Welcome to the second in this short series on prayer – this time on ‘Praying when you feel empty’.
This week, Premier Christian Radio invited me to give three short broadcasts on the topic of prayer, as they marked, with prayer, the transition from Ascension to Pentecost, supporting the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative.
God doesn’t solve every problem. The sick person doesn’t always get healed. The dead person doesn’t always rise from the grave.
There had to be more to God than I’d experienced. There was something bigger, deeper, more mysterious going on which I didn’t understand.
I love the church, and I love the evangelical tradition, but sometimes I fear it has not equipped me for dealing with anger, or indeed any strong emotion. I am here, carried on a whirling tornado of fury, and all the church says is, “Stop feeling angry.”
Unfortunately, far too many of us suffer because we think the questions mean we are not true believers. That if we had a real faith then even in the most tragic of situations we wouldn’t have any questions. That our faith would be unshakeable. Unbreakable. That’s the lie. I can’t help but wonder if the opposite is actually true. What if our questions actually reveal the strength of our faith rather than its weakness?
Elora Ramirez is a remarkable woman, full of passion and compassion. She is the founder of The Story Unfolding (offering story coaching and the excellent Story 101 and Story 201 online writing courses I’ve been enjoying), and the author of Every Shattered Thing, which I reviewed earlier. Her writing is fire and beauty, and I […]
I was transferring my text books from my locker into my school bag when a fellow student burst into the sixth-form common room. “You,” she said, with eyes full of fire and fury, “you’re a Christian. Where was God when this happened?” She indicated the headline on the newspaper. Sixteen children and one adult had […]
I don’t remember when it was – perhaps four or six months after the birth. I remember the place – sitting across from Jon, my arms on the big oak dining table, eating a tired dinner with tears. “Why aren’t you mad at God?” I asked him. “You are going through all of this, just […]
A Biblical basis for expressing anger at God Last week I posed this question, ‘If anger is the correct emotional response to injustice, surely being angry at God is calling God unjust. Therefore, is it a sin to be angry with God?‘ I was really grateful for your answers, which were all thoughtful and thought-provoking. […]
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Tanya Marlow blogs on the Bible, suffering and the messy edges of life [read more]