It has taken me many months, and much reflection to understand the frustration over the words “Thoughts and Prayers” after a tragedy. In transparency, if I say I’m praying for you, trust me. You are being lifted up in prayer, but I still understand the frustration. As a believer in Christ and His power that He can do anything, but still gives us the choice to make our own choices, I believe in the power of prayer. I have had answers to prayer that I have appreciated. Of course, some of that appreciation came much later. The real eye-opener came when I was half watching a movie. In the movie, A Walk to Remember, the boy tells the girl that he needs her help with a class in school. She responds with, “Great, I’ll pray for you.”
That made it clear for me. Reflect on that. She was not willing to DO something. She just said four words that contain a four-letter word that is an excuse to not do something. She’ll pray for him. It’s nice. Have we ever noticed that the word, “nice” is not in the Bible? Nice does not comfort someone. Action does.
The church needs to step-in and begin healing our communities. Our nation is in torment. Mass shootings are occurring in mass numbers. Part of the problem is that people have been cooped up in their homes for over a year. I feared there would be a problem with the entire country when this pandemic hit. Unfortunately, my fears were correct. It is not just the mass shootings.
Suicides are on the rise. Domestic violence is on the rise with much of the violence ending in a killing. People are in distress. How do we help? We sacrifice. We make sure we can donate to places that provide for the physical needs of people, so it is one less burden that they have to bear. We listen and empower. We, the Christian community, must stop demeaning and humorizing counseling. Counseling is not evil. Counseling is not for those who have severe mental health issues. Counseling is for everyone. Everyone struggles and everyone needs advice for the struggles for which they do not understand. We must empower people to seek the help they need. We must begin to partner with local counseling centers to guide people to the help that they need.
We must love and be kind. We must post on social media words that empower and encourage. It is difficult, and I am guilty of not always complying to my own advice. Once we admit that we see a problem and have to change, then that is part of the problem being solved.
So, what about prayers and thoughts? We can pray for the victims of any tragedy, but how about we add an addendum to our prayers? What if we began praying and asking God for what we can do to help? Be careful. We may not like the answer, which leads to some people saying God doesn’t answer their prayers. They just don’t like the answer. God may not ask you to just pray and think. God may ask you to get up and do something courageous. By the way, this is way beyond voting and writing our senators, which to me is just as useless as saying, “I’ll pray for you.” God expects you to do that. He will ask you to do something that is not so easy.
The Bible tells us that putting our faith into action reveals our faith in Jesus. It has to be more than just praying and thinking. In the book of James it says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? It is the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17 (NIV) This verse has come to make more sense to me as I hear people, both Christians and non-Christians who do not want to hear about thoughts and prayers after tragedies. We must act.
Yes, I pray, but I know deep down that the person needs more than just me thinking about them or prayer. They need an action. So, let us change our “Thoughts and prayers” to “I’m praying for a way for God to show me what I can do.” It’s long, but it is more specific, and it is what we all need. Our country needs to heal. May we begin to listen to what God is calling for us to do. It will be an action. It will be something that we have the knowledge, wisdom, gifts and talents to do, but we have to do it.
It takes work. Our rescue missions need help. Families in our neighborhoods need help. Our schools can use volunteers in many areas, and it can lead to mentoring young people who need the guidance that they may not have. There are so many way ways to serve. For my friends who are artistic, there are various ways to express our art that will impact change and show love. I’m talking to myself on that last one. We have to do it. The church must step up and act. We must be the impact and the solution that our country needs right now. So, may we all begin to pray, “I’m praying for a. way for God to show me what I can do.”
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