The man may have come to faith as a result of what he saw. We also may have the opportunity to pray for others. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. Finally, if we have a time of suffering or lingering before dying, God may be giving other Christians an opportunity to perform works of faith as they care for us. Faith needs to be exercised.
Love wants a chance to work.
The Lord has placed a spiritual life in our hearts and he provides times for that life to go into action. Supplying our needs may be the works that God has prepared in advance for others to do. But notice that the question does not speak of life, but death. Death is an unnatural end to life. It is present in our world because of sin.