The phrase “thoughts and prayers” has been lambasted over the past several years as a form of slacktivism. The reasoning goes, you post something that sounds thoughtful on your social media, but you don’t take any action in your everyday life to prevent future problems from occurring. Most notably, “thoughts and prayers” is a phrase touted after a mass shooting by people who refuse to acknowledge the need for gun-law changes. It looks like you care (in fact, maybe you do), but you don’t put your money where your mouth is, and your performative activism accomplishes nothing but making you feel better about yourself.
I would like to argue that prayer is doing something, though I submit that it is one part of a greater picture of action. Dr. Hal Knight says it well on the MO Conference of the UMC website: “For Wesley as for the Christian tradition prayer is doing something, and it does make a difference. It is not a substitute for other action; but neither is it inaction. At its heart, prayer is communion with God.” I’ve been reading Jemar Tisby’s How to Fight Racism, and have been inspired about a more holistic approach to activism. Tisby argues that practical racial justice follows an ARC: Awareness, Relationships, and Commitment. At any time, we may be more inclined to one of these elements than the others, but the idea is that we approach a balance in all three. Awareness of the issues of justice includes educating oneself as well as prayer: as we confess our own failures and our need for God, as we pray for our neighbor we grow in empathy for them. The second practice is building Relationships with people who are different from you, with no other agenda than loving them for who they are. In the gay community, we know that the most likely way to change someone’s heart is for them to get to know you as a gay person, to accept your struggle and see you as a whole person. This has more power to change than a thousand arguments on the issue. The third practice is “Commitment to dismantle racist structures, laws and policies” (Tisby, 5). All the knowledge and meaningful conversations in the world amount to little if they are not backed up with faithful action.
My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it?15 Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. 16 What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? 17 In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. James 2:14-17, CEB
John Wesley was a man of deep prayer. He believed in it’s importance and efficacy for faithful development. Prayer is a means of grace where God promises to meet us with grace as we perform it. Prayer doesn’t undo the evils that have been done. Prayer doesn’t magically fix the problems of the world. It is not a band-aid. It is communion with the God of the victim and the God of the enemy. It is communion with the crucified Lamb who cried the tears of the victim at the hand of the oppressor. It is communion with the Victorious One who conquered Sin and Death. And as I confess my own complicity in racism and sexism, I become more aware of these evils around me and I find my voice to speak up for justice. Works of Piety (such as prayer) must go hand in hand with Works of Mercy (including activism and charity), where my love for God is revealed in my love for neighbor.
Pray for the victims. Give to the victims’ GoFundMe pages and then
find an organization that is actively working against injustice. Often these organizations provide opportunities to give small amounts regularly that help with on the ground legal work. They also usually provide petitions or messages you can send to legislature to get involved in the political process.
Prayer is not nothing. At it’s best it moves from performative to transformative, and I think prayer is at it’s best when we pray together in community. We hold each other accountable when we confess our sins together. We hold each other when we pray together.