asking for trees to wither
Lord, yesterday when I asked you to teach your church how to pray, it wasn’t me I had in mind. I’ve been praying everyday for decades. Surely, I have it down by now. I was thinking of everyone else. However, you were quick to remind me that I, too, have a long way to go.
In reading the accounts of the week leading up to your crucifixion, I’ve been startled by how much you talked about prayer. I never noticed it before. You begin by pronouncing the Temple as a place of prayer. Then I read the story of the withered fig tree. The disciples are amazed that the fig tree you cursed has withered as if such a thing could not possibly happen. It does seem a bit startling to me as well. You acted as if it were nothing. What is nothing to you, is everything to me. The point, however, isn’t about your power over fig trees. The point, as you so patiently state, is the importance of faith in prayer.
“Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” You reminded me that it is me that needs to learn to pray. I don’t pray with that kind of faith, Jesus. I tend to hedge my pleas with outs. It’s all rather paradoxical. If I pray with absolute trust for something and that something doesn’t happen, then my faith is damaged. I begin to wonder if you are real. On the other hand, if I pray “soft” prayers that require no faith, then there is never any possibility for the miraculous intervention of God. So I waffle somewhere in the middle pretending I believe, but seldom asking for trees to wither.
If prayer was such a major issue for you during Holy Week, make it a major issue for my life as well. Teach me to pray. Teach me to by unafraid of asking. Teach me to believe I have received it. Teach me to have faith in you. Teach me how to wither trees, move mountains, and make a difference with my prayers. Amen.
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