Sermon: Thoughts and Prayers

Hello folks!

This week I took the time to tidy up the original postings on Thoughts and Prayers. In June 2019 I also delivered a sermon on the topic, based on the original postings, which I thought I’d share with you today. Here you go… 

Today I thought we’d tackle, “Thoughts & Prayers”. This phrase has come to reflect a quick tagline you can pull off the shelf when a tragedy occurs. And certainly there have been a great many tragedies of late: forest fires, bus accidents, school shootings, bombings and tsunami’s… all producing the social media tagline, “you’re in my thoughts and prayers”. 

And that tagline, justifiably, has garnered a fair amount of criticism and backlash. Many people, particularly non-religious people, have called Christians out on it. Because it seems as if there’s not much real caring behind this phrase. And so we see photos like these, found on social media:

The argument has gone out that at least sending tater tots and pears would be helpful. How helpful are words without meaning?

Thoughts: Makh’ashavah מַחֲשָׁבָה

But are thoughts and prayers bad?? No!

However, it’s important to understand what those words mean from a Biblical perspective. So, you know me, we’re going to dive into some Hebrew! 

Let’s start with “thoughts”: Makh’ashavah is the Hebrew word for “thoughts” and it has a variety of translations, including: thoughts, but also: plans, inventions, plots, designs, purpose, and schemes.

What draws those words together, though, is that they are preparations for ACTION. When you plan, plot, scheme, invent it is thinking things through to the next stage of action. They are not “idle thoughts”… rather they always lead to activity.

So when you say, you’re in my thoughts and prayers… in the Hebrew context you are really saying, I’m coming up with a plan of how I can help and I will pray about it. That is how it is meant to be. That is how thoughts and prayers would be helpful.

What’s the point of saying you’re in my thoughts & prayers if it means nothing and goes nowhere? Having a mental picture of someone floating around in your brain does nothing for the person suffering. This helps no one but ourselves… It’s making ourselves feel better about the situation… like we’ve done our part and now we can move past it. But when we move past it, we’re just leaving the person suffering behind.

Around the time of the Babylonian attack, in the 6th Century BC, YHWH gives the Hebrew people hope by expressing what His plans/thoughts are for their future:

Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For I know the plans (ha-machashavot) that I have for you,” declares YHWH, “plans (ha-machashavot) for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

And He goes on to say what His plans would be re leading to:

 …“I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares YHWH, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.”

What is God saying here? He’s saying: 

I’m thinking about you. 

I have a plan for you.

I’m going to make it happen! 

Clearly God’s thoughts/plans lead to action… He listens, He restores, He gathers and He brings people back home. These are not idle thoughts God is having… they are full-on plans!

Our thoughts should be plan oriented thoughts… So, if you tell someone you’re thinking of them, Biblically, you should be coming up with a plan of how you can help them.

Also we need to have these thoughts with intent! Is the intent to actually carry through with our thoughts/plans? Or do we merely have the thoughts but do nothing? Scripture tells us that God watches to see the intent of our thoughts. King David warned his son Solomon of this:

1 Chronicles 28:9-10

[David to Solomon:] “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for YHWH searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts [makhashav-ot].”

Even the very first time we see the word makhashavot in the Old Testament it is emphasized that God seeks out the intent of the thoughts:

Genesis 6:5-6

Then YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts [makh’shev-ot] of his heart was only evil continually. YHWH was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

You see, for us, we think our thoughts are only heard by our own brain and they can remain hidden. But God knows them and hears them, and when our thoughts are not good He grieves them in His heart.

That’s pretty heavy! I don’t know about you but I certainly hope that God isn’t sorry He made me. I know He loves me, but I also know that some of my thoughts have probably given Him sorrow.  And that’s quite humbling, and embarrassing.

We need to focus our thoughts to being good, constructive, thoughts… not idle, useless, mind-wanderings… but thoughts that become plans… plans that better the wellness of others!

Jesus tells the story of the conversation that will be had between himself, the Messiah King, and the righteous who follow Him, when He sits on the throne of glory:

Matthew 25:34-40

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

But here’s the thing… where does Jesus say “I was hurting and you thought of me?”

Nowhere. God wants us to take action. This is putting your thoughts into ACTION. We are His advocates on this planet. Feeding, clothing, hosting, caring, and visiting are what we are called to do. 

So next time we get the urge to say, “You’re in my thoughts and prayers”, we need to take a deeper leap and turn those thoughts into plans…plans that express God’s love in action.

This is how we change lives! This is how we have an impact on our community! This is how we need to live our faith out loud!

This is important! How can we have an impact on our community? We really need to put some thought in this! To be an effective Church, we can’t be here just for ourselves. We need to put some thought and prayer into our community.

Prayer: tefillah תְּפִלָּה 

So what about prayers… or tefillah in Hebrew? Saying, “you’re in my thoughts and prayers” sounds less religious than directly saying, “I’m praying for you”. It seems to be a softer approach… but it’s starting to come dangerously close to the phrase “sending positive vibes”… which means ‘what’, exactly?? There’s no conviction behind it. And so we get pictures like this:

Ouch! That’s tough! We do believe that prayer means something… but we have to be careful when, and how, we use this word.

I searched all over the Old Testament to find a grand definition of prayer, but there was none. However, Hebrew scripture is full of shining examples of prayer: Hannah’s prayer of Joy, David’s prayer of Thanksgiving, Solomon’s prayer of Dedication, Jabez’s prayer of Protection, Habakkuk’s prayer of Awe & Exultation, Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish, just to name a few.

And so without a definition, what do these examples tell us about prayer?

Biblically prayer appears to be a personal, sincere, conversation with God. It’s that simple.

Prayer needs to be Personal

How you speak to your Creator is different than how anyone else speaks to Him. Consider conversations you’ve had with your Dad and how that is different from conversations with your friends, or your teacher, or your uncle. 

It is because you have different shared histories together, different inside jokes, different ways of looking at the world together. It is the same for God. Your relationship with Him is unique to you and Him, and your prayers will reflect that.

So it’s important that you don’t judge your prayers, or compare your prayers to someone else’s. Have you ever thought, “I can’t pray like that person prays”?  Of course you can’t; they are them and you are you. If you can have a conversation with a friend, you can pray to your God! He’s not looking for eloquent speech and fancy, poetic, words. All He wants from you is a sincere relationship with connection and communication.

Just like a conversation with any friend, we can ask God the tough questions, we can be thankful, joyful, angry, sad. We can speak in awe and we can also speak candidly. 

Your life experience, at each moment that you pray, also shapes your conversations. If you’re angry at your co-worker it changes the tone of your conversation with them. If you are nervous about something, the words you speak reflect that. Listen to Jeremiah’s prayer when he is aware of the corruption around him:

Jeremiah 12:1-3

Righteous are you, O YHWH, when I complain to you. Yet I would plead my case before you:

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. but you, O YHWH, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you.

There is a raw honesty in Jeremiah’s prayer. He asks God the tough questions. So should we! We need to be honest in our communication with YHWH, otherwise it’s an empty prayer.

Prayer needs to be Sincere 

God calls on His people to seek Him out and pray with a sincere and humble heart. There’s a story in the Gospels where Jesus is surrounded by self-righteous and elitist Pharisees. And Jesus takes that moment to tell a parable about humility in prayer:

Luke 18:9-14

To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He [Yeshua] also told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I receive.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Conversing with God without sincerity is not praying, it’s acting. It’s a show, a one-man play for the benefit of others. God is not interested in listening to the drama. He’s listening for the sincerity of our words!

Here’s the thing… the backlash to “thoughts & prayers” came about because people recognized that the words had lost their meaning, but WORDS mean a great deal in the Bible!

What’s the first word God speaks in the Bible?… “Let there be light”, and snap, there was light. God’s words are words of action.

As God’s images or reflections on earth, we are also called to action!

Words, also, are powerful… they are filled with power. I would hope no one here has felt a physical punch to the face, but I would guess that we’ve all been punched with words.

Words can hurt! And to flippantly toss out words as if they have no meaning, devalues those who have been verbally abused. Words can stab you, they can tear you apart, they can knock you out and drag you down.

Whoever said, “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me”… was wrong. And if we say, “oh, they’re just words”… then we’re not giving words and language the credit they deserve. 

God spoke the world into existence with words… everything He said was meaningful! As God’s image (or reflection) on earth, we should speak with meaningful intent, and great respect for the power of language! Remember God is listening to the intent of your thoughts, He is also listening to the delivery of your words! As followers of the Messiah, when we speak, people judge our WORDS! If we are using words to tear people down, rather than lifting them up… then how does anyone see Christ in us?!

And if we throw out words like “you’re in my thoughts and prayers” as if they mean nothing then all of our other words lose credibility.

But, if we purposely put our thoughts into plans of action by feeding, and clothing, and teaching, and visiting, and caring, we may actually become somebody’s answered prayer! We are called to be God’s reflection on this planet. He works through us to change lives!

Prayer in Adversity

The world is full of adversity. It’s the main reason why we offer thoughts and prayers to our friends and family. One of my favourite Biblical prayers is from David who faced the constant threat of war:

Psalm 27:4-8 

One thing I have asked from YHWH, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of YHWH all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of YHWH and to meditate in His temple.

For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to YHWH.

Hear, O YHWH, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O YHWH, I shall seek.”

Seeking God is a key component to faith. We need to seek, call out and converse with our Creator. It’s what we were created for!

So next time we’re tempted to write, You’re in my thoughts and prayers, we need to ask ourselves this? Do we honestly plan on doing something to help? If ‘yes’, then by all means say thoughts. But if what we really mean is, “I will pray for you”, then we need to say so, and do it. 

We don’t have the resources and time to actively take on every tragedy, but prayer is free and has no time limit. It doesn’t need a schedule. In the tiniest moments of your day you can pray. And sometimes, I believe, it’s the tiny heartfelt prayers that are the most powerful.

If we learn anything from the great pray’ers in the Bible, we should know this: Always praise God, but also take time to chat, share your happiness, get mad, cry out, question, and laugh with God. He is YHWH, full of gentle lovingkindness and He wants to hear everything you have to say. 

His thoughts are with YOU, let your prayers be to HIM!

Next week: Revisiting HEART