Product Description

In a series of probing expositions, interspersed with chapters
of practical counsel about praying more effectively, Dr Carson challenges
us to engage in spiritual reformation both as individuals and as churches.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249723 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

Features

• New
• Mint Condition
• Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
• Guaranteed packaging
• No quibbles returns

From the Back Cover
Don't be put off by the lofty title - this is a very practical
book about how we can learn from the Bible to pray in line with God's
plans.

Don Carson argues that the most urgent need of today's Christians in the
West is a closer knowledge of God and that a crucial step towards this is
the way we pray. As we seek to live in accordance with God's plans and our
place in them as revealed in the Bible, so must we seek to pray. Carson
examines eight prayers from the letters of Paul. He proposes that we can
learn from them how to pray in keeping with God's purposes, as Paul does.

Paul's prayers flow from his deep commitment to God's people, and his joy
as he sees God working in the churches to whom he writes (2 Thes 1:3; 1
Thes3:9). The ground of his prayer is the extraordinary grace by which
believers in Jesus are first saved, according to which we are bit by bit
made perfect, and by which our Lord is glorified in our lives (1 Thes 1:12;
Eph 1:7). Paul knows that the things he asks for are available only on the
basis of this grace. He prays always with Jesus' triumphant return at the
end of history in mind, when the church is to be presented perfect and
flawless in God's presence (1 Thes 3:13;Eph 1: 9-10). His prayer's aim is
Jesus' glory, through the growing holiness of his people, and their glory
as members of Christ's body (1 Thes 1:12). Thus he asks, for example, that
the believers' love for each other might grow, together with their grasp of
the gospel and their moral understanding, so that they might be able to
discern what is best in God's eyes (Phil: 1-11). He asks that they might
have the power to know how great Christ's love is, that they might become
all that God wants them to be (Eph 3: 14-21). What a challenge it is, to
pray with such great things in mind.

It would be a very rare Christian who has always found it easy to pray. The
book also addresses commonly-experienced difficulties with prayer.

This easy-to-understand, biblical book is to be recommended to anybody
seeking to relearn to pray effectively and in keeping with God's plans.

Rosemary Lambley, Nucleus (CMF)

About the Author
D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical School, Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author or co-author of many books, including 'The Gagging of God', 'An Introduction to the New Testament', and 'The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God'. He has served as a pastor and is an active guest speaker both in church and in academic settings around the world.

Excerpted from A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers by D.A. Carson. Copyright © 1992. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Preface:
I doubt if there is any Christian who has not sometimes found it difficult
to pray. In itself this is neither surprising nor depressing: it is not
surprising, because we are still pilgrims with many lessons to learn; it is
not depressing, because struggling with such matters is part of the way we
learn.

What is both surprising and depressing is the sheer prayerlessness that
characterizes so much of the Western church. It is surprising, because it
is out of step with the Bible that portrays what Christian living should
be; it is depressing, because it frequently coexists with abounding
Christian activity that somehow seems hollow, frivolous, and superficial.
Scarcely less disturbing is the enthusiastic praying in some circles that
overflows with emotional release but is utterly uncontrolled by any
thoughtful reflection on the prayers of Scripture.

I wish I could say I always avoid these pitfalls. The truth is that I am a
pare of what I condemn. But if we are to make any headway in reforming our
personal and corporate praying then we shall have to begin by listening
afresh to Scripture and seeking God’s help in understanding’ how to apply
Scripture to our lives, our homes, and our churches.

This book is not a comprehensive theology of prayer, set against the
background of modern debate on the nature of spirituality. Elsewhere I have
been involved in a project that attempted something along those lines. Here
the aim is far simpler: to work through several of Paul’s prayers in such a
way that we hear God speak to us today and to find strength and direction
to improve our praying, both for God’s glory and for our good.