I do not want attention; especially on the shoulders of the Paris terror attacks. But, many look to me to help them spiritually. How do I think, in light of what has happened? If the Gospel is true, how do I pray for those in Paris? Do I have another role when I am moved emotionally and spiritually by these things? So, I chose to write something brief, trusting that those who want to know what I think will look hard enough and forgive my lack of interest in a splashy title.

If you are a follower of Jesus, please pray before doing anything on Social media. And then, after you pray, please don’t believe the lie that it is important that you say something. I’m not saying do or do not say anything, although I strongly encourage you to pray before doing anything else, I’m simply saying it is a lie that we all need to tell the world, as it were, our perspective.

There is another lie also. That our prayers do not matter. This is not true. They matter and they are not separate from the rest of your life (perhaps a lie, or at least a misunderstanding of our interconnectedness).

For me, it was helpful to pray the Lord’s prayer very slowly, clause by clause, and picture what I know is going on in Paris. These prayers matter.

Secondly, here are two articles that helped me interact intellectually with this particular moment. One is from Christianity Today and another is by Anne Lamott. These sent me back to prayer, for different reasons. I post them here not because I expect you to agree or disagree, but because we often cannot turn off the news and I found them helpful. So, if you want to read something – perhaps these will encourage you.