This is a book review I shared with my church family at Faith Reformed PCA, Erie PA. I thought some of my blog followers might also be interested.
Dear
Faith Family,
A
few years ago, when we read Paul Miller’s A
Praying Life my prayer life changed for the better. Miller’s down-to-earth approach helped me
untie the knots of angst I felt in prayer and just approach God
conversationally, not feeling (too) guilty about life and dog interruptions
during our talks. I saw God answer many of my prayers and in ways I wouldn’t
have imagined.
Still,
I was sensing that I was doing most of the talking. I wanted to listen more but didn’t know how
without my mind wandering. With that goal in mind, I picked up Timothy Keller’s
book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and
Intimacy with God. It was the word
“intimacy” that grabbed my attention because that is what I wanted to develop
in listening, a more intimate relationship with my God.
Chapters
1-3 were essentially introductory, setting up Keller’s foundation that “we must
know the awe of praising his glory, the intimacy of finding his grace, and the
struggle of asking his help, all of which can lead us to know the spiritual reality of his presence” (emphasis mine).
It
was Chapter 4, “Conversing with God” that grabbed me and confirmed my sense God
wanted me to listen more. Keller starts
by reminding us that prayer is our reply to God, who first spoke to us, not the other way around. In addition,
consider what God has done just by speaking.
In Genesis we see God spoke creation in to existence. Psalm 29 says “the
voice of the Lord breaks the cedars…the voice of the Lord shakes the
desert…” When God speaks, things happen.
Keller’s
instructions on how to pray use a more meditative and contemplative style; not
the A-C-T-S acronym on which I was originally instructed as a young Christian
and continued to use as an older one.
Using practices of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Augustine as
examples, he takes readers through prayer, using scripture meditation to form
our requests – even practical ones like financial problems and finding lost
keys.
The
book is scripturally based without turning in to an eye-glazing theology
lesson. Keller’s writing style is
stimulating and challenging without sending me to a dictionary every other
paragraph. I’ve read many essays by Tim Keller, but this is the first of his
books I’ve ever read so I don’t know if this is typical.
I’ve
only recently begun observing some of these practices so I have no earth
shattering results to share. I can say
that in recent months God has shared with me some wonderful and dare I say
intimate observations from His Word, which I attribute to Keller’s insight.
Barb
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