More Than Words and Prayers

There once was a woman, scared and alone, living day to day wondering if anyone really cared about her. 

Her parents had rejected her. Her husband ignored her. Her sister pretended she didn’t exist. Everyone else walked around her as if she were simply taking up space.

Each morning, she would get up, do what was expected of her, and return to an empty house, a place void of love, kindness and care.

And every day she would ask herself the same question:

“If I disappeared would anyone notice?”

How many people around us are asking that very same question?

The Way of the World

Our world operates at a fast pace.  People come and go with agendas to fulfill, lists to complete and events to attend. Everything is squeezed into carefully organized time slots, leaving little room for the unexpected happenings of life. We are so focused that we fail to notice those we pass along the way.

We promise to pray or tell them God loves them. But often, the person standing before us needs more than words and prayers. They need someone willing to stop, listen, lend a hand, and show them they matter.

Our Faith was never meant to be expressed in words alone. It was meant to be lived through the love we show others.

What set Jesus apart was His willingness to see people. He noticed the overlooked. He stopped for those others passed by. He recognized the hurting, the rejected, the forgotten, and the people whose lives had become tangled in circumstances they could barely understand.

Jesus Made People Feel Seen.

Jesus saw the beggar asking for help.  He saw the Samaritan woman at the well, a woman whose life had been complicated by loss and broken relationships.  He saw those who were sick, those who were grieving, and those whom society had pushed aside.

He saw people as individuals, not interruptions.

He sees you, and He sees me.  He sees our pain, our confusion, our failures, and our loneliness. He sees the parts of our lives we try to hide, from others and from ourselves.  And through His love, He reminds us that we are not invisible.  Our lives have purpose and are never beyond the reach of His care.

As Jesus makes us feel seen, He teaches us to see others.

Christians Today

I sometimes wonder whether we have become so comfortable with the routines of Christianity that we have forgotten what it means to live it.

We go to church, believing we have fulfilled our weekly obligation.  We read Scriptures, sometimes searching only for the words that make us feel good.  Our prayers become a wish list of what we want out of life.

Giving financially to missions is good, yet we overlook the needs of people living next door. We contribute to the church, but struggle to be generous with our time, our attention, and our compassion to individuals around us.

And we tell someone we will pray for them when what they desperately need is for someone to CARE for them.  To show up with more than words and prayers.

Nothing replaces the daily practice of loving our neighbors.

We cannot claim to follow Jesus while continually ignoring the people He has taught us to love.

Our faith is not meant to be something we visit on Sunday and leave behind for the rest of the week.  It is meant to shape how we treat people, how we respond to suffering, and how we use the time and resources God has entrusted to us.

Prayer verses Action

We cannot be everywhere at once.  God never asked us to be.

He placed us right here.  The people in our path, that is our area of work. Here is our chance to offer kindness, encouragement, practical help, and love.

We may never know what a simple act of kindness means to another person.  A listening ear might keep someone from giving up.  A meal might relieve a burden they have been carrying for days.  A few words of encouragement might help someone find the strength to face another morning.

There are circumstances beyond our control.  There are situations we cannot fix, cannot undo, and burdens we cannot carry for others. We do require God’s strength and wisdom in it all. But prayer should never become an excuse for avoiding the very act of love God has placed within our reach.

Where is compassion if we pray for our hungry neighbor but refuse to share what we have?

What good is our faith if we pray for our hurting spouse but refuse to listen, comfort, or help?

If we pray for our children but refuse to give them the time, guidance, and attention they need, what are we teaching them about love?

Would God spend a lifetime working within our hearts, teaching us to love as He loves, only for us to keep that love to ourselves?

Faith is more than what we say to God. It is also revealed in what we do with the love He gives us. The choice to act is ours.

Checking Out

In the Christian life, we must be careful not to check out of the lives of those around us.

There are seasons when sickness, grief, exhaustion, or other burdens limit what we can do. We are human, and we have limitations. Sometimes, we are the ones who need someone else to reach out and care for us.

But there are also times when we have the ability to help and simply choose not to.

When we repeatedly turn away from the needs we could meet, someone may be left feeling that they do not matter. An opportunity to bring light into a difficult day may be lost.

And when we allow indifference to take the place of compassion, we give darkness more room to grow.

Philippians 4:13  reminds us: “I can do all thing through Him who strengthens me.”

And Psalm 73:26  tells us: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

These verses do not mean we must meet every need or carry every burden. They remind us that when our own strength is insufficient, we can turn to God for the strength to do what He has placed before us.

Pray for strength, seek His wisdom, and then act when the opportunity is yours to take.

We each have a decision to make: Will we live as spectators, watching the world pass by, or will we participate in the work of bringing God’s love into it?

Do Your Part

We may not always welcome what comes our way from day to day. There have been times in my own life when I had to pray my way through the things asked of me, taking one moment at a time and one task at a time until I made it through.

Often, doing our part isn’t easy. It can require us to set aside our comfort, our preferences, or our pride.

Here is a true story from my past. 

One day I visited a young woman from church. Her mother-in-law was very sick and weak in bed.

On that particular day, the older woman had gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom. She fell on the bathroom tile floor and cut her arm open.

She lay there, in a pile of her own blood and feces, looking up with tear-stained eyes as her daughter and I approached the doorway of her room.

“I couldn’t make it in time,” she said.

Her daughter simply stood there. No words, no actions, no love.

I’ll never forget the coldness of that moment.

Yet, in this very erratic moment, when everything inside my stomach wanted to quickly exit, I felt the love of Jesus well up inside of me. I bent down beside that old woman, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, “It will be okay. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Then I attended to her needs.

I have never spoken of this story before. There have been times in my life when I performed such tasks, acting directly out of the love of Jesus. I guess I held these moments in a memory bank dedicated to Jesus, as He was the one who actually performed them through me. But reflecting, these times have taught me something so incredibly valuable and often missed by others.

Will We Follow His Example?

Sometimes, the place where we most clearly demonstrate the love of Jesus is in the very place others refuse to go.

It may be an uncomfortable place. Or an inconvenient place. It may be a place where no one sees our actions or even offer us a word of thanks.

But love does not become less valuable simply because the task is unpleasant or the person receiving it cannot repay us.

Jesus taught us to serve one another. He showed compassion to those who were suffering and humbled Himself to serve others. He gave love freely and openly to all who asked, and some who didn’t.

Matthew 16:24 records Jesus saying to His disciples:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Jesus did not merely invite His disciples to think about following Him. He called them to do it.

Taking up our cross means more than speaking about our faith. It means allowing our faith to influence our choices, even when those choices require sacrifice.

It means saying, “Yes, Lord. I am here. Use me today.”

If I could offer one piece of advice to Christians today, it would be this:

Get off your knees and love one another.

Perhaps if we each began doing our part, the world would become a more loving place.

My Prayer for You

My opportunity to see the world change for good will have to continue on through you. You are part of the next generation, and the choices you make will affect people’s lives. The way you treat others, the kindness you offer, and the love you choose to share can travel much farther than you could ever imagine. Will you offer more than words and prayers?

It is my prayer that your heart will remain open to each new day as a fresh beginning.

May you learn to see each opportunity as a gift from God, an opportunity to restore a little kindness and care to a world that so desperately needs both.

Notice the person standing alone. Hear the hurt hidden behind someone’s words. Recognize when another person needs more than advice or a promise of prayer.

And when you recognize those moments, may you have the courage to act.

You won’t always know what to say. You won’t always know how to help. And you won’t always be able to make things right.

But you can offer a listening ear. You can lend a helping hand. You can sit beside someone who is hurting and remind them that they do not have to face the moment alone.

For in you is my future and the future of Christendom. What you choose to make of it will determine so much.

Plant a little bit of Jesus everywhere you go, darling. For all those little seeds of kindness, scattered throughout your day, will grow a wild wilderness of flowers.  And what beauty will surround you then? I so wish I could be there to see it, dear one. But I know it will be glorious!

You have my heart and my love.