I am someone who believes that if you want to see breakthrough you need to pray. Prayer changes circumstances and lives. I have personally seen how power can change a situation.
But prayer to just anybody won't change a thing, they are just nice words then. Sure it is great that people get together and say things to stop a situation that are happening around the world and to make people aware but when people are praying to another god (or gods) their requests are falling on deaf ears.
All we need to do is look at the story of Elijah found in 1 Kings 18, Elijah puts the prophets and their god, Baal, to the ultimate test. He has them pray to their god to see if he will accept their offering. So the prophets call on the name of their god, they cut themselves, they shouted, they did everything they could to get Baal's attention. This went on all day.
Then finally Elijah has enough. He makes an altar to the Lord and calls on the name of the Lord and "…then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The LORDâ€"he is God! The LORDâ€"he is God!'" verses 38-39
The Lord taught us to pray, "Our father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, they will be done…" We know who we are praying to and what for. We are praying to God for His will to be done. By praying with other faiths we are making a mockery of what God has done for us. We are saying that we believe that their prayers are being heard by their god(s) which goes against everything in the Bible.
The thought of peace excites me but the thought of Christians gathering with other religions to 'pray' is disheartening. How can any person who believes that there is only one God and one way to heaven and that is through His son Jesus Christ, participate in something that goes against the very notion that there is only one way.
By leading and participating in such activities we are denouncing the power and authority of Jesus Christ. We are saying that the other religions have power and authority as well.
Mission field experience
On the mission field when we prayed for people of other faiths, we told them that we believe in Jesus as the only way and that is who we would be praying to for their healing or miracle. We would make it clear that it wasn't to their deity. I did not invite them to pray for me to their god(s). Out of love for them, I would let them share about what they believed but I did not allow them to pray for me.
We can pray and should pray with people from other denominations. We can't let a bit of doctrinal differences stop us from praying with fellow believers. Just because one part of the body believes in tongues and the other believes the Sabbath should be on a certain day, does not give us the right to think that they are any less of a believer than us.
We need to let our doctrinal differences fall to the side for the greater unity of the Christian body. More prayer events need to be orchestrated across denominations. Let us find strength in our common ground, and that is that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light.
If we are going to profess that there is only one God then we can't participate in prayer meetings that allow other faiths to pray.
We can meet with people of other faiths to discuss the problems in the world and solutions, but praying together does not build unity, it makes us into hypocrites and liars and takes Jesus off the cross. It makes Christians less effective in who we are called to be.
Genevieve Wilson is married with two children who served with YWAM for eight years in Brisbane and now serving in mission in Canada as a modern day abolitionist.
Genevieve Wilson's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/genevieve-wilson.html