Friday Fun...Back to the books...

It has been awhile since I have read a book outside the scope of the next sermon or a class I am attending.  Two or three Christmases back I received the book "Prayer:  Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God" by Timothy Keller from our oldest son.  I have read his inscription on the inside cover many times but the contents have sat on top of my book shelf for a long time.  In the past I have went through books and given you the highlights so lets see if I have the discipline to do it again.  There have already been some great quotes that I have underlined in the Introduction, chapter one and two so let me share some of them with you.

In preparation for this book, Mr. Keller has read many of the classics on prayer and made this opening section observance:

"Also, nearly all the classic books on prayer spend a fair amount of time warning readers about practices in their day that were spiritually unhelpful or even damaging.  Such cautions must be updated for readers living in each generation."

I thought to myself, "This is an excellent reason why we need new books on old subjects."

Mr. Keller also brought out the prevailing views on prayer into two different camps.  One of the camps is to see prayer as a time of peaceful adoration.  We rest in God.  We come into His presence.  The other camp is to see prayer as a time of assertive supplication.  We call upon God.  We wrestle with Him all night in prayer.  

The temptation is to ask, "Which is better?"  The reality is that both are present and especially when you look at the prayers of the Psalms.  There are Psalms that deal with adoring communion and others that are cries for help.  

Chapter One is titled "The Necessity of Prayer."  A great quote from Augustine's "Confessions" was "that living well depends on the reordering of our loves."  The reordering of our loves is necessary because we start loving what we shouldn't.  Keller said,

"God is the only person from whom you can hide nothing.  Prayer, therefore, leads to a self-knowledge that is impossible to achieve any other way."

"Do I love what I should be loving?"  Who better to ask this question to then of God.  Can I be an example of what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:8 and 9?

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

I don't know if this is possible if I am not a person with a necessity to pray to the One I love that I have not seen, believe and rejoice in.  Keller ends this chapter with this paragraph:

"Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge.  It is also the main way we experience deep change--the reordering of our loves.  Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us.  Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire.  It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God.  Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life.  We must learn to pray.  We have to."

Chapter Two is titled "The Greatness of Prayer" and covers the topics of the supremacy of prayer, the integrity of prayer, the hardness of prayer, the centrality of prayer, and the richness of prayer.  One quote from Keller in the section on the hardness of prayer focuses on what condition we are usually in when we actually get to actually praying.

"We are so used to being empty that we do not recognize the emptiness as such until we start to try to pray."

I have experienced this.  Recently, the end of last summer, I felt the need to gather with others to pray over a period of time.  Another church in our area was holding an early morning prayer meeting for the next 21 days.  It meant getting up about an hour earlier than I usually do to get somewhat presentable and drive the 15 miles to get there.  I didn't realize how empty I was.  Over the next 21 days, God started filling up my tank that was bone dry.  Keller's point is that most Christians are running on "E" and we don't know it because we have been in this state for so long.  

One last point in this chapter is found in the section on the centrality of prayer in the Bible.  Here is a partial list of those who prayed:  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Hannah, Samuel, King David, King Solomon, Job, the Old Testament prophets, Daniel, Nehemiah, Jesus, His disciples, Paul, and the 1st century church.  This list spans you from Genesis to Revelation.  Prayer is everywhere in the Bible.  Let me close with another quote of Keller on this point.

"All Christians are expected to have a regular, faithful, devoted, fervent prayer life.  Prayer is so great that wherever you look in the Bible, it is there.  Why?  Everywhere God is, prayer is.  Since God is everywhere and infinitely great, prayer must be all-pervasive in our lives."

That is a very convicting quote to me.  I am headed back to the church again beginning on Monday for another 21 days of prayer.  I hope that the tank is not as empty as before but humility will be the key if it is going to be filled by God.

Adam