Don't Use Prayer for This
Prayer is not an excuse not to take action.
Prayer is Important
Prayer is important.
As Christians, we believe that prayer is very important to our faith.
The Bible tells us that we need to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to be “constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
pray without ceasing
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12
Prayer is how we speak to God, how we worship him, and how we ask him for help.
Prayer Can Be Misused
If prayer is so important and necessary for us as Christians, how could prayer ever be a problem?
Prayer, in itself, is not bad. But, even a good thing can be misused. Specifically with prayer, we see this point made in the Bible.
When Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray, he begins by telling them 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.
Matthew 6:5
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.
Matthew 6:7
Another time, Jesus tells his disciples a parable about humility and prayer.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14
When hearing this parable, Jesus’ original audience would have seen the pharisee as a respected religious leader and the tax collector as a traitor. The pharisee should be the hero in this story, and the tax collector the villain. However, Jesus shocked his audience by telling them it was the tax collector who went home justified, not the pharisee.
Both the pharisee and the tax collector prayed, and prayer is good. However, Jesus says that only the tax collector was justified.
These teachings of Jesus reveal something important to us about prayer: prayer is good, but like other good things, prayer can be misused.
One Way We Misuse Prayer Today
The above teachings from Jesus show some of the ways that it is possible to misuse prayer. Today, I want to highlight one way that we misuse prayer today. To demonstrate this, I want to use a dramatic example.
Imagine you are walking and carrying a gallon of clean drinking water with you (no one said this example had to be completely realistic). You find someone sitting by the side of the road who has not drank water in three days and is dying. How should you respond?
Like a good Christian, you pray, “God, please provide water for this dying person.” Then you wave goodbye to the person on the side of the road and continue on your walk.
Was praying in this situation wrong? No. But praying also was not an excuse not to help this person!
While this example is a bit dramatic, it highlights something I see today with prayer (and have even been guilty of doing myself): using prayer as an excuse not to take action.
The Importance of Action
Prayer is important and necessary to our faith, but so is obeying God and loving people. Jesus says that our love for others is what will define us as followers of him.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35
And that, if we love him, we will follow his commands.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 14:15
Jesus is clear that as his followers we need to obey him and love others. This requires action. Without this action and obedience, our faith is dead.
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:17
If we are following Jesus, it will always lead to action at some point.
Prayer AND Action
Both prayer and action are necessary as followers of Jesus. Because of this, prayer and action should go hand in hand.
Jesus helps us to understand what this looks like by giving us an analogy of our relationship to him.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
Jesus says that he is like a vine, and we are like the branches of that vine. A vine branch is dead and cannot do anything if it is not connected to the vine. In the same way, we can’t do anything apart from Jesus. We need to constantly abide in him. One of the ways we do this is coming to him in prayer.
However, a healthy vine is going to produce fruit. If Jesus is at work in our life, it will result in obedience and love. Action is the result of following Jesus
As Christians, we should pray, but we should never use prayer as an excuse not to take action to love God or other people.