I got this in an email a while ago, and I sent it right to the trashcan. I just hate those been-forwarded-98-times emails, don’t you? And then, I started thinking about it. Go ahead and read it, and I’ll share my thoughts below.

In a small mid-western conservative town, a new bar/tavern started a building to open up their business. The local United Methodist Church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers.

Work progressed, however right up till the week before opening, when a lightning strike hit the bar and it burned to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the buildings demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made it’s way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented, “I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation who doesn’t!”

How often are we like this church congregation? We’ll pray and pray and pray and then when God acts on our behalf we’ll say “t’aint so”. We deny the power of the very God we pray to! How crazy is that?

Or what about when we pray for a thing, open our eyes and say “God’s never going to do that.”? We make our prayer of no effect through our own unbelief. That’s crazy, too. We should pray like we mean it, and like we believe God is able. How much could and would God do if we always prayed like that?