Whenever someone you know is going through a difficult time, I firmly believe that one of the most important things we can do for them is pray. We can take the matter before God and ask for him to intercede.

But I want to emphasize that this is not where our compassion should end. The follow-up step is to help actively.

James writes this in his letter to the Church, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:15–17).

There is a tendency among people of faith to wish people well, even to ask God to work, and then sit back and do nothing. It’s even possible that we might be asking God to do something, so that we don’t have to get involved. To this, James highlights that faith is tied to action. The two are so locked together that claiming faith without acting is the mark of a dead faith.

As Christians, when we hear of a need, we should most certainly pray, but we must follow that up by actively seeking to fix the problem. If we only do the first thing, our faith is of little value to the person struggling.

The goal is for us to pray and do. Perhaps you are the answer to someone else’s prayer.