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John the Baptist — the man who had baptised Jesus and heard the voice from heaven — sent messengers from prison to ask whether He was really the one. Jesus did not rebuke him. He sent back evidence.
That is the pattern worth knowing before you read anything else on this page. Doubt in Scripture is answered far more often than it is scolded.
These are not minor characters. They are the ones the book is largely about.
Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9:24
2 Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples
3 to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”
Matthew 11:2-3
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?
Psalm 13:1-2
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
Habakkuk 1:2
24 Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
John 20:24-25
Notice what Jesus offers Thomas: not an argument, and not a reprimand. His hands.
26 Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:26-29
And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt;
Jude 1:22
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:5-6
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:31
2 Timothy 2:13 is the quiet one. If we are faithless, He remains faithful — because He cannot deny Himself.
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
2 Timothy 2:13
“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!”
Mark 9:23
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17
Pray Mark 9:24 as it is written — "I believe; help my unbelief." It is a self-contradicting sentence and Jesus answered it anyway, which is most of the reason it is worth praying. You do not have to resolve the contradiction before you are allowed to speak. Then tell one Christian you trust that you are struggling; doubt kept private tends to harden into something else.
A prayer you can borrow
God, I do not know how much of this I still believe, and pretending otherwise has not helped. I am talking to You anyway, which I suppose is its own answer. Do not let me settle this by drifting. If You are there, meet me — not with an argument, with Yourself. I believe; help my unbelief. Amen.
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Scripture does not treat it that way as a rule. Jude 1:22 instructs believers to "have mercy on those who doubt," which is not how the Bible talks about sin. What it does warn against is the settled refusal to believe anything — which is a different posture from an honest question.
That the people closest to Him did it. John the Baptist asked from prison whether Jesus was really the one. Thomas refused to believe without evidence and was given it. The psalmists ask "how long?" repeatedly and God kept the question in the book.
Mark 9:24 — "I believe; help my unbelief" — is the one most people find they can actually pray, because it does not require resolving anything first. 2 Timothy 2:13 is the one for a very bad week: if we are faithless, He remains faithful.
On the evidence of Scripture, plainly yes. Faith in Hebrews 11:1 is described as assurance about things not seen — a category that assumes uncertainty rather than excluding it. If the doubt is persistent and heavy, talk to a pastor rather than working it out alone at 2am on the internet.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.