Prayer

 

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?

- James’ letter 2.15 & 16

 

A while back I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I mentioned that my actions were a more powerful prayer than anything I might say. That if I saw a person who was begging for change to get something to eat, that my giving the person a sandwich was a prayer. He disagreed. This was understandable, we often limit the idea of prayer to asking God for stuff.

Prayer is more than just asking God to intervene. It is including the knowledge that I bring the love of God into the world. We are told that God’s love is made complete in us. (1 John 4.12) It is a hypocrisy to offer thoughts and prayers when we have the ability to make a difference. This is not to say that one should not be mindful and to offer prayers when one cannot do anything to effect a change. Our acts of charity do not have to exhaust our own resources, but they need to be more than just a token effort.

It is often said that people may not always remember what we said or what we did, but they will remember how we treated them. How we made them feel. I think this say two things.

         First, our intention is what comes through the strongest. We do not have to get the actions right, nor does it matter that we get our words right.. The motivation behind our words and actions matter.

            Second, and relatedly, it matters how we view the person. Jesus told us that we need to see the person as being him! This means that I see the person begging for change, pushing the shopping cart, sleeping in the door way, as being Christ. Those people who are spectacles within our society are seen as being God. There has been more than one person begging for change that have commented that even when being denied that the person looked them in the eye, acknowledged their humanity, mattered We are told in scripture to be kind to strangers as they may be angel in disguise.

             If how we treat those we consider the least is how we treat Jesus, then how we treat the others is worship. Our giving the homeless person a sandwich is a prayer. Talking to the person with the shopping cart is our hymn. I need to realize that my love, prayer, and worship, is meaningless if it never makes out of the church door.

Anyway, that is my opinion.