"I'm Praying For You" and other meaningless chatter

A couple of months ago, I saw on Facebook that an old friend of mine was going through some hard times. I told him the usual Christian thing to tell people who are going through a hard time, from a safe distance away. "I'm praying for you." Some people are grateful for my promise of prayers, and most are polite enough to pretend to be. However, this friend, whose belief system is very different from my own, politely let me know that prayers wouldn't help. I could have taken offense, and preached to him about why prayers do help, and then blocked or deleted him. But why? Because I was challenged? I told him that I really did hope things got better for him.  He appreciated that more than the prayers. And I could tell he was being sincere.

The exchange got me to thinking. First of all, when we say "I'm praying for you", do we mean it? Sometimes we forget, so I try to do it right then. Sometimes I think it's just something to say. Second of all, sometimes Christians say things like, "Well....all we can do is pray." Like it's a last resort. I know the intent of the statement, because I've said it myself. In other words, "No point in worrying. Give it to God." Thirdly.....and the main point of this blog post.....do we offer to pray for people because it's the easy way out? Sometimes, all we really can do is pray. We don't always have money to give people, we can't always drop everything and drive across the country to help a friend in need, etc. But when we are able to help, and choose not to...when we are too busy to get down in the trenches with people, to walk WITH people through the muck and the mire... That is what Jesus did and does. The fact is, the easy thing to do is say "I'm praying for you", offer up a long enough prayer that our conscience is appeased, and go on about our day.

So, should we not tell people we are praying for them? Should we not pray for them? Of course. There is no greater privilege than to approach the throne of grace on behalf of our loved ones. But when possible, go one step further. Don't just sound like Jesus. Be Jesus. This really challenged me. I hope it does the same for you. Be blessed. Be a blessing. Know how much you are loved. Love others (action verb).