If we look clearly at our present time, we will see the reduction of the holy things of God. Our moral code, once unwritten but held adherence, has shifted into moral decay. Clothing/apparel has become a statement declaring a sub-group mentality or worse yet, a gender preference. We have strayed far from modesty. Language has devolved into innuendos filled with sexualized double meanings. The list goes on.
Perhaps the greatest of these changes occurred in the last century when public prayer was challenged in our institutions. The most poplar rebuttal came from the atheist, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Engle v. Vitale, which presented an opposition to the Lord’s Prayer in the Baltimore public school district. Seven years later, “The Regents Prayer” case featured a Jewish man, Steven Engel, suing the Long Island school district because Christian children prayed differently than the Jewish children. In response the court removed all prayer from the school district.
Incrementally public prayer lost its footing. State dinners and political functions commenced with little or no recognition of God or His goodness. All public institutions banned public prayer and offered side rooms in lieu of center stage. In time those “side rooms” were closed to Christian practices.
Climbing into this new era, we witnessed a common response to tragedies with these words: “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” It seemed a kind gesture, but there was something missing. America did not say, “We are praying for you.” The difference looked benign at first glance until it was revealed that there was no prayer spoken, rather it was an internal offering.
Today there are no more mention of prayers; just thoughts. In other words, in times of trouble or tragedy the statements have been reduced to “We are thinking of you.” These “thoughts” are sent, though I cannot tell how, to the person in need. These “thoughts” for those in trouble, pain, or loss is a mystery to me.
I am happy to be corrected if someone can tell me how their thoughts heal, deliver, or bring peace. From where I’m standing, thoughts are nothing more than a reduction of the desperate prayer people need! People receive an answer from God not a thought. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, brings peaces beyond understanding. “Thoughts” come from a Hallmark card.
Human thought is the ultimate reduction of the holy thing given to the church. When there is a need, I implore you NOT to express intention. I’m asking you to pray! Do not think of me. Pray for me. Thoughts will not set anyone free. They will not bridge the gap between the impossible and the miracle. They will not reach the throne of Grace. Call the Name of Jesus and seek Him Who has the power to both save and deliver. The reductions borne of humanism are no match for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole