Epilogue - The Praxis of Prayer
Now that we have worked together through the five units of the course, no matter what differences of approach we adopt in our own relationship with God, I would like to think that we have reached some basic conclusion in common:
- First, that prayer is something we do rather than talking about doing, that we learn about it through praxis;
- Secondly, even though we will all have highly personal relationships with God, there are some common approaches which most of us will adopt, including thinking carefully about our approach, working consciously at modifying our behaviour and taking care to establish a balanced relationship; and, ultimately, leaving ourselves open to God's self communication with us.
But perhaps the most helpful conclusion we might draw is that we are not alone; not only are we involved in an enterprise in which God 'wishes' us to succeed, we are striving to communicate in a tradition stretching back to Jesus and beyond in the company of countless fellow Christians, not least our own peers from from whom we usually expect least but who have the most to offer; not forgetting that we, too, have much to offer.