Why are there so many books on prayer? I suspect that one reason is that prayer is an area in which most Christians feel that they continually fall short. The result is that they grasp at any book on offer that holds out the promise of improving their prayer life.
With all the great and many books on prayer that have been written, why should the author, now retired from pastoral ministry, write another and why should we read it? Ian McNaughton’s answer is that prayer is “so multifaceted in its essence, structure and mode that it is worthy of continual study”. Therein is the clue that this is not a how-to or a self-improvement book but a study on the subject of prayer.
One thing I have seen, even in some renowned books on Christian prayer, is a tendency to lapse into streams of fine-sounding assertions without showing any Biblical warrant for them. Likewise, giving examples such as that of Martin Luther, who was said to be so busy that he had to pray for three or four hours at the start of each day, does not help.
This short book of only 140 pages does neither of those things. As readers, we soon discover that we are in for some serious Bible study in two parts: ‘Prayer and God’ and ‘Prayer and the People of God’. Each chapter introduces its topic with several quotations, both from the Bible and from Christian writers.
The author never goes far without Bible references or quotations (from the New King James Version) to show the basis for or examples of what he writes. There are at least four or five references on every page. (The writer also frequently quotes hymns.) In Part 1, we learn about the God to whom we pray, that in prayer we approach the Father through the Son, what it means to pray in Jesus’ name and what part the Holy Spirit plays in our prayers.
In Part 2, prayer is shown as access to the Father, we are told how to build a ‘house of prayer’ (with adoption, assurance and hope) and that prayer begins with conversion; then we are pointed to some overlooked Bible prayers, to worship in prayer, to what success in prayer means, to the example of Jesus’ prayers, to hope as the anchor for prayer and finally to perseverance in prayer.
Every chapter contains solid, Biblical meat to chew over and think through. Sometimes the language is a little heavy-going or unnecessarily technical. The five-and-a-half-line definition of prayer offered right at the start takes a lot of digesting. Chapter 2 begins with the sentence: “In this chapter we will look at the heavenly session of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
One surprise to me is the assertion that since Christ is the believer’s Intercessor (Rom 8:34), the Holy Spirit cannot also do such work, despite what Romans 8 verses 26-27 state. It does, however, seem reasonable to draw a distinction between the Holy Spirit’s intercession, which is to stimulate (and perhaps supplement) our prayers, and Christ’s, which is to speak to the Father in our defence.
Another statement that raised an eyebrow is the one that says, in reference to Samuel’s mother, “it was when [Hannah] made a deal with God that she received her desired answer”. I think this needs further explanation, or it could be taken to mean that we are to bargain with God for what we want.
The chapter headings do not give a clear guide to all their contents, for the writer often follows up other issues that come up and the same issue is sometimes returned to later. The picture that comes to mind is of a spider plant, with each limb sprouting both leaves and further limbs that sometimes cross paths with each other. Sometimes you are left wishing that an issue could be dealt with more thoroughly.
The three appendices are a puzzle. I’m a fan of John Wycliffe but I’m not sure his ‘Twelve Hindrances to Prayer’ add much to the book. They are rather repetitive and I’m not sure that Abraham driving away the birds from the animal carcasses in Genesis 15 is meant to be a picture of us driving away evil thoughts when we pray. Appendix 2 is titled ‘Unsuccessful prayer and the sin unto death’ and is almost all about the latter. A chapter on unanswered prayer would be a helpful addition. Appendix 3, a description of prayer in Islam, seems superfluous to me.
There are many statements and passages in the book that will repay careful consideration, such as one on what it means to watch and pray and another on what it means to pray in the Spirit. It contains much good material for study on the subject of prayer but don’t look to it for a quick fix or an easy ‘how-to’ for a broken or neglected prayer life.
