Thoughts on “Thoughts and Prayers”

In the wake of the most recent tragedy involving the shooting deaths of children (with still more wounded), many on the secular left once again mocked Christians for offering prayers. Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki caused a stir when she posted the following on X:

Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does not end school shootings. Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.

First, before getting to her critiques of prayer, it’s interesting that she doesn’t actually say what should be done instead of prayer. She doesn’t advocate for a specific legislative policy (or any other specific action) that should be taken to prevent future similar crimes. And that’s sadly common of left-wing responses to these tragedies. At most, you’ll typically get a non-specific suggestion like “pass common-sense gun control.” But they’ll rarely articulate what they mean by that.

Now, it is not my belief that we should pray only. The Bible commands us to do righteous works as well, but my focus in this column is on the power and place of prayer.

I would agree that merely posting “thoughts and prayers for the victims” on social media is a mostly meaningless gesture. It does convey sympathy, and that’s a good thing. But offering prayers insincerely isn’t going to accomplish anything. But the sincere prayers offered to the Lord by Christian men and women (and children!) isn’t an alternative to action. It is action.

Let me give an example. Suppose two kids are playing in the yard, and one of them falls down a hill and is injured. The other kid is going to run back to the house and tell his parents what happened and urge them to come help the other child. That child has taken important action even though he didn’t pull the injured child up himself. But what did he do? He ran to get someone who can do what he can’t do. That’s what sincere prayer is. It’s asking for God to do what we can’t do. I don’t personally know any of the families touched by this tragedy. But I can pray to God to deliver them comfort, support, and healing.

Let’s look at how Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6. First, he gives a couple of examples of how not to pray.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

In other words, don’t pray to virtue signal. Pray privately and sincerely. He also said:

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Don’t worry about trying to sound pious or use flowery language. God already knows your needs, far more than you do. Keep it simple, and keep it genuine.

Then he told them how to do it the right way:

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

If you break that down, it starts with acknowledging God’s place with reverence. Then we humbly ask God for His will to be done. Then we ask God to provide for our needs and forgive us of our sins. Then we extend forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. Then we ask God’s protection from evil and temptation.

You don’t have to pray those exact words (though it’s great to do so!), but it’s a helpful framework for how to pray.

Nevertheless, California governor Gavin Newsom savagely mocked Christian prayer by posting the following on X:

These children were literally praying as they got shot at.

It’s a pretty low blow to belittle the prayer of dead and wounded children, but the reality is that just because we ask God for something, it doesn’t mean that He will give it to us. There are amazing testimonies of answered prayer all throughout history and even up to the present. Nevertheless, much evil reigns in our world. And in most cases, we will likely never know why God didn’t intervene to prevent horrendous acts. My caution, though, is that I believe that God is doing more restraining of evil in this world than we’re aware of, though I understand that might seem like little comfort in light of the tragedies we do see.

Jesus knew that he was going to be arrested, tried, and crucified before it happened. Right before his arrest, there’s a striking scene in the Gospels where Jesus takes his disciples to a garden in Jerusalem. He leaves them to go and pray to God alone. Here’s what it says:

And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

And then a little while later:

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

‭‭In Luke’s Gospel, we get a sense of how intensely Jesus was praying:

And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus accepted that God might not answer in such a way to “let the cup pass from him,” but he still earnestly petitioned the Father, and incredibly intensely. Still, Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified. (Though fortunately that is not the end of the story!)

Look, if you’re not a believer, I understand why prayer might seem empty. But I want you to understand what prayer is for the follower of Jesus, and I want to tell you that it has real power, even if it doesn’t always lead to the result we want, or in the way we want it to. If I can pray for you in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out.

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