Unrequited Prayer: Resilient Faith in a God Who Sometimes Says, “No.”
Karissa Sovdi
Fireside Room | Round table discussion
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4) is a verse many of us take comfort in. We may be tempted to believe that if we praise God enough, our lives will magically fall into place. While cognitively we know prayer isn’t the same as a wish from a genie’s lamp, when our most gut-wrenching requests for good things have been before God for days, months, and even years, it can be hard to keep delighting.
In this session, we will explore a theology of desire. We will discuss some commonly misunderstood scriptures and wrestle with what it means to trust God and how to practically cultivate a resilient faith in the face of our doubts. No unanswered prayer (for healing, finances, unsaved family, relationships, fertility, loneliness, etc.) is too big to explore:
· How do we have hope when our biggest heartaches go unresolved?
· What’s the point of prayer if God’s not answering?
· Why might our good God say no to seemingly good things?
· What does it practically mean to, “wait on the Lord” or “hope in the Lord?”
Karissa Sovdi
Writer, Speaker, Counsellor, Leadership coach
Karissa Sovdi is a writer, speaker, counsellor and improviser who lives, works and plays on Canada’s West Coast where she specializes in coaching organizational leaders to build resilient workplaces. She draws on her faith and her background in mental health, leadership development and performance to create content and experiences that cut through the confusion to deepen awareness, promote healing and increase laughter. Karissa has been published in various Canadian Christian magazines including Faith Today and the Christian Courier and is a recent winner of the Braun Book Awards. Her upcoming book, Surviving Christianity Unmarried: A Theology of Singleness that isn’t Looking for its Cure, outlines the heart-breaking, often humorous, and frequently bumbling journey of how to follow Jesus, desire marriage, and be single, all at the same time.
Karissa’s long history of engaging diverse audiences is apparent whenever she picks up the microphone, but she may especially resonate with those facing the stigma of singleness in a culture obsessed with romance. Follow her on Instagram @karissasovdi or sign up for news via her website at www.survivingchristianityunmarried.com