Happy Sunday,
“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22-27
Are we hearers only?
It’s much easier to complain, judge, and criticize than to actually do something. Children whine when they don’t like what’s for dinner; they don’t fire up the stove to boil their own pasta. And for us adults, the news is our dinner table.
Every day, the news highlights dozens of national issues or overseas crises that are overwhelming in both scope and distance. In our overwhelm, we blame politicians (they should’ve seen the latest problem coming, right??). The few ways we do consistently respond—voting and posting on social media—are really just outsourcing real action to others, requiring little from us while giving us the feeling of having participated.
An even better trick is when we don’t even pretend to do anything, but feel like we’ve participated simply because we’ve consumed the news.
Someone I know was once judged as “uncaring” because they hadn’t heard about a hurricane headed towards Haiti. Apparently, their holier-than-thou cousin had been incredulous that they didn’t know about all the people in danger. When asked, this cousin confirmed they had no plans to actually do anything about the situation—no prayers had been prayed, no hurricane relief would be rendered—yet they felt smug satisfied in their “compassion” because they were informed.
I’ll say it: that’s stupid. If anything, being aware of suffering and doing nothing makes you less compassionate, not more. (Quick, unimportant sidebar: I was actually the cousin in that story.)
My proposed solution is highly original: pray.
Prayer is the only action that is always available. No matter how big or distant the story is, prayer is appropriate, powerful, and effective. It shouldn’t be all we do, but it should always be part of what we do.
If you want help kickstarting a habit of praying for the needs of the world, with just one click you can join The Pour Over’s Prayer Week in partnership with World Concern. It begins tomorrow!
What do you think?
Jason Woodruff
P.S. Prayer Week is a 5-day campaign focused on the global hunger crisis. You’ll receive information on the crisis as well as beautiful psalmic prayers written by TPO’s team, providing words for those of us unsure of what to say or do.
My hope and prayer is that we get to watch God move in the world and see our own posture towards these headlines become more like His.
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