If it’s over, where’s the elation?

• How do I pray?
• Faith in prayer
• Prayers of the Bible

Barcelona won the 2012-13 Spanish league when it wasn’t even playing. It’s nearest competitor, Real Madrid, tied, and, with only  a few games left in the season, no one can reach Barca’s points.

Winning by NOT playing (when your rival ties) is a very undramatic way to seize a crown. But that’s the way the European leagues work: no flourish of playoffs. It’s boring mathematics: whoever has the most points, wins. Now whatever FCB does — even it loses every game 0-20 — it cannot lose the league.

Despite being an avid fan, I’m disappointed. Where’s the flush of excitement of a memorable finale? Where’s the high fives in front of the big screen with pizza with my buddy Adan? In the essence of anti-climax, I read it on Yahoo soccer news. It was over, and I wasn’t even watching the game to relish it (why would I? It wasn’t even my team’s game).

Instead of seeming happy, it’s a let-down. No more tension as a rival threatens a comeback. No more discussing injuries and speculating who will cover what position. No more guessing outcomes, despairing over setbacks.

Christianity is like this: it’s over. Christ won — a long time ago, at the cross. What remains is an unavoidable and boring march towards victory. We can lose the excitement of God’s crushing championship, but we should never forget that He has won. The fact that secularists appear to be winning our nation is much like Iran’s president denying the Holocaust: ludicrous brouhaha.

Go to prayer today with:

• the sensation of the thrill of victory
• certainty of the positive outcome for your petitions
• persistence in securing wins (Barca still wins games, even though they can’t lose the championship losing games). Show our stuff!

Berlin wall faith

When Jessica was a girl, she prayed earnestly that God would tear down the Berlin Wall, a token of the Iron Curtainand the Cold War. As he listened to her, her dad, my pastor, a former congressional candidate,

Not Jessica

wondered if he should explain to her the cold, hard facts of life. Should he re-direct her prayers to something more realistic?

Hahahahaha! Kids today don’t even know what the Berlin Wall was. To describe to them the “threat” of communism makes them laugh. They have new issues (terrorism, overpopulation).

In 1990 Soviet bloc liberalization allowed citizens of both sides to demolish the wall amidst reunification euphoria. Jessica never doubted that it was her prayers that did the trick. Her dad just was amazed.

So… you either get Jessica to pray for your needs… or you get childlike faith yourself (Matt. 18:3).