Prayer for a World in Conflict

A Phenomenology of Prayer in the Here and Now

Luis Quintero / Pexels

About the author: Ashwin Afrikanus Thyssen is a Junior Lecturer in the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology at Stellenbosch University, specializing in church history, church polity, and religion and law. His current research investigates the intersection of race, sexuality, and religion.

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Introduction

“To prayer,” writes the theologian John Calvin, “are we indebted for penetrating to those riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly Father.”¹ Through prayer, he continues to argue, humanity and God are drawn into dialogue, consequently humanity may appeal to the promises that flow from the life of the Triune God. Prayer, it may be argued, is foundational to most faith traditions, not least Christianity. Karl Barth makes this very point in a chapter of Evangelical Theology. This reflection thus considers the important role prayer must play in the pursuit of the theological project.

In this chapter of Evangelical Theology Barth argues:

“The first and basic act of theological work is prayer… But theological work does not merely begin with prayer and is not merely accompanied by it; in its totality it is peculiar and characteristic of theology that it can be performed only in the act of prayer.”²

Prayer, then, is foundational and constitutive to being Christian. Of course, we are here reminded of the Order of Benedictines’ motto, “ora et labora” [prayer and work]. For Barth, then, the lives of Christian faithful – in labour and leisure – must be steeped in prayer. In this reflection, then, a discussion is offered on the insights that may be gleaned from the phenomenology of prayer; and commentary is presented on form of prayer this historical moment requires.

Phenomenology of Prayer

Given the principal role prayer plays in both the life of the individual and the religious institution, one may very well argue that it ought to be studied as a phenomenology. Phenomenology is here taken to mean an investigation into the structures of consciousness, keenly interested in the first-person perspective. Setting out on this investigation phenomenology challenges us to confront the pressing issues of our time, such is the argument presented by Sokolowski.³

Central to phenomenological thought is the notion of intentionality; that is, our conscious experiences. “To say that conscious experiences exhibit intentionality is to say that they are of or about something. It does not imply they must be voluntary or deliberate.”⁴ For our consideration of the intersection of prayer and phenomenology it is helpful to return to Barth, he argues that the object of our theological thought is God – our conscious experiences are of and about this God.⁵ Having been acted upon by God (which is our conscious experience), we are now able to respond to God’s Word – meaning, in prayer we are directed toward God.

Who, it should be asked, is this God that the faithful are directed toward in prayer? Offering a rather succinct response to this question, in God Here and Now Barth posits:

“This God is the God who in Jesus Christ created heaven and earth, and man on the border between heaven and earth, the God, who, again in Jesus Christ, has accepted man—man who had fallen away from Him and been lost, but not lost to Him—and also the whole world which He had created Another important aspect concerning phenomenology is that of appearances.”⁶

This God, Barth argues, is the God of free grace – God’s very identity is one of free grace. This free grace is, perhaps, best captured in the incarnation, God’s becoming human in Jesus Christ. “In incarnation, then, the infinite invests itself in time, in finitude.”⁷ It is because of this freedom, disclosed in the incarnation, that the faithful are offer themselves freely; Barth states: “For this reason very act of theological work must have the character of an offering in which everything is placed before the living God.”

Benson and Wirzba argue “For prayer [as] a phenomenon that complicates the neat boundaries of phenomenology and thus requires that we think more carefully about phenomenology itself.”⁸ Drawing on the insights that phenomenological thought has to offer regarding prayer, we are better able to investigate how we are formed and transformed in and by prayer (ora), and thus readied to do the work (labora) of theology. Doing this, we may find ourselves in agreement with McCullough, who argues: “Our existential task is not to live disincarnationally toward God but to live into the world incarnationally in faith. Prayer is our means to effect this incarnational task.”⁹

Prayer in the Here and Now

What, then, should the form of our prayers be in this historical moment? At the time of writing various parts of the world is engulfed in violent conflicts. This is seen in Africa in the contexts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. In Europe we are witnessing conflict in Ukraine. In the Asian context the Korean peninsula reminds us of conflict. Of course, we are immediately offered the reminder of the Israel-Palestinian conflict currently. Considering all these (and other conflicts and crises) we are called to take to the task of prayer.

Recently faith communities in the northern hemisphere celebrated the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This celebration is at the invitation of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. On 25 January 2024, the final day of this week of prayer, Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin Welby and Metropolitan Polycarp celebrated vespers together. In his homily at this celebration Pope Francis offered these words:

“Prayer for unity is the primary responsibility in our journey together… Let us also continue to pray for an end to wars… May love of neighbour replace the violence… Let us pray, then, and let us keep moving forward, for that is what God desires of us.”¹⁰

Confronting the varied challenges that beset the world, Christians are called, says Barth, to take to the task of prayer. In meditation Christian ethics, Barth advances that God’s being for humanity,

“allows no talk of prayer which does not of itself lead into work, and no talk of work which is not grounded in prayer. It knows no soul apart from body, nor a body apart from soul, no private sphere without public responsibility, and no public responsibility without the quiet pole of privacy.”¹¹

Prayer should, therefore, be the mainstay of the Christian faithful. The form prayer should take in this moment takes seriously the dialectical role between public and private; and it foundationally rooted in an adoration of the incarnation. Having our prayers take this form, I contend that we may be able to co-create with God a world in which we respond freely to God’s Word.

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1. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 146.

2. Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979), 160.

3. Robert Sokolowski, Introduction to Phenomenology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 2.

4. Walter Hopp, Phenomenology: A Contemporary Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2020), 2.

5. Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology, 163.

6. Karl Barth, God Here and Now (New York: Routledge, 2003), 35.

7. Lisa McCullough, “Prayer and Incarnation: A Homiletical Reflection,” in The Phenomenology of Prayer, ed. Bruce Benson and Norman Wirzba (New York: Fordham University Press, 2005), 210.

8. Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, 9.

9. Lisa McCullough, “Prayer and Incarnation,” 211.

10. Pope Francis, “Celebration of Second Vespers 57th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis,” January 25, 2024. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2024/documents/20240125-vespri-unita-cristiani.html

11. Karl Barth, God Here and Now, 113.