Five years ago, I was going through intense crisis. It wasn’t one that people could see externally, but internally, I was in spiritual agony. I had just watched my infant son Joshua slowly waste away over the span of a month, essentially starving to death. Every night and every day, without ceasing, I was constantly begging the LORD to spare his life. Thousands of people from all over the world had been praying for him and praying with us that God would bring supernatural healing. Yet on March 6, 2019, Joshua took his last labored breath while I held his hand and he entered eternity with Jesus.
I entered into cognitive dissonance. My heart was broken and my mind filled with questions: How could God have allowed this? Joshua had done nothing wrong- he was a sweet baby that was simply fighting through a genetic disease. Why had God not answered my prayers, our prayers? What is the point of praying if God is just going to do whatever he wants?
I know I’m far from the first person to ask questions like this. I’d be surprised if the majority, if not all, of us have wondered things like this before. Life is hard, and at times it can be unbearable. Words like cancer, divorce, abuse, assault, miscarriage, and murder simply shouldn’t exist. But they do, because of the Fall. We need to know how to pray in these difficult hours of our lives.
As I wrestled through the grieving process, bringing my despair to the LORD, and looking for answers in scripture, some pieces began to come together. The LORD brought hope and healing back into my life- a process that is still ongoing today. I am excited to share some of the lessons I’m learning to the question of what we do with our unanswered prayers- what we do when God seems silent.
We begin this weekend by exploring the greatest unanswered prayer of all time: the prayer Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, just before he was betrayed into the hands of sinners and crucified for our sins. We can learn so much from this prayer – there is so much here in Mark 14: 32-42 that we can be encouraged by and incorporate into our prayer lives today!
I invite you to join with us this weekend as we look at what we should do when God seems silent. Our socially distanced service is Saturday afternoon at 3:30, and our Sunday morning service is at 10:15, where you can join us online or in person. We also have Sunday School classes at 9 for all ages.
Have a great weekend and I look forward to pursuing Christ, Community, and the Great Commission Together with you soon!
-Pastor Nathan Rice