Review: Prayer

Title: Prayer - Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

Author: Timothy Keller

Date Completed: 8 March 2016

This was the book the unmarried, young professional women's group I help co-lead selected for our study this semester. Even taking the book slow and discussing just two chapters a week, I still feel like I could read it again and find more aspects to study and ponder.

This is probably one of the better (if not best) books I've read that dealt with the subject of prayer. The first part of the book was some solid theology that definitely took some re-reading to get my mind around. Definitely expanded my theologically narrow view of prayer going into the study. My Christian-ese experience of prayer in day-to-day life was of the prayer lists collected when Christians gather and the thanksgiving lists created to balance out all the asking. I had felt there had to be something more, I knew people with great prayer lives, but most books I have read just never described it well or delved deep enough for my liking.

I really appreciated the practical sections. Examining the methods and writings of the "greats" like Calvin, Luther, and Augustine as well as lesser known theologians from the past and present was probably my favorite part. I really appreciated the glimpse into the prayer lives of Christians past. Although varied, they had way more in common. I also liked how Keller broke down the Lord's Prayer into its component parts, explained each well, and then provided examples on how to paraphrase and use it as a model to shape our own prayers. I definitely intend to try out some of the varied methods, styles, and exercises Keller laid out in his book.

One thing that didn't sit well with me was how he could get preachy sometimes on the subject of what he termed "mystical prayer." He seemed to have a particular audience in mind when repeatedly warning about the more mystical, charasmatic prayer. While I agree with Keller that caution should be used, I felt he may have errored on the intellectual side a bit. That being said, Keller did bring it all together and provide a well-rounded view of prayer with loads of examples and a full appendix for even more reference. I'd definitely recommend reading it to any Christian interested in understanding prayer better.