This morning’s Gospel reading is Mark 10:35–45:

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

in 1990 or 1991, I went to a country-music concert in southern California, which was the farewell tour for The Judds. The bill also included Garth Brooks as a co-headliner, whose energy and talent amazed me. "I've Got Friends in Low Places" had been out for a little while at that time and was already iconic, and Brooks had all sorts of fun staging that as a sing-along with the audience on the refrain. 

The song that truly stuck with me, though, was his follow-up single, which I had not yet heard. "Unanswered Prayers" really struck me at the time as a profound reflection on faith, trust, and our own blinders when it comes to the Lord's will, and this was at a time when my faith played a lesser role in my life than it does now. Reading about the song today, I am not surprised to learn that Brooks took this story from his own life and turned it into a glorification of God's abundant blessings, even when we are too foolish to demand something else. 

Brooks himself explained it later:

"Man, 'Unanswered Prayers' was a big part of my heart that went out on that record. A true life thing that happened to Sandy and myself. In October of '89, I saw my old high school flame. And I can say this now, at the time I couldn't. For the first two years of my married life, I really thought the girl that was for me was still that girl that was in high school. And now, man, just the realization that what you have is the best for you, and the best you could ever do in your lifetime. It sure makes you sleep well at night."

In today's Gospel reading, we see the very model of prayer that leads us astray. When we pray for our own will and desires to be fulfilled, we make ourselves into self-idols and separate ourselves from the Lord's purpose. 

In this passage, James and John reveal themselves to be just as immature in faith as Brooks was in high school in his song. This is not out of malice, but out of a lack of depth about the nature of faith and our place in the Lord's plan for our salvation. This episode takes place early in Jesus' ministry, at a point where the disciples have not yet learned that Jesus is not the model of Messiah that they expected and desired. In fact, they hadn't even yet learned the servant model of leadership Jesus was building. They expected to have worldly power when Jesus came into his own, and so they did -- but not in any way that they expected.

Jesus patiently tries to teach James and John, and then the other disciples, all of this. But in this passage, Jesus also teaches us about the nature of prayer, and the necessity of humility as a component of it. What is prayer, after all, other than petition for divine intervention in some way or another? We come to Jesus to ask Him to assist us with the pain and suffering in our lives, or to express our desires in the hopes that the Lord will act favorably upon them. 

James and John even start their request with the wrong orientation. They actually demand that Jesus do whatever they ask rather than humbly submit their petition, the kind of rhetorical trap that a child might try. Their request is even less humble -- they want power and station in the kingdom. When this becomes known among the other disciples, it starts an argument about ranks and station that Jesus quickly quashes.

This episode outlines the ways in which we get prayer wrong, and hardly the only example. When Peter rejects the Lord's plan for the Passion, Jesus rebukes Peter as a 'satan,' an obstacle to salvation. Peter's reaction is a prayer that gets utterly rejected. The Gospels suggest that Judas Iscariot rejected Jesus' model of the Messiah in favor of his own, and betrayed Jesus because of it. All of these can be seen through the prism of prayer, and particularly unanswered and ill-formed prayer in which we put our will and plans above those of the Lord.  

These fail because we do not come to Him as "Our Father," so to speak, but as our vassal. How often do we come to the Lord with such requests of our own? How often do our prayers seek to trap God into acting according to our will rather than conforming to His?

That is not faith, and that is not trust. Moreover, it denies the omniscience of the Lord, who sees our needs and gifts far more clearly than we do ourselves. As Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first letter, "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." We cannot see the vast plan and knowledge of the Lord, which is why we must place our trust in Him rather than in our own limited will and perspective. 

When we pray, therefore, we should follow Jesus' model, even for petitionary prayer. What does Jesus tell us about the proper model of prayer? In the Beatitudes, we get The Lord's Prayer, known so universally that there's no need to copy it here. But pay attention to its structure; it starts with a humble acknowledgment of our relationship to the Lord, and a commitment to His will being done on both heaven and Earth, rather than our own. 

Only then do we get to the petition -- "our daily bread," the portion that sustains us on our journey in His plan. We pledge to model His forgiveness with others as a supplication to His will and love for us, and finish with a final petition to keep us from evil and sin. It is only after reorienting ourselves in this manner that we can effectively pray for other petitions, but still in the context of His will rather than ours. 

We can unpack everything about our lives and salvation in the Lord's Prayer, even the conundrum of unanswered prayers. It calls us to have faith in Him rather than in our desires and passions, and to remind us as Jesus reminded the disciples that we still see through the glass darkly. We do not know beyond our own senses, while the Lord who loves us sees all in time and space. We must have faith in His love.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't ask for His help in that which troubles us or those we love. Jesus also teaches in several passages about His desire for us to leave those at His feet, but to trust Him with those as well. We may not see an answer immediately, and we may not like the answer we perceive -- but faith calls us to accept His authority over us, and those trials and tribulations. 

 Sometimes we do need to thank God for unanswered prayers -- and put our trust in the Father rather than our own will and desires. The Lord knows what He's doing after all. 

Previous reflections on these readings:

• Nipping it in the bud: Sunday reflection (2021)
• The wages of salvation: Sunday reflection (2023, indirect)
• The True GOAT, and True Service: Sunday Reflection (2024, indirect)

The front page image is "Christ meeting the wife and the sons of Zebedee" by Paolo Veronese, c. 1565. On display at the Museum of Grenoble. Via Wikimedia Commons. 

“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature, looking at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.