Whenever someone tells the followers of Jesus about a tragedy, one of the most common responses is, “They will be in my thoughts and prayers.” Whoever says that simply means that they will be thinking about the situation, and sometimes, they will pray to God.

Quite often, this is the best we can do. We cannot go to the people who experienced this painful event and offer counseling or do anything to help them improve their situation.

I do wish that these same people, like me, would have an alternate statement. I think there should be an equal response of, “They will be in my prayers and actions.” Whenever someone is close to the situation or whenever there is practical help that we can provide, then I hope we, as Christians, are doing it.

While there are nonbelievers who say that offering thoughts and prayers is a worthless gesture, I would suggest that prayers are valuable and that the only thing that helps no one is the thoughts. Combining prayers and actions is a winning combination. Ask God to do the miraculous while we handle the ordinary work.