As I speak at conferences on Roman Catholicism worldwide and how Evangelicals should relate to it, a question often arises: ‘What about joint prayer? Could or should Evangelicals pray with Roman Catholics?’
Let me offer my rules of thumb as I wrestle with the issue.
1. The Bible is clear that we should pray for all men and women (e.g. 1 Tim. 2:1), so praying for those friends, colleagues, and family members who are Roman Catholics is mandatory.
2. The issue becomes critical when discussing praying with Roman Catholics. Praying with someone is a spiritual activity that presupposes the existence of spiritual bonds, i.e. fellowship in Christ.
In other words, prayer with someone is legitimate when the people praying together are brothers and sisters in Christ, joining their hearts and voices to praise the Triune God and intercede for various topics in the name of Jesus Christ.
Here comes the first problem: according to Roman Catholic doctrine, it is the sacrament of baptism that makes the person a Christian. For the evangelical faith, one becomes a Christian at conversion when the person believes the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reality is that a Roman Catholic person might have received the sacrament of baptism, but she/he is not a believer in Christ in that she/he was never converted. If this is the case, there is no spiritual bond in Him making it possible to elevate our joint prayers to God.
3. Another aspect that makes common prayer impossible is that Roman Catholicism believes in a different account of the gospel than the Biblical one. There are some overlaps in language but fundamental differences in basic truths of the gospel, e.g. the ultimate authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and life and salvation by faith alone. From these different commitments arise contrasting appreciations of the gospel. For example, Roman Catholicism prescribes prayer to the saints and Mary as intercessors. These are not Biblically warranted practices. The fact that they are Roman Catholics does not mean they are ‘brothers and sisters’ in the faith.
4. I don’t deny that there are Roman Catholics who are genuinely converted. God’s grace is at work in men and women who trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation and desire to follow the word of God. However, these people have a problem with their Roman Catholic identity. If they follow Christ alone according to the Bible as supreme authority, they are inconsistent with their alleged Roman Catholic faith. If they are converted to Jesus Christ, we can pray with them in private settings characterised by informality.
5. I abstain from participating in joint prayer in public settings and events. Once you pray with someone in public, you are conveying that all the participants share the same Christian faith and are ‘brothers and sisters’ in Christ. All existing differences are but footnotes that do not impede Biblical fellowship. Because the Roman Catholic account of the gospel is flawed, if we participate in public joint prayer, we accept it as a legitimate version of the true gospel, with minor concerns over secondary issues: this is the symbolic message that comes from public prayers with Catholics. This is even more true when the people we pray with are Roman Catholic priests. If we pray in public with them, we recognise that the Church they belong to and the account of the gospel it promotes are Biblical expressions of the church and the gospel. It is essential to pay attention to the power of symbols. ‘Ecumenical’ gatherings that include joint prayers want to affirm that all participants recognise one another as ‘brothers and sisters’ in Christ and their respective communities as legitimate expressions of the Biblical church. While I am willing to engage in dialogue with Roman Catholics at all levels, I consider joint prayer to be the privilege of born-again Christians and not necessarily members of ecclesiastical bodies.
