<p>9:24<em> Immediately the father of the child cried out, and said: I believe Help my disbelief</em>- See on Lk. 1:13. It is a feature of our nature that we can believe and yet disbelieve at the same time. The father of the epileptic boy is the clearest example. He had asked: &quot;help us&quot; (:22), i.e. 'cure the child'. But he understood that this &quot;help&quot; depended partly upon his faith; he believed, as we should, that the faith of third parties can radically affect others (see on 2:5). And yet he realized that his faith was weak, and he asked the Lord to &quot;help&quot; that faith to be stronger than the native &quot;unbelief&quot; which is part of the human condition. Even faith itself can be &quot;helped&quot;. We are not left unaided in climbing the mountain of belief. Faith in that sense is partially a gift from the Lord through the gift of His Spirit (Eph. 2:8; 2 Thess. 3:2). The Lord can succour s.w. &quot;help&quot; (Heb. 2:18), through the gift of His Spirit.</p>