EXPLORING GOOD FRIDAY

Why aren’t my prayers being answered?

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46

On Good Friday, we witness a third unanswered prayer - perhaps the most agonizing of them all. Nail to a cross and slowly suffocating, the Son cried out to the Father: "Why have you forsaken me?"And there was no response from heaven. No dove descending. No booming voice. No answer to prove the question wrong.

Day 18: Bloody-minded Faith

Pause

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” - Psalm 19:14

Reflect

  • Bible: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defence to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.’” - Daniel 3:16-18

  • Book: “The entire paradox of faith is encapsulated in this speech. On one hand, the three young men assert that ‘the God we serve is able to save’ and that He is willing to save, declaring quite categorically, ‘he will deliver us from your … hand.’ This is a declaration of absolute certainty. But on the other hand, having made these unequivocal statements of faith, they add, ‘but even if he does not … we will not serve your gods.’ This is also a moment of bloody minded realism!” - (p. 103)

Ask

  • If you could look into the future and see that your most desperate prayers are not going to be answered, how might it affect the choices you are making now?

  • Do you believe that God is able to save you? Why or why not?

  • Does your faith enable you to trust and worship defiantly even if your prayers go unanswered?

  • What paradox of faith have you personally experienced?

Yield

A prayer of surrender by Richard Foster:

Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.

May your will be my delight today.

May you have perfect sway in me. May your love be the pattern of my living.

I surrender to you my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions.

Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.

I place into your loving care my family, my friends, my future.

Care for them with a care that I can never give.

I release into Your hands my need to control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity.

Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish your kingdom on earth.

For Jesus’ sake.

Amen.



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