What If You're Afraid of What He'll Ask?

Okay, I want you to be honest with me for a second. Has your phone ever rung and you looked down, saw the name on the screen, and just let it go to voicemail? Not because you didn't love them. You do, but you knew the second you saw who it was on the other end that if you picked up, they were going to ask you for something. A favor, a ride, help moving this weekend, watching the kids on Saturday, something that you just didn't have it in you to say yes to right then. So you let it ring. And you told yourself you called them back later. I've done that. More than I'd like to admit. And it's something that I've been sitting with this week because I kind of caught myself doing the exact same thing with God. Hey, I'm Melissa, and this is my question for you. We are three weeks into a series that I'm calling The Prayers I Stopped Praying. And if you're just joining me, here's the quick version of where we've been. Two weeks ago, we talked about the prayers that just went quiet, not with a conscious decision. They just kind of faded. And we gave ourselves permission to notice them. Then last week we got into the prayers we stopped praying because we didn't get an answer. The healing that didn't come, the door that stayed shut. We talked about how God's silence is not the same thing as God's absence. But today we're turning a corner because last week was about the prayers God didn't answer. Today is about the ones He did. Most of us have prayed at least once. Usually when we were a little younger in our faith, a little more on fire, a little less careful. You know, the bold prayer. I like to think of it as the blank check prayer. It sounded a little bit like, God, use me, whatever it takes. What do you want from me? I'll do it. Show me what's next, Lord, and I'll go. Have all of me. And when we prayed those bold prayers, we meant it. We really did. We just didn't quite know what we were signing up for. Because here's the thing about a prayer like, what do you want from me, Lord? God might actually tell you. And maybe he did. Maybe you asked him that, really asked, and the answer that came back landed on the one thing you weren't ready to let go of. Maybe it was a relationship or a plan, money, the grudge, the comfort, or maybe it was the control. And somewhere in that, quietly, you stopped asking that question. You didn't stop praying. You just started praying smaller, safer. You stopped handing God the blank check. You learned to pray for things you could survive him saying yes to. And I think we need to name what's actually underneath that. Because we tell ourselves we stopped praying bold prayers because we got busy or because we matured past that emotional phase of our faith. But if I'm being honest, for me, a lot of the time, it wasn't about maturity. It was fear. Not fear that God wouldn't show up, but fear of what he'd asked me to hand over once he did. And that's my question for you this week. What if you're afraid of what God might do? And underneath that one, the question we're really sitting with is am I avoiding God not because I stopped believing in him, but because I don't trust what he'll ask of me? Because that's a different kind of distance, isn't it? It's not the distance of doubt, it's the distance of self-protection. You still believe. You're just screening his phone calls. You're keeping the relationship, keeping things polite, but not picking up. Because you already have a feeling what the ask is going to be. Let's turn to scripture. There's a man in the gospel of Mark who walked right up and asked the bold question. And I want us to watch what happens to him. It's Mark chapter 10. And this isn't some skeptic that's trying to trap Jesus. This is a sincere man. The text says he ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees in front of him. He's eager, he's serious, and he wants this. He was being genuine. And he asks one of the boldest questions a person can ask. He says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? That's in Mark chapter 10, verse 17. That's not a small prayer. That's not bless my day, keep my family safe. Amen. That's what do you want from me? Tell me and I'll do it. That's the blank check moment. And we find out this is a good man. When Jesus brings up the commandments, the man says, and I don't think he's bragging, I think he means it. Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy. He's devout. He's been faithful his whole life. He's exactly the kind of person who'd be sitting in church on a Sunday. And he's exactly the kind of person who'd be listening to this podcast. So he's done everything right. And he comes and asks a big question. And now we get to the part of the story I think we read way too fast. Verse 21. Let's read it slowly because there's something here we almost always skip. Jesus looked at him and loved him. But before Jesus says one hard thing to this man, before he names a single cost, Mark stops the whole story to tell us how Jesus felt about him. He looked at him and he loved him. I need you to hold on to that because of where this story goes next. Because then Jesus says one thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me. And notice Jesus doesn't hand him a long list. He just says one thing. One thing. He looks at this good, faithful, sincere man and with love. He puts his finger on the exact thing that has a grip on him the wealth, the security, the one thing that the man was quietly building his whole identity on. That wasn't a rule for everybody. Jesus didn't tell everybody he met to sell everything. He told this man because he loved him enough to name the one thing that owned him. And here's how it ends. And it might be a little heartbreaking. At this, the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth. That's in Mark chapter 10, verse 22. That's it. That's the last we hear of him in the Bible. He didn't argue. He didn't get angry. He didn't tell Jesus he was wrong. He just got quiet. His face fell, and he turned around and walked back to the life he already had. Back to his wealth and back to the things that were the most comfortable for him. He asked the bold question and he got a real answer. And the answer touched the one thing he couldn't bring himself to hand over. So he went home and he went quiet. And I think a lot of us know that walk, right? The walk back to the comfortable life after God answered the bold prayer, and the answer cost more than we were ready to pay. But here's what I don't want you to miss about that ending. We read this story as a cautionary tale. The guy who failed, the one who couldn't do it, the example of what not to be. But look back at verse 21 again. Jesus looked at him and loved him. Mark put that line there on purpose. He wanted us to know the love came first before the hard question. And nowhere, nowhere does the text say the love stopped when the man walked away. The man turned around, but the love didn't. The answer scared him off. But the door he walked away from never actually closed. He just assumed it did. He went home thinking he'd blown it, thinking that was his one shot. When the truth is the same Jesus who loved him on the way in still loved him on the way out. And maybe that's the part you've forgotten about your own stop prayer. You asked, God answered, the answer scared you, and you walked back to the comfortable life. And somewhere along the way, you decided that door was shut now, that you'd had your chance and you flinched. But the love that met you when you asked, it didn't leave when you did. So let me bring this back to the phone going to voicemail that we talked about. Maybe there's a prayer you used to pray that you've gone quiet on, not because you stopped caring, but because the last time you really asked God, what do you want from me? He pointed at the one thing, the thing you weren't ready to release. And you fell on your face and you walked back to the life you already had. And you've kept that conversation polite and quiet ever since. The prayer that scares us most isn't the one God ignores. It's the one he answers. But hear me when I say this. The man's tragedy wasn't that the ask was too hard. It's that he walked away believing the only thing on the other side of letting go was loss. He never found out what the treasure in heaven part felt like. He couldn't see past the cost to the freedom. And you don't have to make the whole decision today. You don't have to sell anything by Friday. But you might let yourself walk back toward the door you assumed had closed, the one where he looked at you and loved you and is still standing there, still asking gently the question you've been letting go to voicemail. Okay, if you have your journal ready, I want you to sit with us this week. Is there a bold prayer I used to pray that I quietly traded in for a safer one? And why did I stop? The last time I really asked God, what do you want from me? What did he put his finger on? And what would it cost me to hand it over? And lastly, where have I decided a door is closed that God never actually shut? You don't have to do anything about those just yet. I just want you to look at it, think about it, notice it, and stop sending it to voicemail. Before you go, next week, we're gonna talk about a different kind of stop prayer. The one you've been praying for someone else. The person who hasn't changed, no matter how long you've lifted them up. That intercession exhaustion that so many of us are quietly carrying. So I really do hope you'll come back for that one. But for today, I hope you'll just remember this. The same Jesus who looked at a good, scared man and loved him before he ever named the cause. He's looking at you the same way. He hasn't changed his expression. He's still leaning in, still patient, still asking gently the question that you've been ignoring. You don't have to pick up the whole calling today. You just have to stop pretending you don't hear it. So until next time, I hope that you'll keep asking, keep listening, and don't be so afraid of what he might ask that you walk away from how much he truly loves you. I'd love to keep the conversation going. Each week, I send a short email called This Week's Question A Quiet Invitation, and it's a simple reflection to help you stay grounded, to pay attention, to dive deeper into God's Word, and to walk with God throughout your week. You can sign up at myquestion for you.com, bringing you encouragement for your spirit and wisdom for your walk.