Prayer is not one of my strengths. I mean I pray, but not as much as I should or desire. With this reality, I try to make sure that I get some reading in on prayer and spiritual disciplines each year. One of those books this year is “Prayer” by Timothy Keller. I greatly appreciate Tim Keller’s work and this is actually my second read of “Prayer.”
As expected with a book on prayer, Keller weighs the common views and practices that are in use today, but takes a side and explains why. He takes the views of a few church fathers and examines how each viewed prayer and how each prayed. He also gets very practical. He gets specific enough to schedule out a few different prayer-session suggestions to help spur the reader on and begin praying regularly.
While there are many different spiritual disciplines, not all of them are helpful. Prayer, however, is often at the center at each of them. Is prayer inward-focused or outward-focused? Is prayer meant for self-reflection, or is it for knowing God? If prayer is meant for knowing God, then it should be outward-focused. If God gave us the Bible for us to know Him, then we should use it to speak to Him. This discussion definitely got me thinking about how I pray. When I am thinking about how to pray for someone, where am I getting that from? Is it what I think is best for that person? Or, is it from the promises of God in scripture as I have poured over them thinking of that person?
When we pray this way, it also enhances our prayer and scripture reading. You don’t necessarily just read or just pray. They work best when they are used in unison. Keller did an excellent job at showing how that is not only possible, but should be the common practice for each Christian in prayer.
“Prayer” gets a 4/5 for me. It will continue to be a valuable resource for me, as I grow in prayer myself, and hopefully am able to help others grow too.
Here are a few excerpts that I found especially helpful:
A quote from Augustine on praying from Proverbs 30 from page 86: “The Proverbs 30 prayer is different. It is to ask, “Lord, meet my material needs, and give me wealth, yes, but only as much s I can handle without it harming my ability to put you first in life. Because ultimately I don’t need status and comfort–I need you as my Lord.”
Keller on God answering our requests from page 102: “God invites us to [pray for anything with fervor and confidence] and promises to answer prayers–because he is good and our loving heavenly Father. Also, God often waits to give a blessing until you have prayed for it. Why? Good things that we do not ask for will usually be interpreted by our hearts as the fruit of our own wisdom and diligence. Gifts from God that are not acknowledged as such are deadly to the soul, because they thicken the illusion of self sufficiency that leads to overconfidence and sets us up for failure.”
Lastly, from page 180, Keller discussing affections for God through prayer using some quotes by Puritan John Owen: “Our doctrinal and biblical knowledge cannot “leave the affections behind.” If we believe with our minds that God is holy, we must also come to find his holiness enjoyable and satisfying just to praise it. If we believe the great God of the universe really loves us, it should make us emotionally unshakable in the face of criticism, suffering, and death…Owen believe that Christianity without real experience of God will eventually be no Christianity at all.”