prayer is action, friends
"Thoughts and prayers are not enough - we need [x, y, z]."
Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
(Psalm 61:1-3)
Prayer has to be enough. Depending on God through everything has to be enough, because it is all we get.
We can make rules. We have SO MANY rules. Yet, many die. We have yet anger; we have yet fear. Because there aren't enough rules? Or because - all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, we have no peace as we live in these bodies set for death?
Yahweh, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to Yahweh,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because Yahweh sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.
(Psalm 3:1-6)
Yahweh sounds strange and foreign on your ears; it comes from the Hebrew YHWH, meaning I AM. Our God is eternal and the only thing that is, constant and forever. But that is who we have on our side when we pray to him.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)
Two more passages: the first, that when you are called to help physically, emotionally - if you know a solution and have means to execute it, that is great - do it:
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 a 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
So those who say prayers without action is useless; my point is two-fold. If you believe you need to pursue action, that you are Spirit-led to any of the options - legislation for gun control or mental health improvement or just being kinder to your neighbors - do those things. However, and I am insistent upon this: prayer is action. Faith without deeds is dead; however, if all you can do is pray, do that. If you can do other things besides prayer; do them, but also pray:
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call to the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:13-16)
Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
(Psalm 61:1-3)
Prayer has to be enough. Depending on God through everything has to be enough, because it is all we get.
We can make rules. We have SO MANY rules. Yet, many die. We have yet anger; we have yet fear. Because there aren't enough rules? Or because - all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, we have no peace as we live in these bodies set for death?
Yahweh, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to Yahweh,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because Yahweh sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.
(Psalm 3:1-6)
Yahweh sounds strange and foreign on your ears; it comes from the Hebrew YHWH, meaning I AM. Our God is eternal and the only thing that is, constant and forever. But that is who we have on our side when we pray to him.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)
Two more passages: the first, that when you are called to help physically, emotionally - if you know a solution and have means to execute it, that is great - do it:
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 a 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
So those who say prayers without action is useless; my point is two-fold. If you believe you need to pursue action, that you are Spirit-led to any of the options - legislation for gun control or mental health improvement or just being kinder to your neighbors - do those things. However, and I am insistent upon this: prayer is action. Faith without deeds is dead; however, if all you can do is pray, do that. If you can do other things besides prayer; do them, but also pray:
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call to the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:13-16)
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