in the infirmary, to care for the wounded, to feed them from her own hands, but at the same time she said - on one condition - when there would be gratitude for the feat.
But we must perform our Christian feat without expecting rewards on earth. Because the Lord wants our treasure to be preserved in heaven.
So: the experience of active love - from every deed we can gain a grain of Christian experience. Experience is a priceless thing. No temptations, no slander and conversations can distract a person from what he himself has personally experienced.
That is why we say that Christianity is a constant practice, a constant accumulation of experience - religious, repentant, prayerful, grateful. And when a person feels this experience, his faith will really strengthen.
No one can convince him that there is a God, that this God is love itself, that we can pray to this God, and He hears our prayers. The fact that there is eternity, that the soul is immortal - these are things that a Christian must experience in this life.
And then his faith will strengthen . Therefore, today the Church is teaching us a most beautiful lesson, which can be seen in the example of the father of a demon-possessed youth. Yes, he was weak in faith, but he did not despair, he did not give up, he turned to God with a prayer: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!” And with this kind of prayer we must also constantly turn to God. And then the Lord will hear us, come into our hearts with His grace, and our faith will strengthen - it will become alive and will be expressed in our deeds. Amen.
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What is true faith?
What is true faith? The truth is different for everyone, everyone comes to it themselves as they progress spiritually or through life events. A person is born in a country with a certain culture, in a family with certain foundations and principles. That is, religion is often instilled in childhood, but this does not mean that it will develop into faith.
Some accept the beliefs professed by their parents or immediate circle, others begin to search for something closer to their soul. And this is not forbidden.
There are many religions, but God is one, albeit in different manifestations.
Faith in God is a feeling that is not amenable to material changes and logical evaluation. This is a person’s relationship with the Lord, his subtle, spiritual, invisible, but constantly felt connection with the Almighty, understandable only to himself.
People who visit temples, read prayers, and conduct religious rituals often call themselves believers and religious. But faith is not outside and not for show, but inside, hidden from prying eyes and intimate. It is not in the head, but in the heart. And whatever God is (Allah, Jesus Christ, Buddha), faith in him means confidence in the existence of higher powers that guide and help mortals.
Good to know! It is impossible to force yourself or someone else to believe in God. Faith is not knowledge, not a subject that can be conveyed. It descends from another, spiritual reality, often at odds with human judgments. And a believer, who has allowed God into his heart, will be able to become a conductor of divine energy, passing it on to other people.
LET'S PRAY!
By remaining in the territory of faith, you thereby help others to pray for you, since they know what exactly to pray for regarding you.
So, what are your needs for us? We have a whole group of people who are praying with Denise and me for your needs. Please let us know your specific needs and we will immediately address them to God on your behalf. I promise! And in conclusion, I want to thank you for every service you have given to our church. Thanks to your support, we are able to do what we do. Together with you, we influence this world with God's Word. And we are very grateful to God for you!
Reasons for material desires
The desire for selfish pleasure gives rise to an infinite number of material desires. It is impossible to satisfy them, because the spiritual emptiness cannot be filled with dead things. A person is thrown from one extreme to another. At first he can enjoy himself to the point of satiety, and then abruptly renounce everything, like Aramis from “The Three Musketeers...” by A. Dumas. He either dated married ladies, or dressed as a priest and lived in a monastery.
Such wanderings do not lead to anything good. A person must stop and think about himself and his nature, about God, and his relationship with Him. Find answers in the scriptures.
Refusal to communicate with materially minded people who live under the slogan: “Take everything from life!” will help to muffle the itch of material desires. These tips help a person who has at least some faith. How can an atheist believe in God?
Religion and religiosity
Religion is an attempt to understand the spiritual world and the Supreme through matter. People compiled holy scriptures and invented rituals of worship. Archpriest Alexander Men said that religion is an earthly, human phenomenon. The sacred treatises of all religious denominations describe how to believe in God. With the help of religion, a person acquires a worldview that leads him along the spiritual path.
Just as it is impossible to become a doctor by reading medical textbooks, so it is impossible to gain faith only by reading the holy scriptures. This requires a special mood of the soul and a desire to know the Absolute Truth. Without such an approach, religiosity turns into fanaticism.
Doubts
Initial faith is very fragile. Doubts can break her. Archpriest Alexander Lebedev identified four types of doubts.
- Doubt of the mind is born from superficial knowledge. It passes over time as deeper knowledge is gained.
- Doubt of the heart. With his mind, a person understands and accepts everything, but his heart does not feel the presence of God and the spiritual world. Books won't help here. Information can satisfy the mind, but the heart is nourished by feelings. Sincere prayer to God helps to get rid of such doubt, because the Lord always answers the call of the heart.
- Doubt arises from a conflict between the mind and the heart. It feels that the Lord exists, but the mind finds it difficult to believe in God. Why does he allow people to suffer? Both prayers and books will help here.
- Doubts of life. Man accepts the existence of God, but modern life is not conducive to keeping the commandments. Archpriest Alexander Lebedev recommends taking a decisive step and forcing yourself to follow Divine laws. Over time, this will become a habit and will not cause difficulties.
The reason for doubts is a large number of unresolved material desires.
How to truly believe in God?
How to learn to believe in God sincerely and truly? Any dissatisfaction is caused by a lack of happiness and love. And if a person considers his faith weak and insufficient, his soul strives for all-encompassing Divine love. At first, the believer receives satisfaction from external paraphernalia: religious ceremonies, visits to temples, visits to holy places. But when these actions become automatic, mechanical and devoid of spiritual aspiration, faith enters a stage of crisis.
The path to the Lord is a thorny, difficult and even suffering road to love. But all thorns arise through the fault of the person himself due to the low level of his consciousness. And sometimes love is replaced and crowded out by other feelings: aggression, envy, anger, hatred, indifference, vanity, greed.
If you need not formal and external, but real and internal faith, then you must be honest with yourself. Free yourself from masks and psychological barriers to see your true face, albeit imperfect (we are all sinners). Recognizing and accepting your bad qualities reduces pride, backbiting and arrogance. And this is an important step on the path to true faith.
According to the scriptures, earthly people have no control over anything, not even their own bodies. But desires are manageable and accessible, and the Lord helps to fulfill sincere spiritual aspirations. If the desire to comprehend divine powers and believe sincerely and strongly, the Almighty will satisfy it. And prayers emanating from the soul help to overcome worldly suffering and follow the path of love.
PLACE OF YOUR BLESSING
- What assignment has God given you?
- What is this place of faith that you should be in now?
- Do you remain in this place of faith or do you constantly fluctuate, now you are in the territory of faith, now you run beyond its boundaries: now you fulfill the assignment given to you by God, now you give up?
Finally and irrevocably decide that there is no way back from the place where God has called you: you will never give up fulfilling the calling or assignment God has given you.
If you remain in the territory of faith, then, as God has promised, a glorious reward awaits you in the near future. You will receive in full what you believe in or what you faithfully expect, and it’s only a matter of time! Make every effort to remain at the address of faith. Faith is the most valuable, meaningful, blessed place for your life. In this place God will be able to bless you abundantly!
While I was writing this letter, I myself became inspired to continue to remain in the territory of faith where God had called me.
I hope this letter has the same impact on you. It's time to persevere, resist the enemy, and remain steadfast until we receive all that we expect from God.
Scriptures about God
All holy books give their own idea of God. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ speaks of God as a loving Heavenly Father. In the Qur'an, the Almighty appears as an all-merciful ruler who is worshiped in a mood of reverence and reverence. The Vedic treatise Mahabharata describes the Supreme Lord Krishna as a playful boy and an attractive youth.
The Lord has an infinite number of forms and manifestations. He is the Absolute Truth, who controls everything. Each person will decide for himself which Divine Image to devote himself to. The main thing here is to listen to the heart: where the soul is drawn, where it feels good, what it responds to. God is love and love is bliss. All these are correct words, but how can you believe in God if you can’t believe it? Saints who have not only deep faith, but also transcendental experience can help here.
Seek God
A person is born into a certain national culture, which has its own religious traditions. A resident of an Arab country is automatically equated with Muslims, a Slavic country with Christians, an Asian country with Buddhists, etc. A person is not always satisfied with traditional religion. He begins to look for something new, and these searches are regarded negatively by the environment. And a person simply sincerely wants to truly believe in God. This cannot be regarded as betrayal.
Different religious traditions carry a certain mood. Mood is a unique type of relationship with the Almighty. God is like a father, friend, master. Each soul has its own, individual relationship with Him. Coming to an understanding of these relationships is one of the tasks in the search for God. A person begins to study different religious traditions.
