Prayer that fails...

Hey friends…
 
Apologies for the negative opener, but I want to catch your attention. Nobody aims to fail at things that matter, right? I mean, I’m all for failing at underwater basket weaving. But flunking something as monumental as communicating with the God of the universe might be worth a second look to be sure we’re not blowing it here. Many Christians I know secretly think they are no good at prayer, even if they won’t say it out loud. Let’s talk more in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first… important news:
 
·      Mt. Hope is growing! Click here to see a detailed write-up on our “decision time” for our church family as we seek God’s wisdom for a potential expansion of our facility. Four key communication and decision steps are essential:

• Please take 5 minutes and click here to take an online--and anonymous—survey to share with us your thoughts about this expansion project!
• Sunday, March 30, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., an all-congregation open dialogue will take a final look at the project, the design, the budget, and the funding.
• Sunday, April 6, we will present a confidential communication card to share the specific personal generosity the Holy Spirit is leading you to contribute.
  • What one-time financial gift could be given between now and August to provide cash-in-hand for construction?
  • What ongoing monthly designated giving could be given over 2-3 years to fund debt service and/or reduction?
• Sunday, April 27, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., the FINAL decision meeting where our Covenant Partners will consider and vote on the future of the project.

 
·      Teens:  No youth group this Sunday. Parents - if you would like to be added to the Youth Group email list, contact Jess Sauder: [email protected].
 
·      Ladies: NEXT Saturday, March 29, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Learn how to make jewelry with Joan Lyerly! Cost will be $5.00 for supplies. Click here for more info and to RSVP.
 
·      Wanna help Mt. Hope look better? Join us Saturday, April 12 for a morning workday to spruce up the campus for Easter! Details and RSVPs to come.
 
·      Speaking of Easter: Make plans to bring friends and family to one of TWO Easter worship services at Mt. Hope, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m., Sunday, April 20. Kids Connect will be at 10:30 only with an Easter Egg Hunt to follow at 11:45 a.m.!
 
·      Don’t miss this coming week’s “Daily Six” video series… We've got a really neat destination to study the Gospel of Mark together. Click here to jump in! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here for a link to The Daily Six each morning!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t ever want Jesus to answer you. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
I was 12 years old the first time I opened a bible. Ever.
 
My neighbor buddy across the street had been sharing faith with me in between our wintertime sledding adventures and making army rifles out of fallen branches so we could play war in the woods. He was 10; his passion for Jesus was contagious. So, I asked my mom for a bible.
 
I’m not sure how I stumbled across this verse from the Gospel of Mark. Its wild promise captured the mind of this imaginative little 12-year-old. My shiny new bible was the “Good News Translation,” a perfectly simplified text for pre-teenagers:
 
“When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for” (Mark 11:24).
 
Oh yeah. If this is how this Jesus thing works, I’m in!!
 
Being a future pilot with an insatiable fascination with everything aeronautical, I asked Jesus for an airplane. A real one. I told him he could place it in my backyard overnight, please.
 
Friends, please don’t laugh. I was standing boldly on my new found faith in the mighty Word of God. I distinctly remember getting on my knees on my bed. I had my little Good News Bible opened to Mark 11. I had one of my many airplane books spread out to the intricate technical drawings of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 airliner. I got really serious. I dug deep to muster all the faith I could in Jesus and the Bible. I took a deep breath, squinted my eyes, and I prayed. Hard.
 
I went to sleep that night as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve. I had found the promise of the Word of God. Whatever I ask for, believe, and it will be given. Wow… praise Jesus.
 
You’ll never believe what was sitting in my backyard that next morning.
 
Nope. Not an airplane. Just the shaggy grass that Dad thought his 12-year-old son should now be mature enough to run the lawn mower over.
 
Talk about disappointment.
 
But can I be honest with you? Decades later, with two theological degrees from an esteemed Christian university, thirty-five years of career ministry under my belt, countless people led to Christ, discipled, and encouraged by my faith… and still… time-after-time I am disappointed with the silent outcome of my bold praying.
 
You?
 
Do you ever feel like the things that you muster the boldest faith for are the things that seem to go completely unanswered? Do you ever feel like you know you have prayed properly, prayed hard, dug deep to muster up your faith, and stood on the scriptures… only to find deafening silence in return? Do you ever feel like your prayers have simply failed?
 
Jesus promised us the opposite. Here is Mark 11 from the slightly more refined New International Version: “‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’” (Mark 11:22-24)
 
So, what gives? Where is my airplane?
 
Most Christian grown-ups--myself included—have built up a defensive mental model to explain away the disappointment. We stack up all manner of theological clarifications to justify why God does not give us the things we ask for in prayer, even though He says right here that He will.
 
But what if the reason we don’t get what we ask for is not because the promise has a bunch of unspoken theological caveats? What if God’s Word is not like some complicated life insurance policy with lots of hidden exclusions tucked away in the fine print? What if Jesus meant exactly what he said in Mark 11? What then?
 
Maybe we don’t understand what to ask for.
 
“C’mon, Chris… he said whatever….”
 
I know. This has been my problem with this text, and I’m guessing yours too. So… let’s unpack it carefully together this Sunday. Let’s allow the Word of God—in its whole—to speak to us and see how we are to pray. For real.
 
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to fail at certain things, but certainly not at prayer. Let’s step in and see where Jesus can take us!
 
 
Oh… and one more personal note. I want to express my immense gratitude for such an outpouring of love from so many of you last Sunday as church happened to land on my 55th birthday. The congregation’s attention and intentionality were way over-the-top and wildly unexpected. Thank you for the expression of love. It was abundant.
 
 
Much love…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend