A Blessing or a Brush off?

Sometimes I get nervous about writing these posts because I am sure people attempt to guess who I am speaking of or which experience has possessed me to blog about it.  But for now, I am going to let you, the fans, think that I have a huge family and a huge circle of friends….

One of my family members was speaking of another one’s hard times, setbacks, and struggles, and stated that she told that individual that he needed to “get down on his knees and start praying, and start going to church.”  Upon hearing this, I was turned off, taken aback.  This individual who has now been saved from all unrighteousness because of this advice, believes in God, but definitely isn’t the Bible toting, scripture quoting, prayer praying person, but he does however make sure he blesses his food each time he eats.  Has to go down right, right?  Anyway, I digress. 

For me, this person is in a bind, has some difficulties that are keeping him from moving forward in his life.  For me, it wasn’t enough to tell him to pray about it.  Does prayer work?  Yes.  Does the Bible say, “ask and you shall receive?” Yes.  However, when you are talking to someone that hasn’t seen a decade of Easters inside a church, I don’t think it’s the most effective thing to keep the conversation at….go to church and pray about it.

A friend from college used to say, “Pray about it"....a person’s response when they don’t want to listen to your problems.  And to a degree, I agree.  Maybe I am praying about it, and I felt led to speak to you about what I’m experiencing.  Maybe I just want to bitch about something.  Let me have my Diana Ross moment.  I think some Christians can be so quick to give a standard solution to someone’s challenges, but when you are speaking to someone that needs more, whose faith isn’t quite there yet, “pray about it,” can seem as if you are trivializing one’s experiences and putting a band-aid on a gun wound.  I believe in the power of prayer, but I also feel that sometimes people may need that reminder to pray PLUS somewhere tangible to start, and you maybe the person to get them there.