5. “You’re in my thoughts and prayers.”

Slide 5 of 5

The reason this is not very helpful is that most of the people who say it don’t mean it. For example, over the last two decades in our country, there have been many tragic incidents where dozens of people have gotten killed in mass shootings. You turn on the television, and the politicians would say my thoughts and prayers are with those families. Maybe I am wrong here, but those words always feel so empty to me.

When people are in trying and difficult situations, they need people to pray for them, but sometimes they need more than that. They need people to take action to help them. Notice what 1 John says.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:16-18

What John is saying here is that if you have the means to help someone and all you offer are thoughts and prayers, then your thoughts and prayers mean little. When God’s love is flowing through you, it compels you to do more than just offer thoughts and prayers. I often wonder what thoughts are you thinking towards that person who is going through that difficult situation, anyway?

There is something interesting you will notice in the Bible. Whenever Jesus saw someone and had compassion on them, he always followed it up by helping or changing their situation.

• Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he taught them.
• Jesus was teaching a crowd, and he realized they were hungry. He had compassion on them, and he fed them.
• Many people were brought to Jesus who were sick and he had compassion on them and healed them.

In each situation, his compassion did not lead him to offer thoughts and prayers. It led him to do something about their situation because he could. That’s why offering thoughts and prayers may seem like a nice and comforting thing to say, however, if you can do something about their situation, that is far better and more in alignment with how Jesus would respond.

Final thought.

I hope you understand the point of this article. Your words have power and meaning, and let’s use them wisely and, when possible, back up your words with actions. There is a good possibility your actions will probably help people more than anything you could ever say.

Related Resource: How to Encourage Your Discouraged Spouse

We all feel discouraged sometimes. But what about when our spouse feels beaten down or weary? On this episode of Team Us, we share some practical ways you can encourage your discouraged spouse. If this episode helps your marriage, be sure to subscribe to Team Us on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode.

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