What would you do for a dare? A bungee-jump, perhaps? Would you attach ropes to your ankles and throw yourself off a bridge?

The people I know who have done that have been abroad, on holiday and perhaps they were readier to accept a challenge then.

Or maybe cave diving, which is fairly dangerous and you could do that in England.

Even closer to home, this time of year people are daring their friends and colleagues to sign up for next year’s Maldon mud race.

A good dare should be just a bit frightening.

We talk about our ‘comfort zones’ and congratulate ourselves if we dare to leave them.

So when I heard a preacher daring the congregation to try praying I wondered at first if his life was just too safe.

Praying can seem like a retreat from the world, a rather passive activity or empty words, spoken to an imaginary God.

The preacher, though, suggested that those who don’t believe that anyone is there could try praying as though there was a loving, generous God listening in.

What would you say if that were true?

There’s also a message here for those who do pray regularly.

Don’t get too complacent because prayer is not meant to remove the difficulties in our lives but communicate with

God who will transform them. Praying is a dare that even those of us who will have to decline the challenge of a bungee jump, a cave-dive or a mud race can accept.