The Lord condemned vain prayers saying, “when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Mat 6:7). While we may not have the repetitious prayers of the Catholics, and while praying for the same thing over and over is not wrong, it can be easy to offer up a prayer that is more of habit than heart. It’s easy to offer up prayers we don’t mean. Maybe we pray them, but don’t act upon them.
Surely Christians have a concern those that are not as faithful in attendance as they could be or should be. We surely pray for them and hope to see them more often. The question to answer is what do we do outside of prayer for them? Do we expect God to just put a tug towards the building in their heart, or cause them enough trouble that they reconsider coming more?
What if along with our prayers we put effort, calling those who are absent. How much of an affect would the majority of the congregation calling the absent have on the ones missing? Calling those frequently absent on Saturday night could help too.
It is important to pray for the things we desire and care about, but if we don’t put our action behind them, are they prayers we truly mean? If we want others to be faithful, let us pray, but also help.
-Carl Jenkins 02/27/2011
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