Why Do You Pray?

If You Pray At All

Welcome to “Global Witness, Globally Reimagined.” You get a glimpse here of the kind of work that I do both at Church Mission Society and Missio Africanus where I help students of all levels (from unaccredited courses to PhD) explore the theological (and missiological) implications of the rise of World Christianity. In the newsletter, I focus on the subject of global witness in the context of the twenty-first century. Every Thursday, I share a thought that has spoken to me in the week, one or two resources that I trust will be helpful to you, and three exciting quotes about mission to give you something to think about as you go through your day. I pray one of these will energise you.

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1. Thought I Can’t Shake Off

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An African friend of mine has said to me twice in the past four weeks that “people who pray wait on answers from people who think.” We had just watched a video of hundreds of people praying in Africa. We were both challenged. We agreed, “If there is a thing we miss about Africa, it is prayer.” The context of the question can mean that science and prayer are mutually exclusive and that science is a more effective way to ensure development. After a lengthy monologue, my friend suggested that we probably do not need to pray much because we live in Europe. “Our being located in the West means that an overwhelming majority of the things we prayed for back home in Africa are taken care of: food, shelter, education, etc.” Later on, as he commented on the rising tendency for struggling African presidents to call for National Days of Prayer and Fasting, he wondered again, “why do people turn to prayer instead of using their brains?” There are many factors that contribute to the African situation, but in many African countries, prayer is not a problem. Sometimes I think religion really gets in the way of life.

My friend’s comments led me to two questions. First, is prayer really something for needy people only? Indeed, if this is right, there is no hope for us here in the West. Most people pray to tick boxes … “we said grace before the meal. They do not expect answers when they pray—there is nobody on the other side to answer them. Second, is prayer really a thing for people who cannot think? Does science effectively replace prayer?

I think that prayer serves a lot of purposes in our lives. First and foremost, it is the easiest way to engage the Spirit. It is the most certain way to relate with the spirits. That is why it is fundamental in many religions. We pray to engage the Spirit of God in our affairs, and we expect that God will answer those prayers. Asking for things follows that engagement. People who pray have an extra source of energy (and mental clarity to think better). Even science does more when mixed with prayer.

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2. Resources I am Enjoying

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Podcast: Mission150: Training Cross-cultural Missionaries Today

On this episode of the Mission150 Adventist Review Ministries podcast, host Sam Neves and David Trim sit down with Oscar Osindo, Director of the Adventist Church's Institute of World Mission (IWM), to reflect on the his decades of missionary endeavour spanning multiple continents. Osindo has been involved in mission among Muslim communities in different countries for many years. His contributions to mission at the IWM come with a multisided sense of uniqueness. He is not only an unusual face as a non-Western (Kenyan) Director of the IWM, Osindo also embodies the shift in the centre of gravity of Christianity from the global North to the South, as a facilitator of missiological training and curriculum developer, instead of just being a recipient of the same. This reflection on the life and missionary journey of Osindo truly leaves us with clues on how to more productively engage sensitive and unwelcoming communities with the gospel of Christ in this twenty-first century.

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3. Quotes I am Pondering

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• The gospel interacts and is interpreted in the particularity of different local cultures. Nevertheless, gospel and culture are never the same. The gospel incarnates in distinctive ways in every culture without ever being contained by any of them. — Raimundo César Barreto

• When power is understood as a means for self-centredness, Christian mission has often resulted in being ‘more concerned with being in the centres of power, eating with the rich and lobbying for money to maintain ecclesial bureaucracy. — Atola Longkumer

• Life is what we share with others. Life in all its fullness is given to us in Jesus Christ. It is life for others. We witness to that life, enhanced by love, liberation and justice. — Sam Ngun Ling

I pray that you will be faithful in whatever God calls you to do this week.