There is a time not to pray. In fact, there are many such times.
Stefano Corso (2008), Creative Commons
Imagine this: A coworker invites you to his house for dinner and a movie. Somewhere after the beef and potatoes, but before the surround sound explosions begin, he unrolls a few small mats. He says that before you can get to the evening’s fun, you’ll have to kneel with him and face toward Mecca to seek Allah’s favor on your evening. The expectations are heavy, and he’s not asking your opinion on the matter. How would you feel?
Let’s not forget how others would feel if we expect them to take part in our religious rituals as well.
Now, I am not saying that there are more gods than one. Nor am I saying that all religions are equally valid. I am saying, though, that love and respect should drive us to reconsider our customs so as not to set up unnecessary stumbling blocks.
By all means, let us pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). But that doesn’t mean our prayers have to be out loud. The Bible does not command us to begin every Bible study with corporate prayer.
If your Bible study focuses on reaching non-Christians, I strongly suggest not praying during the study. The gospel is already weird. Why make your attempt to reach out any weirder than it needs to be? Book discussion groups are pretty common these days. Why not have a “book discussion” group that discusses the best-selling book on the market? Most people attending such a group would expect to engage with ideas, but they would not expect to pray at the meeting.
This is a great post Peter. This is something that I have practiced but struggled with. At times it feels, though, like I should pray (when I invite non-Christians over) to be explicitly Christian, but I don’t know if this is always, right. Do you have any sources you could reference me for wisdom?
Jake, unfortunately, I have not read anything on this topic. So I don’t have any references for you. However, here is a question: Why do you have to pray to make it explicitly Christian? Isn’t it enough to preach the Christian gospel? And read the Christian Bible?
Now, if your group is clearly a church-directed small group, intended to disciple the members, you’ll probably pray. And if you invite non-Christians, it make sense to pray with them – as long as they aren’t surprised by it and came expecting it. But in this post, I’m about small groups whose primary purpose is outreach. That is, you’re leading this Bible study in order to introduce non-Christians to Jesus. Then I think it’s more helpful not to pray.