How do you feel about reading a book on prayer? Part of me feels that’s the last thing I need: another excuse to get me off doing the one thing I seem to avoid: praying.

But when I dipped into this pocket-size offering by Michael Reeves, formerly of UCCF, now ‘theologian-at-large’ (a pretty cool title) at WEST, I was altogether refreshed and thankful for the privilege I have of speaking to my Father God. In short, I was eager to pray.

Reeves begins by laying his cards on the table early. He believes there is a prayerlessness prevalent in evangelical culture, and he wants that to change, and longs for this book to be something of a “tonic” to kick-start refreshed prayer lives. 

Reeves’ diagnosis of the problem is interesting. He thinks one of the key reasons we go wrong is because we think of prayer as another “thing” to do, which inevitably leads us to go down the road of searching for ‘prayer techniques’. Instead Reeves holds up John Calvin’s definition of prayer as “the chief exercise of faith” (Institutes III, 20). If this definition is fair (and it’s one that Jonathan Edwards echoed), and  Reeves comes back to it again and again, then consequently prayerlessness is actually faithlessness, or as Reeves puts it, “practical atheism”.

That said, Reeves is careful to say that it’s not that our prayer life dictates whether or not we’re really Christians. But our prayer life does reveal “how much you really want communion with God and how much you really depend on him.” It doesn’t determine our identity, but it does indicate how much of a “spiritual baby” we might be. Therefore, Reeves challenges, if you think you’re wonderful, take a look at your prayer life.

This might all sound a bit depressing, but Reeves knows where he’s going. Indeed, there are a few backhanded encouragements before we get there: firstly, we should expect prayer to be a struggle, for we’re creatures who are naturally lacking in faith; secondly, even someone like Martin Luther, whose legend often comes wrapped in hagiographical descriptions of mammoth prayer sessions, actually really struggled with prayerlessness. Prayerlessness is not a new problem, ultimately it’s a sinful human problem.

But that’s all well and good (or not, as the case may be), but are we simply being left to languish in our prayerlessness? Reeves’ ‘solution’, if I can call it that, is that we understand that if prayer is an expression of faith, the way to grow in it is to grow in faith. He cites Romans 10:17: “faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”. In other words, “faith – and so prayer – is birthed by the gospel”. As we set before ourselves Jesus Christ, then prayer will follow as the articulation of the Christian’s heart response.

So for the bulk of this short book that’s what Reeves seeks to do. When we wonder at Jesus, then we see the privilege of prayer. Part of that is seeing prayer as something Jesus did, and so loving the gospel means we “learn to enjoy what Jesus has always enjoyed”. Crucially and wonderfully this involves praying to God as our Father, for as Jesus teaches his disciples to pray “Our Father in Heaven”, he is simultaneously showing us the relationship He has always enjoyed whilst also sharing it with us. Reeves uses the startling phrase, “pray as if it were through Jesus’ mouth”, which seems a breathtaking way of describing the privilege we have of calling God Father.

Reeves then addresses the subject of when we pray, encouraging a mindset that expresses the privilege of prayer “at all times”. After all, the whole day is already God’s, so we don’t need to try and ‘fit’ God into each day. Reeves is not against set times of prayers and devotion, but he is certainly arguing for a perspective that sees all of life flowing out of our communion with our Father.

The later chapters quickly cover quite a bit of ground, touching on prayer as a sign of dependence (also about Christlikeness, for the Son was dependent on the Father), the precious role of the Holy Spirit in our prayers (“we can be real with our father, accepting our weakness, and simply stammer out our hearts”), God’s work to shape us in our prayer lives so we echo and share “God’s life and purpose”, as well as prayer as an evidence of unity. The lasting taste in the mouth is that praying to our Father God is a delight.

‘Enjoy your Prayer Life’ is worth getting your hands on. It’s definitely a ‘does-what-it-says-on-the-tin’ book. The bonus is that it’s also really short – many of the ‘chapters’ are only a couple of pages – but that means I was much more likely to read it, and it also meant I was more quickly left to actually pray. You can buy it for three squid from the publisher, 10publishing, here. Do it.

Full disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!

True Friendship, by Vaughan Roberts (10Publishing, 2013).

So, here’s a question: When did you last read a book on friendship? In fact, have you ever even come across one? And what about a sermon or a seminar?

If, like me, you found yourself answering in the negative, then it seems we’re not alone – author Vaughan Roberts went through a similar experience. Roberts is a church minister in Oxford and an established writer of popular-level Christian books, but he explains that this book came into being not simply because he wanted to teach on the subject, but because he came to an overwhelming sense of the significance of friendship in his own life. He speaks of the realisation that he had gone through a period of neglecting friendships without really being aware of it, and so suddenly found himself very aware of the need for meaningful friendships. Now combine this with the growing conviction that the Bible has much to say on the subject, and True Friendship was born.

A Book to Read Together…

Early on Roberts makes the bold claim that shapes the rest of the book: friendship is not an optional extra, indeed “living unfriendly and friendless lives is both a rejection of God’s purpose for us as his image, and a dehumanizing tragedy”. Over the course of six bitesize chapters he then proceeds to paint a surprisingly comprehensive picture of what kind of friendships God would have us foster. Each chapter reflects on a different aspect of the Bible’s rich exhortation to ‘true friendship’, and all along it is the framework of the gospel of grace that provides its motivation, power and wisdom.

10Publishing, the publishing division of the growing Christian book-seller 10ofthose, has put out a number of brilliant little books over the last few months, seemingly hand-picking some brilliant material from evangelical pastors – and True Friendship is no exception. Clearly this is no lengthy treatise, yet as Roberts explains, the brevity is intentional. Given the nature of the subject matter, if the form of such a book could not be easily accompanied by reflective reading, and ideally communal reflection too, then surely it would have fallen short. Whether it be a summer book-group, a prayer triplet, or an accountability group, having Roberts’ material on the table will set you in really good stead to discuss how best to focus those relationships.

“What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?…”

With those bold words, so began Jefferson Bethke’s provocative spoken-word YouTube poem, ‘Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus’. After being uploaded in January 2012, it stunningly racked up 7 million views within 48 hours and 16 million within a few weeks. Bethke, an unsuspecting twentysomething student from Tacoma, had gone viral.

The essence of the poem sees Bethke contrast the Jesus he finds in the Scriptures with the ‘religion’ (as he calls it) that he observes around him stateside. Unsurprisingly some people loved it, and some were incensed. Evidently he’d put his finger on something that resonated, and now nearly 26 million have watched him online.

With those kind of numbers behind the guy, you don’t have to be much of a cynic to infer why Thomas Nelson Publishers thought there was a book in this. Now, nearly two years on from the video going online, Bethke’s first book is here, ‘Jesus > Religion – Why He is So Much Better than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough’. Interestingly the breadth of Bethke’s appeal can be seen with some surprising names amongst the book’s commendations: Republican Mike Huckabee, Real Madrid footballer Kaka, and even Russell Moore from Southern Baptist Convention. But before I share a review, why not watch the original video:

Essentially the book is a punchy expansion and elaboration on the theme of the video, but through the narrative lens of Bethke’s own life-story. His aim is to introduce readers to the “dangerous” Jesus of the Scriptures that changed his life, simultaneously exposing the shackles of ‘religion’. As he says, “I want to push you a little closer to Jesus”.

You might think from the title, or perhaps the video, that Bethke is gonna be proposing some sort of commitment-lite, doctrine-shy ‘spirituality’, but that’s far from his aim. As much as he hates self-righteousness dressed up in Christian clothes, so Bethke also has it in for any cheap-grace, Jeremiah-33:11-printed-on-your-T-shirt, ‘feel-good’ distortion of Christianity as well.