We’ve seen it more times than we can count. A great public tragedy will strike our nation, and we don’t know what to say but we want others to know that we care. Often, we fall back on a phrase that is tried and true: “Thoughts and prayers.” In an instant, we communicate our sympathy and faith that God is watching over the situation.
However, these days, such a post is likely to produce as much ridicule as it does solidarity. Critics would much rather chastise you for stating what they see as a trite sentiment and not making a political statement that they agree with. How is it that a phrase like “thoughts and prayers” becomes divisive?
We need to realize that those who criticize this kind of thing do so from an atheistic mindset. To them, saying you are praying about something holds no tangible value because there is no God to answer. At best, they see these words as the futile exercise of a superstitious simpleton. At worst, they assume you lack any real compassion and accuse you of self-righteousness. If only they understood what the power of prayer truly is.
Each Wednesday, we gather as a congregation to pray about things that are on our minds. We pray for sick family members and coworkers, wayward brothers and sisters in Christ, and those mourning deaths. After reading each name, we bow our heads and ask our Lord in heaven in one accord to hear these prayers. We do not spend all this time in prayer just because it makes feel warm and fuzzy. We pray because we there is a God who has the power to answer.
The Bible tells us over and over that God answers the prayers of faithful Christians. James 5:16 famously tells us, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Jesus says in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” All we must do is truly believe it. Mark 11:24 states, “…whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” What an amazing privilege we have!
But what happens if we don’t really believe it? What if we let “thoughts and prayers” become nothing more than a empty slogan or a copout because we can’t think of “anything better to say”? Then we prove the cynics right. Brethren, if we type “thoughts and prayers” and never take the time to actually pray it, then we become exactly who they say we are: hypocrites.
Prayer was not given to us to generate likes and virtual pats on the back. Prayer changes the world!