Do You Find it Hard to Pray?

The following is a review of Developing a Healthy Prayer Life by James W. Beeke and Joel R. Beeke, written by Jeannette Paulson.

Jeannette lives in Apple Valley, MN, with her husband Harlan. They have eight children, they homeschool, and they love good books. Jeannette desires the name of God to be hallowed first in her heart, then in her family, church, nation and in the world. She blogs over at Sparrow’s Rest.

Joel Beeke is president of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and a pastor; his brother, James, has been deeply involved in Christian education for many years both in North America and in China. These brothers are theologically astute but not satisfied until passionate theology translates to passionate, practical living. In Developing a Healthy Prayer Life they give us 31 short meditations that are deep, warm and encouraging. Let me share two sweets that I loved out of this book. They are two out of a whole sack of similar treats.

First of all, in the third chapter, “Praying Believingly,” the writers say, “When we trust God, we desire His will to conquer our will so that it aligns with His.” In other words, do we trust that God knows what is best for us? “Do I become upset and distrust God when I fear that He will not do things my way, or am I upset and distrust myself when I do not do things God’s way?”

In chapter 10, “Pray Perseveringly,” the writers expound the in incident of the Canaanite woman who begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus first ignores her, then talks about her to the disciples, and finally talks to her, but tells her that the food on the table is for the children, not for dogs. Why would Jesus discourage this woman in this way? What is He doing? The writers show us that His answers were for her rather than against her “–to bring her empty-handed at the Savior’s feet and to strip away all her rights and claims. Through this process, she learned to hang, plead, and depend solely on Christ’s mercy– to persevere in prayer.” Finally the woman says that even the dogs get the crumbs from the table. She acknowledges that she is undeserving but she persists because of God’s mercy — and Jesus commends her faith. Here the writers provide an unforgetable word picture: “Persevering prayer is like the beggar who puts his foot in the door so it cannot be closed.” A beggar knows he has no right to the food on the table, but he hopes for mercy. That’s how we should pray.

Terry Johnson, commenting on this book says that “the way we pray determines the way we live.” If that is true, our prayer life cannot be a matter o f indifference. If fact, if we would apply ourselves as diligently to prayer as we do to other pursuits in our lives, our prayers could be characterized by delight and expectation of great good from God’s hand. Who doesn’t want that?

This book is available though Reformation Heritage Books.