From former President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and what seems like every liberal media outlet under the sun, the phrases “prayers aren’t enough” or “prayers don’t work” – in response to virtually every mass tragedy in the last few years – is becoming more and more commonplace. There are several flaws I find in this line of thinking.
For starters, the assumption that those of us who pray are ONLY praying and not actually taking any sort of action is just that, an assumption. The only time prayer is “the only thing” we do is when there is literally nothing else we can do. When there IS something we can do, an action we can take, we pray for victims and for guidance about HOW to take action, and then we take that action. But sometimes there is just nothing we can do besides pray, especially when the tragedy at hand isn’t right in our own backyards so to speak. When there’s a mass shooting halfway across the globe, there isn’t much we as individuals can do about that. But, for example, when a devastating tornado destroys homes in the next city over, well, that’s something we can help with by assisting with clean-up efforts, bringing food and other essentials to those displaced, or a number of other things that are only possible due to our close proximity. When we see homeless people every day, we can not only pray for them but also do something good for them like buy them a meal or give them a pocket bible.
Those who pray in times of others’ needs are most often the same people that are doing whatever they can to actually help those people by donating their time and/or resources while the people complaining about prayer are literally only complaining about prayer and not actually doing anything about it themselves besides virtue signaling with a flag on Twitter. When the left makes a call to action after tragedy strikes, there is no evidence that they have taken any action other than to place blame. Given that they obviously are opposed to prayer, that means they are demanding that we quit praying and take action while they aren’t doing either!!! I’ve also noticed that we are never given ideas on how exactly it is that we’re supposed to help or what exactly we are supposed to do in times of mass tragedy. We’re only told to stop praying and start doing. Why does the left not hold themselves to the very standards they are mandating for the rest of us?
I also want to be clear that one of the reasons others don’t usually know what kind of actions Christians are taking is because we are not supposed to tell others what we are doing. We are supposed to be humble and just do it. I can say from personal experience that people who know me would be very surprised to find out some of the things I’ve done. Those that don’t believe it are usually those who find it necessary to tell everybody every time they perform a good deed.
Many of those who are making these statements about prayer not working claim to be Christian themselves. But actual Christians understand the value of prayer. Praying is one of the most selfless (yet ironically easiest) things we can do for one another. Easy because we can literally do it anywhere at any time, verbally or silent, eyes opened or closed, alone or with others. Selfless because it often involves praying for others who hate us or who would consider us their enemy. Selfless because we pray for nothing but good will for others, even at our own expense. Selfless because as easy as it is, it is still a struggle for many to take that time out of their day to remember to pray for others. If we believe prayer works, what kind of monsters would we be to never pray?
Those opposed to prayer are also assuming that they speak for the victims of these horrible events. As though the victims themselves do not want prayer. The left might respond to that with the same notion towards us, that we are assuming the victims DO want prayer. To that, I would say that regardless of whether or not prayer works, at the very least, it is harmless. But if prayer DOES work, calling for people to stop praying could potentially be very harmful. Besides, one would be very hard pressed to find actual victims demanding that we stop praying for them. But par for the course, liberals assume the position of mouthpiece for any person or any event that they can politicize as long as they think it demonizes the rest of us.
Perhaps the biggest flaw, though, is the very statement itself that “prayer isn’t enough” or “prayer doesn’t work”. The only people saying this are the very people who don’t pray. Or the people who “pray” to a God they don’t believe in. God has no obligation to answer our prayers in the manner we want, especially if we don’t even believe He exists. It is impossible to genuinely and earnestly pray if we don’t genuinely and earnestly believe in God – and His power through prayer – in the first place.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
The Armentrout Shout-out 