Matthew 15:23
Wherever God is present with God’s followers, there is church. So someone brought their prayer to church. Specifically to Jesus. And because God did not respond at first, the “followers” then prayed to God to have them removed because they felt bothered.
Do we also get agitated by the way other people show up to church? Do we pray to God for someone to get removed from church because of how they approach God? Or have we experienced this rejection from other “Christians” not just during Sundays but outside the Sunday building?
Let us recall that when people are praying to God we must not interfere with how they are communicating with God. And our prayers should not be dominated by our begging God to expel others. God is at church and we need not block access to God for we ourselves were invited by others.
And if we are praying to Jesus at church and feel a silence from God, silenced by the pastor and other church members, let us focus more on Jesus. Let us not relent in praying and know that God is not absent in silence. God answers our pleas as we hold firm to our faith.
Let us pray to God to strengthen our faith despite the silence or trying to be silenced because it inconveniences others. Let us pray that we ourselves will not be a roadblock when others come to church to talk to God. May we join together as a community and await when and how to respond to God.