Prayer is an Active Verb

October 21, 2017

Prayer is an Active Verb

Whenever something tragic happens, people like to say “thoughts and prayers”. There’s a terrorist attack in Paris. Paris is in our thoughts and prayers. There’s an active shooter in Vegas. Vegas is in our thoughts and prayers. We change our Facebook profile pictures to an Eiffel tower or something and our “thoughts and prayers” post gets 100 likes because we have shown solidarity with whoever has been the victim of a tragedy. Puerto Rico is in our thoughts and prayers. I am in a lot of people’s thoughts and prayers since I have lost my mother. Thoughts and prayers are great, but they’re not enough.

The surviving victims in Las Vegas need blood and assistance with medical bills and those who didn’t survive have left their loved ones with the task of burying them. Puerto Rico is under water still and much of the island remains without power, food, or water. People on the island are dying from preventable diseases and from lack of proper medical care due to loss of power, food, and water. Meanwhile, the country is thinking and praying and Donald Trump is golfing. As for me, I am OK… until I am not OK. Those who have figured out how to navigate to the one-man island that is me, have done so. My father could use additional weekend caretakers, if you know someone.

I know that money is tight for many. Money is tight for me, too. Yet, I have contributed to Puerto Rico because money is a lot tighter for them. I have power, food, and water; they don’t. If you’re reading this, you do too. If not Puerto Rico, there are others who need help too. If you can give blood, there are people who need it. You have people in your own backyard that could use a hand. I am tired of blanket “thoughts and prayers” responses coupled with absolute inaction, especially from those who consider themselves to be Christian.

Message to Christians:

Prayer and Worship are verbs. They are action verbs. Some people will tell you that if you pray to God to make you wealthy, that He will. Others will tell you that you will be wealthy as a result of a combination of prayer and Godliness. Still others will recognize this as a bunch of bunk. Prayer will not make you wealthy; hard work might. You cannot expect to get wealthy by just thinking about and praying for wealth. You will not be healed by just thinking about and praying for health. You need to actively pursue health. You cannot expect change by just thinking about and praying for change. You must be the change you want to see. Prayer is the act of praying to God to help you do something and then doing it. Some people forget the second part. Worship is the act of showing reverence to a deity. You can do this with song, but you can do it better by taking care of that deity’s people. Jesus said, “whatsoever you do unto these, the least of My people, you do unto Me”. When you ignore the plight of your fellow man when you could do something, even just a little something, then you are ignoring Jesus.