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Thoughts and prayers—their value and power
Read the Letters to the Editor column in any newspaper or look at what’s trending on social media, and you can sense the pulse of the issues of the day. Recently, references to “thoughts and prayers” offered for victims of tragedy have elicited a negative reaction in public discourse. Many claim thoughts and prayers are inadequate and of no real value. Concrete action is demanded now, they say.
People are, however, earnestly seeking a healing response to a vast array of social problems: mass shootings, drug addiction, suicide, hopelessness, depression. Wisdom and solutions are sorely needed. The question is: Can thoughts and prayers change the world?
It’s true, of course, that thoughts and prayers can be just a cursory effort, a few routine words said without much meaning. Dull rhetoric always fails to make our spirits soar, and thus falls flat. Yet I’ve found that inspired thought and prayer, based on an understanding of the fundamental laws of God, has always been a present and powerful help in trouble. How does one bring that kind of substance to prayer—and see practical results?
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
August 13, 2018 issue
View Issue-
From the readers
Madelyn Harvey, Robert Minnocci
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Accept no substitutes for God
Mark Swinney
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Released from grief, celebrating the good
Joan Greig
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Thoughts and prayers—their value and power
Anne Stearns Condon
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The promise of God’s provision
Bob Minnocci
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Helping students live their full potential
Joan Bernard Bradley
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I didn’t buy that app
Sullivan Grant
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Beating the graduation blues
Karina Olsen
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Abdominal pain gone
William Dale
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No pain or breakage after a fall
Joanne Ward Humbert
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Dog’s epilepsy healed
Marilyn Bliss Jones
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'Give unto the Lord the glory ...'
Photograph by Steve Ryf
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Your place in scientific prophecy
Scott Preller