Book Review: Prayer

The book, Prayer, written by Richard Foster is one of the most profound and practical books that I’ve ever read on the subject of prayer. In each chapter, Foster writes about a different type of prayer (Examples: Prayer of Rest, Intercessory Prayer, Prayer of Tears, Healing Prayer… etc.) The following are my favorite excerpts from the book:

“We should all feel perfectly free to complain to God, or argue with God, or yell at God. God is perfectly capable of handling our anger and frustration and disappointment. C.S. Lewis counsels us to ‘lay before Him what IS in us, not what OUGHT to be in us.’”

Writing about the prayer of rest, Foster has this to say: “No teaching flowing out of the Sabbath principle is more important than the centrality of our resting in God. Instead of striving to make this or that happen, we learn trust in a heavenly Father who loves to give. This does not promote inactivity, but it does promote dependent activity. No longer do we take things into our own hands. Rather, we place all things into divine hands and then act out of inner promptings.”

“Over the centuries an unfortunate and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary division has arisen among Christians. On the one side are those who stress liturgy and sacrament and written prayer. On the other side are those who stress intimacy and informality and spontaneous prayer. And each group looks at the other in pious condescension. We need not be forced to choose one over another. Both are inspired by the same Spirit. We can be lifted into high, holy reverence by the richness and depth of a well-crafted liturgy. We can also be drawn into breath-taking wonder through the warmth and intimacy of spontaneous worship.”

Foster writes about meditative prayer here: “Suppose we want to meditate on Jesus’ staggering statement ‘my peace I give to you.’ Our task is not so much to study the passage as to be initiated into the reality of which the passage speaks. The heart, the mind, and the spirit are awakened to his inflowing peace. Rather than dissecting peace, we are entering into it. We are enveloped, absorbed, gathered into his peace.”

“Petitionary Prayer remains primary throughout our lives because we are forever dependent upon God. Petition, then, is not a lower form of prayer. It is our staple diet. In a childlike expression of faith we bring our daily needs and desires to our heavenly Father.”

“Intercessory Prayer is a way of loving others.”

On Healing Prayer: “God cares as much about the body as he does the soul, as much about the emotions as he does the spirit. The redemption that is in Jesus is TOTAL, involving every aspect of the person – body, soul, will, mind, emotions, spirit.”

If you are interested in learning more about prayer… I highly recommend this book. It’s honest, thought provoking and practical!