I don't make any secret of the fact that I'm a believer - albeit an often uneasy one. I also don't even try to pretend that the church isn't a flawed body - it's made up of flawed people, and as a result the flaws are just too obvious to deny. But - and some of you are just going to have to trust me on this one - at its core there is something that doesn't show up in the mainstream media very often. If you can see past the hucksters and the showmen that have turned "god" into their puppet - or worse, their whip and post - there are good people really trying to do good things - and they regularly succeed, too. That doesn't sell clicks or ratings, however. But I digress...

Every time something tragic happens in this world and people start using the phrase "our thoughts and prayers", sure as $#!+ the hecklers pop up to ridicule that phrase in every venue they can find.

Thing is - in a very practical way, they're right to. And here's why...

"Thoughts and prayers" - okay, right off the bat - toss that "thoughts" part - by itself it's worthless. I can think about being a fish until I pass out from exhaustion - but if I go try to breathe water, I'm gonna drown. Period. Thoughts that begin and end in the mind are about as useful as flatulence. Brain fart, indeed.

Prayer is a little different, though, because prayer addresses an Outside Force. That having been said - prayer alone - particularly in situations concerning how we humans treat each other and our world - is still potentially worthless. You heard me correctly - God will allow our prayers to be worthless.

God is not a parlor magician that does tricks for our party or a genie that magically grants our wishes. In my own experience and everything I've seen, God does not force the issue. He is never farther from us than our next breath, but He also always gives us the choice to "Walk with Me, or walk away from Me..." - a thought that is encouraging and terrifying at the same time...

Believers are instructed to pray without ceasing, yes - but we are also told that faith without works is dead. The message is pretty clear - "pray" cannot be separated from "do." Praying for change is all well and good - but through what means do we actually expect God to enact that change?

Newsflash - almost every time, it's though us. If I pray "God, please change me," and then don't show up to do MY part - the hard work of challenging myself and my habits and perceptions, guess what?

Nothing changes.

 

Do I leave room in all this for miracles? Sure. But miracles are the exception, not the rule - otherwise they would, by definition, not be miracles.

Thoughts and prayers are great only so long as they are the launch pad for effort and action. Firing off a prayer and then just going back to binge-watching Netflix on the couch doesn't fool anybody - much less God. He'll just say "Come back and talk to me when you're serious. We'll get something done..."