"What 'Prayers' Actually Do,' I'm Reminded by the Prayers Given for Johnny Galecki

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CNN reported http://cnn.it/2sPnhKS the Hill Fire that claimed a few thousand acres of comedy-star Johnny Galecki's California-ranch and -that decimated several others' property in the community of Santa Margarita (about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles). My first reaction--even before I saw the details on the tragedy (other than 'Johnny Galecki lost his California-ranch to fire')--was 'to tell people to pray for Johnny Galecki. 'But why?' my darn "St. Doubting Thomas"-mind complained. 'Do you think God's not taking care of Johnny unless you "request a work-order"?' 'Of course not,' my obediently-praying mind tries to explain to Doubting Thomas. 'My prayer's words don't actually change; it's more like the idea that Johnny is briefly included in "my Our" (of Our Father).' See, 'the prayers we share with others' only do one thing. They don't 'order the supernatural forces to influence the microbiology of the prayed-for people'; they only (like I told myself above) 'include the others in our "Our"s.' That's it! God said "It is not good for the man to be alone," and our prayers remind the individuals that they're not! That they are part of our 'Our' (our 'team/family/company/band/troupe/cast/club/church' or whatever). That we depend on them like our bodies depend on our jawbones And in fact, Johnny issued the press a statement informing them (in so-many words) that the prayers had been given & that they now had to Believe that they Will find what they need, Take it, Have it (putting it to use to rebuild the community), be responsible about it & live-onward. His words: "My heart goes out to all in the area who are also experiencing loss from this vicious fire. The threat of which we live with constantly, which may seem crazy to some but we do so because living in our beautiful, rural area makes it worthwhile, "It's never the structures that create a community -- it's the people. And if the people of Santa Margarita have taught me anything it's that, once the smoke has cleared, literally and figuratively, it's a time to reach out and rebuild. We've done it before and we'll need to do it together again. And it will make our community even closer and stronger." Amen?