No, Really, Why Bother?

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Scripture:  Ephesians 6:18

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord’s people.

Looking to Sunday

by Elaine Poproski

Does anyone else feel like our country is falling apart around us? There’s such ugliness and division among us. There’s yelling and shouting, and very little listening or dialogue. There are competing versions of truth and anecdotal evidence to support whatever version you want. There’s name calling and vilifying and posturing. Force is met with force, and nothing is resolved; there is no reconciliation; there are only winners and losers, with everyone sure they are on the right side of history. What’s a person to do?

In the midst of all of this, there’s profound suffering going on. Countless people are barely hanging on to their mental health. The unmarked graves of children continue to be found at the sites of residential schools across Canada. According to Statistics Canada, 41% of Black people in our country experienced discrimination because of the colour of their skin between 2014 and 2019. This is nearly double that reported for the 5 years prior,[i] suggesting a disturbing trend. Does anyone else feel like our country is in trouble? What’s a person to do in the face of such huge and devastating challenges?

I could go on, but too many of us are already struggling to survive. We can’t bear the weight of all this suffering. We feel powerless. And so, we say, “Let’s pray.” But if we’re honest, I’d guess that quite a few of us don’t really think of prayer as much of a solution or even much of a response to all the wrong around us. We might not admit it out loud. We’re supposed to believe in “the power of prayer,” after all. And some of you will be horrified that I, your pastor, even dared suggest such a thing. But if we’re honest, I wonder if we really believe prayer makes a difference.

This is a question I’ve been wrestling with for weeks. I’ve been reading various authors and scholars, I’ve engaged some of my colleagues and friends in the discussion, our Tuesday Continuing the Conversation group has talked about it, and I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed for wisdom and insight. This whole question of whether or not praying for our world and for other people makes any kind of a difference, is what I’ll be talking about on Sunday. And so, as you prepare for Sunday, perhaps consider your own thoughts on the matter. Do you believe praying about these big, ugly Canadian things makes a difference? Does your behaviour reflect what you say you believe? When it comes to prayer, do you tend to think about it as the first thing you do, or the thing you do when you can’t do anything else?

 

[i] Adam Cotter. Experiences of discrimination among the Black and Indigenous populations in Canada, 2019. Statistics Canada. February 16, 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00002-eng.htm (accessed Feb. 17, 2022).