With so many great books, which one should I choose for my first recommendation? There are many books that I love and think are valuable and helpful for living and God-honoring Christian life. It makes it hard to choose, but then I read Bill’s blog and my decision became much easier. Bill, in his blog, shares how he has been growing in his prayer life and this quote stood out to me,
“Be that as it may, it seems to me to be a mark of spiritual growth and maturity when the focus of our prayers begins to fall more on the needs and problems of others than that of our own selves. In Paul’s many letters to the churches, his unsolicited prayers for his readers (e.g. “I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened . . .,” Eph. 1:18) far outnumber the prayer requests he made on behalf of himself (“And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me . . . to make known . . . the gospel,” Eph. 6:19). In similar fashion, it’s both striking and significant to observe that Paul almost always asked God to bestow spiritual resources on his readers as opposed to physical ones…”
This caused me to remember a great book on prayer by D.A. Carson. The edition of the book that I have is called A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers, but it has been revised and the new edition is called Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation. “I think the new title helps people understand more about the book’s content—namely, Paul’s prayers—while the old title emphasizes the benefit the book may have on your life, specifically spiritual reformation.”
Very simply, Carson’s book primarily focuses on eight prayers of the Apostle Paul which are found in the New Testament. Interspersed throughout the book are a few chapters that address common questions and the applications of prayer in our lives.
To kick off chapter one, Carson writes, “Throughout my spiritual pilgrimage, two sources have largely shaped, and continue to shape, my own prayer life: the Scriptures and more mature Christians” (p. 19). I can echo that statement in my life. In college, I was discipled by a man whose prayer life was informed by Scripture. I remember my mentor praying with me one day and a few sentences in I realized his prayer was based on Colossians 1. I didn’t know that you could do that! It was over 20 years ago and I vividly remember it. This event stood out to me because it highlighted a great truth—our prayer lives are to be informed by Scripture. At that point, when I prayed, I just said whatever came to mind. As I look back, the things that came to mind were a list of things I wanted. I was giving God a Christmas list of things I wanted Him to do for me. I rarely took into consideration what God would want me to pray for.
In John 14:13 Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” I read this as “Whatever you ask…I will do.” I missed that I was to ask in Jesus’ name and that the Father was to be glorified in the Son. I was immature and selfish and the quickest way I found to combat my immaturity was by looking at how Paul prayed. It opened my eyes to a larger world of prayer and showed that prayer had a greater purpose in the world.
The first prayer that the book addresses is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12. The topic of thanksgiving is brought up in verse 3 and Carson points out that “our thanksgiving seems to be tied rather tightly to our material well-being and comfort. The unvarnished truth is that what we most frequently give thanks for betrays what we most highly value [Italics mine]. If a large percentage of our thanksgiving is for material prosperity, it is because we value material prosperity proportionately” (p. 41). Ouch! But gratefully Carson doesn’t stop with exposing our materialism. He goes on to identify things in Paul’s prayer that inform us of things for which we are to be thankful. He summarizes the things we are to be thankful for as “Signs of Grace” and he lists three. 1. Paul gives thanks that his readers’ faith is growing. 2. Paul gives thanks that their love is increasing 3. Paul gives thanks that they are persevering under trial. Each of these “Signs of Grace,” for which we are to be giving thanks, are found in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4. This is just one small aspect of prayer that can have a massive impact on how we give thanks when we pray.
Not only does Carson’s book take us to a deeper prayer life through the prayers offered by Paul in his letters, he also addresses practical issues that we all deal with when we trying to be faithful in prayer. Chapter seven, titled Excuses for Not Praying, is very helpful in addressing barriers to deep prayer. Barriers like being too busy, feeling too spiritually dry, not feeling the need to pray, feeling too bitter to pray, or too ashamed to pray, and the final excuse of being content with mediocrity.
There are many things to love about this book, but one that rises to the top, for me, is that the book is theologically practical. It points us to prayer as seen in Scripture, not someone’s opinion about prayer. What is God more likely to answer? My selfish list of wants or the biblically informed examples of prayer that we see in Paul’s letters? I think this is what Jesus was getting at when He said that He will give us whatever we ask “in His name.” It is asking according to His character and purpose. Where do we learn of His character and purpose? We find it in His Word.
Praying with Paul is a book for the Christian who wants a beneficial guide into Scripture, and a deeper God-honoring prayer life. I cannot recommend it highly enough to you. Check it out here.
Pastor Mike
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