Thoughts and Prayers

It grieves me to hear that a saying once used for sympathy has now been politicized. When we used to say, “you are in our thoughts and prayers” it was a way of saying we care. Now the saying has been weaponized by certain political groups as a way of saying people don’t care. Recently, I watched a young girl speak out about a tragedy that happened at her school. In her speech she said that we don’t need thoughts and prayers. My first reaction when I heard this was that she probably never experienced prayer. However, I don’t think most people know the potential of prayer. Prayer in our society has been reduced to a pious act. It is just something we do to feel good or to have hope in a situation. Also, in some situations its like a last resort where we hope to get lucky with a response.

There is nothing wrong with feeling good, having hope, or wanting a response but prayer is much more than that. Prayer changes things!  Just consider Psalm 107:28-30, it says “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven”. As the psalm says, not only were people saved from trouble, by their prayers ,but creation itself experienced a silence coming from God’s presence. As the psalm states, God entered the world and the world was changed. This is the kind of power God has given us through prayer.  

It’s a great mystery but God has subjected Himself to our prayers. Imagine if the Christian churches that we see on just about every intersection in our country believed that. Imagine seeing these places as instruments of true change in our society. The fact is they are not and sometimes they have become part of our troubles. The thing our churches often miss in being these places for change is God’s desire that we be, “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1peter 2:9).

We are a priestly people called to live in a righteous way. In fact, according to scripture the effectiveness of prayer is sometimes defined by how righteous someone is (James 5:16). This fact is also emphasized in 1Peter 3:7 where it says that prayers can be hindered by how we treat others. Being a disciple of the teachings of Jesus Christ releases the grace of God into this world. Likewise, being disobedient to his teachings hinders his grace into this world. Yes, I am saying that by not authentically following the teachings of Christ we can have ineffective prayer. This is a great mystery, but it does reveal the value and importance of our actions.

Galatians 6:7-10 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life”. By being unfaithful to Christ we have seen the fruit of how prayer is now understood. We are as Galatians teaches, "reaping what we have sowed". Prayer has become a powerless expression that has lost its value, even among those that bear the name of Christian. Thankfully, its not to late to change this. It says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”. God is just waiting for us to repent.

St. Seraphim of Sarov was person that people would go to for prayer in old Russia. To this day people still call on him for help. They knew he was a person that God would hear and from whom we could get a response. However, he would teach people that you could be that person that God would hear. Among his sayings he said, “Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved”. God wants us to be people that can change the world. To be people filled with his Spirit of Peace. All this takes is following Jesus in every moment. To hear his voice in your heart and to follow him. God makes no distinction among us and invites all of us to have the Spirit of Peace. We just need to be willing and continually faithful in our response to Him.