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 25: Chariots of Fire

Pause

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” - Psalm 27:13-14

Reflect

  • Bible: “When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, ‘Alas, master! What shall we do?’ He replied, ‘Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed: ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” - 2 Kings 6:17

  • Book: “‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils,” observed C.S. Lewis. ‘One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician wiith the same delight.” - (p. 140)

Ask

  • Define the phrase “spiritual realm” or “angelic realm”?.

  • When have you been a bit over-sensitive to spiritual powers?

  • Describe a time when you were guilty of blaming spirits for what was wrong in your life?

  • Describe a time when you were guilty of being oblivious to the role of spirits in your life?

  • What does it mean to live with a greater awareness of the angelic realm?

  • How vicious can spiritual warfare be and why do you feel this way?

  • Who has won the ultimate spiritual warfare? How do you know this, and do you believe this?

Yield

A prayer of the eighteenth-century soldier, explorer, and monk, Charles de Foucauld:

Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You may do, I thank You: I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, and in all your creatures - I wish no more than this, O Lord. Amen.



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