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"Prayer is just about the most naturally unnatural thing it is possible to do... Desperate atheists can do it, children can do it, little old ladies can do it. 'Prayer' is not hard. It seems almost to be a spontaneous activity that simply happens to everyone from time to time. It's natural. And yet it is also very unnatural, almost by definition. When people pray, they are seeking an intervention in the natural course of events. They want their 'god' - whatever they perceive him, her or it to be - to do something for them that otherwise would not have happened. They want super-nature to invade nature for their benefit; to heal sickness, to right an injustice, to perform a typhoon rescue. It's unnatural in another sense, too, as anyone who has tried to pray for any length of time will tell you. The occasional desperate prayer in a time of need is not too taxing. But praying regularly, consistently and faithfully - that's another matter. Most Christians will testify to the difficulty of prayer"
The opening few paragraphs of "Prayer and the Voice of God" were enough to make me want to read on. I could definitely identify with what they were saying. Sometimes I found prayer easy - like talking to my best friend. Other times I didn't know what to say. My mind was on what I needed to get on with or I felt like I had said it all before so what was the point of saying it again. After all, God was going to do what He knew to be best in the situation anyway - so why bother?
The authors begin by defining prayer according to the Bible - in summary "asking for things." They then look at who the God is that we are praying to as well as why we pray or don't pray. Next comes the question of how and what to pray. They make the point that the Bible teaches us what to pray rather than how because "prayer is not a matter of technique but of relationship." One of the ways we can know what to pray is by looking at the prayers in the Bible and there are many of these, particularly in Paul's letters. We also need to look at Scripture to learn about God's desires for us as it follows that we should be praying according to his plans for us and his promises and commands to us.
For me, Chapter 7 about the anxieties of life was the most helpful chapter on a practical level. Christians tend to fall into one of two camps. Some believe that their prayers need to be super spiritual and therefore never mention day to day issues to God, others only ever pray about these daily issues. I was challenged by Jensen & Payne's view that BOTH have their place in our prayers. They remind us that the Bible explicitly urges us to bring our anxieties to God "...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Phil 4:6) I have read this verse many times before but in the context of this book, it was a huge encouragement to me. I can pray about whatever I am anxious about, even if it seems insignificant in the bigger scheme of life. God wants me to talk to Him about my worries! What a relief!
Chapter 8 addresses the common question Christians have, "Do our prayers change anything?" The short answer can be found on pg 153, "God doesn't need our prayers in order to bless us or other people. He knows what we need before we ask him, as Jesus points out (Mat t6:7-8). But, in his incredible kindness, he uses our prayers as a vehicle or conduit for doing his work."
In conclusion, Jensen and Payne make the obvious but necessary statement towards the end of their book - "to learn about prayer but not to pray is a waste of time. Worse, it is self-delusion, for we fool ourselves into thinking that because we have read about prayer and have been convinced of the importance of prayer, we have actually done something about prayer. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that by reading a book on prayer we have actually improved our prayer lives."
Reviewed by Tracey Gertzen
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