The subversive act of prayer

We are blessed in this season of life, with many wonderful friends. For the first time in our lives, several of those close friends are not Christians. As we frequently invite friends to join us in our home for meals, I'm forced to cross a new bridge: how/if to give thanks to Christ for food before we eat. In general, I explain our practice of praying before meals to our guests, and ask if they would permit me to pray before we eat. So far we haven't met with refusal, but it has opened my eyes to how subversive that action is.

In praying to God through Christ before we eat, we are speaking with the living God in front of people who don't know Him, who are by nature (as we were) enemies of God. We are bowing before the One to whom we owe our very existence, when our guests may not acknowledge His existence. Furthermore, if I was invited into the home of a friend who invoked another god before sharing a meal with us, I could not, in good conscience, participate. But that is exactly what I am doing in inviting our guests to pray with us: to participate in speaking to God in Christ.

If I am not mistaken, that 'small' action is potentially very threatening (in both good and bad ways) to our guests. We are calling them to acknowledge a Reality that they deny, by humbly pausing before Him. Regardless of their religion, prayer challenges the most basic assumptions of what is, and what is real. And that can be very threatening - in a way that causes people to clam up in fear, or in a way that opens the door to authentic, transparent communication about the Gospel.

I am finding that in crossing that culture gap, particularly with friends who have young children, it is wise and helpful to invite them to join us, to explain what I'm about to do (so it doesn't seem hokey-pokey, or ritualistic), and to pray - and silently pray that the Spirit would awaken them to the glory of Christ.