After the election My social media timelines have been full of people saying that we need to pray.
And they are absolutely right.
However....
The Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1-18) also says there is a time to pray and a time to mourn...
We have abbreviated this to the old adage there is a time and place for everything.
So we need to give space to those who are mourning, we need to give space to those who are angry and let everyone feel what they are feeling and stop telling them we just need to pray.
Why do we need to stop this? Because besides giving people space, prayer is not always the only answer that God gives us. Sometimes he calls us to pray but other times he calls us to march (think the walls of Jericho, see Joshua 6), sometimes he calls us to speak up (see Esther 4), sometimes he calls us to be still and listen (see 1 Samuel 3) and sometimes he calls us to fight (see the story of the Judge Deborah in Judges 4:6).
As a Christian even I am telling you that the "we need to pray" response to the hurt, fear and angst I am feeling is ANNOYING! I know I need to pray but at this point God wants more than our prayers. He wants our understanding, our compassion, our holy discontent in the injustices that are happening to our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles and everything in between.
So please give folks space to feel. And you pray that my feelings are channeled into the right healthy direction.
Make no mistake we are going to need prayers for the fight that looms. And there will be those called to pray and those called to fight.
Just don't keep telling me to pray. I know that already.
EXTRA: God has never been a God of words only. James 1:22 says, be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. So for all my prayer warriors out there, we have to be ready to apply the actions God calls for when we pray and He answers. Don't just talk about it, be about it.
And they are absolutely right.
However....
The Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1-18) also says there is a time to pray and a time to mourn...
We have abbreviated this to the old adage there is a time and place for everything.
So we need to give space to those who are mourning, we need to give space to those who are angry and let everyone feel what they are feeling and stop telling them we just need to pray.
Why do we need to stop this? Because besides giving people space, prayer is not always the only answer that God gives us. Sometimes he calls us to pray but other times he calls us to march (think the walls of Jericho, see Joshua 6), sometimes he calls us to speak up (see Esther 4), sometimes he calls us to be still and listen (see 1 Samuel 3) and sometimes he calls us to fight (see the story of the Judge Deborah in Judges 4:6).
As a Christian even I am telling you that the "we need to pray" response to the hurt, fear and angst I am feeling is ANNOYING! I know I need to pray but at this point God wants more than our prayers. He wants our understanding, our compassion, our holy discontent in the injustices that are happening to our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles and everything in between.
So please give folks space to feel. And you pray that my feelings are channeled into the right healthy direction.
Make no mistake we are going to need prayers for the fight that looms. And there will be those called to pray and those called to fight.
Just don't keep telling me to pray. I know that already.
The Unlikely Missionary,
DHW
EXTRA: God has never been a God of words only. James 1:22 says, be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. So for all my prayer warriors out there, we have to be ready to apply the actions God calls for when we pray and He answers. Don't just talk about it, be about it.
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