Matthew 21:18-22
For such a short reading today it is possibly one of the most complex for some time. Setting aside the fig tree piece let’s briefly look at the prayer bit. Is Jesus saying pray for something and you will automatically get it? If he is then many a person praying for healing for their dying child has a right to curse God. Is he saying ask for whatever (including a Lottery win) and it will be given, then most are going to be bitterly disappointed. Prayer, according to the great Willie Barclay is about power. Let me illustrate. Jesus prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane that the cup would pass him by: in other words his fate would not be the cross. But he did face the cross and he did so in the power that despite its pain, its cruelty its utter barbarism he would not face it alone, God would be with him. That’s power; that’s what prayer brings – the power to tackle this world, its barbarism and randomness in the knowledge that God will never leave us or forsake us.
Have a good day in that knowledge.
For such a short reading today it is possibly one of the most complex for some time. Setting aside the fig tree piece let’s briefly look at the prayer bit. Is Jesus saying pray for something and you will automatically get it? If he is then many a person praying for healing for their dying child has a right to curse God. Is he saying ask for whatever (including a Lottery win) and it will be given, then most are going to be bitterly disappointed. Prayer, according to the great Willie Barclay is about power. Let me illustrate. Jesus prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane that the cup would pass him by: in other words his fate would not be the cross. But he did face the cross and he did so in the power that despite its pain, its cruelty its utter barbarism he would not face it alone, God would be with him. That’s power; that’s what prayer brings – the power to tackle this world, its barbarism and randomness in the knowledge that God will never leave us or forsake us.
Have a good day in that knowledge.