Embracing the future - the need to pray

Charles Ringma writes ‘prayer is always the starting point for new activities that seek to achieve God’s good in our world.’

I have a confession – prayer does not come easily to me. For lots of reasons it is not always the most natural thing for me. Yet I'm painfully aware how important it all is for me as an individual, for Lisa and I as a couple, for the three of us as a family, and for us all as we seek the Kingdom and ‘achieve God’s good’ here in Stratford. Not for the first time I can certainly echo Paul’s honest admission to the Roman Christians that ‘I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it’ Romans 7:18.

Based on the belief that the God who is ahead of us is calling us into new possibilities Jacques Ellul contends that ‘to pray is to carry oneself toward the future.’ As someone interested in new ways of thinking, the creation of new communities, new ways of acting, better ways of serving, and greater participatory processes I am increasingly aware that those who pray may well be laying the foundations for a better world.

Keen to embrace the future, my ongoing prayer is first and foremost to pray more. But beyond that to pray more earnestly, listen more attentively and respond more vigorously.