蜜芽传媒

Good Morning

A lot of friends who are not religious at all often ask me what鈥檚 the point in praying when there鈥檚 so much wrong in the world. What difference does it make? And then there鈥檚 the question 鈥� who deserves to be prayed for and who doesn鈥檛? How do you decide?

The Diocese of Norwich has made a few headlines over the weekend after issuing parishes with what they call an anti-racist toolkit to address exactly that question: the advice is that when people are leading prayers they should try to be as diverse and inclusive as possible. Against an ever-changing cultural backdrop they should avoid bias and a sense of privilege at all costs. So, if you pray, what do you say?

There are basically two kinds of prayer 鈥� individual which is personal between a believer and God and intercessory where one person prays for a range of things on behalf of others. Jesus had lots of advice to offer on personal prayer throughout his ministry: don鈥檛 hold a grudge or make a show when you pray; don鈥檛 go on for too long but be persistent. He gives the Lord鈥檚 Prayer as an example of how to pray.

But leading prayers for others in public worship carries huge responsibilities especially in times like our own. From the very beginning of the church, St Paul struck an inclusive tone advising new believers 鈥渢hat all prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be made for all people鈥� and not just for some.

So, when offering prayers about the big issues affecting the world 鈥� it needs to be balanced and reflective. At best it鈥檚 a terrible distraction when someone leading prayers starts introducing their own politics or point of view about why something is the case, or who is responsible or completely omitting one side of the story instead simply praying to God.

Caught up in a world facing the perpetual trauma of war, for example, the need to remember all victims when petitioning for peace in prayer is basic.

I remember when as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1982 Robert Runcie was accused of being unpatriotic and incurred the wrath of Mrs Thatcher after asking the congregation to also pray for the relatives of Argentine soldiers killed in the Falklands war.

The question of course is would he do the same today? Pray for all victims, for instance in Gaza and Israel, in Ukraine and Russia? Wherever there are victims of human sinfulness? I would hope so. I certainly do so. Whether you pray or not, being mindful of people鈥檚 humanity and vulnerability, wherever they happen to be, is something worth reflecting on.

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