“You’re in my thoughts and prayers.” Really?

How many times have you heard that phrase or even said it yourself? I’ve heard it from people I know and even from people on television. I’ve read it on Facebook or at least seen the praying hands emoji or icon or whatever you want to call it.

This morning the weather was beautiful and a perfect time to have my morning coffee on the front porch. With very little traffic, perfect temps, sunshine, and only the sounds of nature surrounding me, it was an ideal time for prayer and reflection. So I prayed. Then I went inside for a coffee refill and realized my prayer had been the typical one and fairly short. I realized I had a long list of people to pray for, so when I went back outside, I prayed once more, this time praying for people by name instead of a general “be with the sick” or “comfort those who are grieving.”

When I finished and resumed sipping on my morning brew (flavored with Almond Silk Vanilla creamer, just a side note here), I thought about the phrase and how often it is said. A friend of mine once posted the question on FB if we actually prayed for people who asked for prayers on FB. I was guilty of commenting “prayers for you” or something along those lines but later on forgetting who it was I said I’d pray for. My friend’s question prompted me to start praying for those people the minute I read the post, before I even commented. That way, I couldn’t forget.

My thoughts were further deepened by the message from one of our ministers this morning. His lesson was about perspective, but his Biblical example was Jonah and how different his prayers were In Jonah 2 and Jonah 4. How ironic that my morning thoughts were reinforced by a sermon.

That irony or coincidence prompted this blog post. All too often, we give lip service to praying for others yet don’t do it. We say all the right things but don’t always do them. Prayers don’t have to be a long, flowery speech or even some sort of pattern we must follow each time we pray. A prayer can be as simple as “Lord, strengthen (name) as she battles cancer” or “Lord, give strength to (name) as he grieves over the loss of his wife.”

Is prayer enough, though? True, believers contend that God can do anything, but maybe we need to consider that we are God’s servants and by serving Him, we serve others. We put action behind our words. It is fine to pray for someone, but maybe that person needs to know you’re thinking of him and praying for him. Yes, you can comment on Facebook. You can send a text message. You can make a phone call. You can send a card. You can do something that lets that person know you truly are keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

When my father was dying, a process that took a couple of months, I appreciated people telling me they were praying for him and for us. When my friend and her husband showed up one night with homemade soup and stayed for a short visit, the distraction of good conversation and the knowledge I had such a wonderful friend warmed my heart more than the soup warmed my body.

That’s just one example. I could go on and on about other personal experiences, but I’ll save those for other blogs. The idea I’m trying to express here is simply to avoid using hollow expressions like the title of this blog and make them real. If we say someone is in our prayers, then we should pray for them. We should show them in some way that we are doing just that.

As always, my blogs are simply my opinions, and you may disagree with me. But when I post this blog on my FB page today, I am going to tag my FB friends for whom I pray regularly. I’m going to take my FB friends for whom I’ve prayed recently because of illness or loss or difficult circumstances in their lives. And I’m going to try to do a better job of letting them know that I care.