Why am I awake right now?
No, seriously. Why am I awake? Kimberly is asleep. Her eyes are tightly closed and she is probably dreaming of puppies and frozen yogurt. But not me.
Nope, I’m wide awake thinking thoughts like, “I leave for Turkey in 20 days. I wonder if they actually serve turkey in Turkey. Hmm, Turkey. Turkey and cheese. I could really go for a turkey and cheese sandwich right about now. Wait, I think they only serve hummus and lamb in Turkey.
Do Muslims even eat turkey, in Turkey?”
You can see what the problem is. I must be hungry. But it didn’t stop there.
Once the food thoughts stopped, these other thoughts came breaking through my sleep barrier right into my overzealous mind.
Things like, “Turkey is 99% Muslim. Muslim people typically pray 5 times a day. How many times did I pray today? 1, 2… 3?
Well there it is, I certainly can’t be a missionary. I only prayed 3 times today! What am I going to say to those disciplined Muslims?
"Hey, you should become a Christian because you can pray less and still get into paradise. Except we call it heaven and your allowed to eat turkey (if you aren’t allowed to now). And if you are, you can eat cheese too!"
So, I’m sitting here in this dark room thinking about all these things and I get this other thought. Yes! Finally some clarity! The difference is this thought actually has some meat on it. (I know what your thinking… and yes it's prime rib. You're welcome.)
It doesn’t matter how many words I say to someone, or how many prayers I plead to God in heaven because words are cheap.
Do you know what is better than words though? Action. Actions always beat words. Action always beats intention. What you do is always more powerful than what you’re ‘going’ to do.
The Apostle James said it great. Faith, if not accompanied by action is dead. Or in other words (which I remind you are cheap), prayers, thoughts, ideas and intentions are dead if they aren’t accompanied by actions.
So, I can pray all I want, but if I get to Turkey or Romania or India or any of the countries we’ll be traveling to over the next year and only pray, this year will do little to nothing. In order to make a difference, whether you work in a cubicle or in an orphanage, you have to do something. There has to be action.
And that action, if accompanied by prayer as well as by faith, will do amazing things.
James 2:14-19
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 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? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
