Scripture Reference: James 2

Something hit me this morning. I tend to look at James 2:16 as being something I can only do to homeless and poor people around me:

“If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”

However, the whole point of the passage is to put your faith into practice, and to not just to mouth worthless clichés to get away from someone else’s sob story. It’s not (just) about homeless people. So, with that in mind, I realized that there is a modern day equivalent to this verse:

“If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; I’ll pray for your need,” but does nothing to help be an answer to that prayer, what good is it?”

Some prayer requests – especially for those that require physical healing – are beyond our ability to do anything about. But what about those that we can do something about? What if someone is feeling lonely? What if they are struggling with self doubt? What if they are in need of anything that we have the ability to do something about?

James goes on to say “do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” Useless? Ouch. But… maybe… possibly…. is that why we pray for things for other people, and never see those prayers answered? Is it because we are supposed to be the answers, and our faithful prayer without deeds is turning up useless?

Take the loneliness issue for an example. People usually don’t come out and say “I’m lonely.” They just start saying things like “I am not feeling very connected with any of the people around here.” I’ve heard many people say this – and have even said it myself plenty of times. The typical reaction is “well, I’ll pray for God to send some marvelous comrades your way, brother/sister.” Several weeks go by, and the person is still feeling “disconnected.” And the other person probably is still praying fruitless prayers, or has forgotten the whole issue by now. Hello! Pick up the phone and give the person a call? Is that so hard? I often wonder why so many people are so reluctant to become the answers to their own prayers.