My Thoughts And Prayers

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.  1 Peter 4:7

The phrase comes up a lot in our daily life as we hear of deaths and tragedies too far away for the speaker to be there immediately. Did  you ever use this in vain? Did you say it and not mean it? That is the contention of a group of scoffers I watched last night, and this morning I have to speak up in defense of the Lord's chosen ones. One called it something like the most useless and throwaway phrase in use today. I will not quote due to the actual words used in that interview. 

What the man said may be true.

For that reason, we who believe in Jesus and pray seriously to Him for those far away must examine ourselves as Paul told us to do and make sure that when we tell someone our thoughts and prayers are with them, that we go into our prayer closet with that person in mind and make earnest prayer for them. And we shall endeavor to do this until the circumstance is resolved. Yes, our prayer list may get long. 

Do you get angry when you hear that someone considers your thoughts and prayers to be a wasted phrase? Mere words spoken to act like you are doing something and care for a person you will soon forget? Excellent! Get angry and be serious in prayer before the Lord for those who think such things as that. Like you, I had not considered that phrase to be indifferent or vain, and when I say my thoughts and prayers are with you, they are! We can be serious in our prayers in Christ, and great good will come for one another from those thoughts and prayers. For as we see in the Revelation, God considers our prayers a serious thing.  

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.  Revelation 8:4

Oh yes! Our thoughts and prayers have great value to our Savior! 

Bucky