What? Only four stars for a Philip Yancey book?

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	• Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Philip Yancey Zondervan, 2006 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 64 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Prayer Does It Make Any Difference?

This book should be interesting both to secularists and people of faith. The author's use of epigraphs provide launching points for thoughtful people of all backgrounds.

What? Only four stars for a Philip Yancey book?

"Prayer -- Does it Make Any Differnce?"
For an avid and respectful Philip Yancey fan like myself, it is embarrassing to withold a full five stars. But my one reservation is a very serious one. Would it be fair to describe Yancey's position as "it is good to pray constantly, but don't expect a specific tangible answer to a personal prayer"?

In a book that addresses the question of whether prayer makes any difference it is a serious oversight not to investigate and report on ministries where it demonstatedly does make a differnce, such as the MacNutt's in Jacksonville. These mild-mannered, well educated, and considerate people of integrity do not claim healings that didn't happen, and have kept careful records of their years of experience. Has Yancey seriously studied their ministry with an open mind? Is he willing to sit down to talk with them? Or does he cling to the devastating 19th century nonscriptural doctrine that "miracles are not for today"?

A controlled experiment, published in December 2000, compared the effect of prayer on three groups with the same terminal illness: by trained, hands-on believers (James 5:14,15) by distant intercessors, and a control group is significant.

A test should be patterned after the way God actually heals today rather than one that tells God what he must do to convince us.

A book on Prayer certainly is should include exploring the effect of praying the kind of healing taught by Jesus and practiced by his disciples. See where it is working, not where we've failed.

Respectfully sharing. RHP

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Honest, inspiring book on prayer

Philip Yancey has done it again. His book "The Jesus I Never Knew" is the best book I have read on Jesus. His book, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" is the best book I have read about grace. Now his book, "Prayer: Does it make any difference?" is the best book I have read on prayer. That is a strong statement for me to make, even as a person who loves the writings of Philip Yancey. I have read dozens of great books on prayer, including great books by people like Richard Foster, Ole Hallesby, Bill Hybels and Oswald Chambers.
What sets Yancey's book apart is his brutal honesty about the struggles people have with prayer, balanced with inspiring stories of how prayer has changed people's lives. Yancey is particularly self-effacing about his own struggles with prayer and his feelings of inadequacy in failing to pray. Yet by the end of the book, it is apparent that Yancey is much more of a prayer warrior than he admits at first.
The books' 22 chapters are divided into five parts. Part One, "Keeping Company with God," explores what prayer is. He points out that Jesus "virtually invented private prayer" (p. 63).
Part Two, "Unraveling the Mysteries," discusses frustrations and questions that people have about the effectiveness of prayer. He gives a disarmingly profound answer to those who ask why we should bother to pray when some prayers seem unanswered: "Why pray? Because Jesus did" (p. 78). Later in the book he gives another simple but true answer: "Why pray? God likes to be asked" (p. 143).
Part Three, "The Language of Prayer," discusses how to pray. He gives great practical advice on handling distractions to prayer, and reminds the reader that there is no right way to pray, because different styles of prayer fit different personalities. "Keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep it up" he advises (p. 191).
Part Four, "Prayer Dilemmas," returns to questions people have about prayer, especially unanswered prayer. I would disagree slightly with his defintion of "unanswered prayer," as he includes in that definition prayers that receive a "no" answer. Yancey's approach to prayer for physical healing is balanced and insightful, as he reveals scientific research showing healing that cannot be explained, while recognizing the importance of using medicine and how God usually works through natural processes.
Part Five, "The Practice of Prayer," provides motivation for faithful praying.
Yancey's writing includes frequent illustrations from a variety of sources, from popular culture to literature to world history. Being a famous author and editor for Christianity Today, Yancey has received many letters about prayer, and he shares this correspondence throughout the book. One unique quality about this book is that each chapter includes a couple of sidebars written by others, sharing personal experiences in prayer. For example, on p. 224-225 a prostitute whose prayer for deliverence resulted in her miraculous salvation. Although each sidebar story can be read alone, they relate to the chapters where they are inserted.
I disagree with Yancey in chapter 7, when he discusses Abraham's prayer that "changed" God's mind. Yancey does not notice that Genesis 18:33 says that it is God who ended the conversation with Abraham, not Abraham with God, so God did not change His mind.
Also, I believe that Yancey misinterprets Job 21:15 on p. 95. There he says that Job asks "What would we gain by praying to him?" However, the context of the chapter implies that Job quotes the wicked in this passage; Job does not say that he himself questions prayer.
It is remarkable that these were the only two places that I disagreed with Yancey, because he makes bold and strong statements throughout the book. I am sure many people will be offended or disagree with some things he said, just because he asserts so many strong opinions. But this is one of the values of the book: Yancey stimulates you to think deeply about prayer, and challenges your preconceived notions. Yet he does so while remaining fiercely loyal to the Bible's teachings on prayer.
In summary, this book is destined to be a classic book on prayer, useful for group study or personal review and study over and over again.

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The Stuff No One Talks About

Philip Yancey has an uncanny way of addressing taboo subjects within the world of religion. His candid approach to the subject of prayer is refreshing and void of cliche's intended to manipulate or give a false sense of security. He reveals the true power of prayer, AND more importantly, the misconceptions about prayer. His book will take its reader on a round-trip journey of belief, doubt, and belief again with only one difference: the return of belief will be a more stable and deeply-rooted belief that will not be easily shaken.

Talks too Fast

I bought Mr. Yancey's hard copy book "Prayer" and I realized that it was a spectacular book with so much information that it was going to be hard to retain a lot of it. When this happens and I really want to learn from a book, I will purchase the book on tape to be able to listen to it and absorb the information. That was my goal with purchasing the audio version of this book. My criticism is this: The gentleman narrating talks far too fast. I'm from a large urban city and have been told that I can talk rather fast -- and I'm saying this guy talks too fast! Perhaps it wouldn't annoy anyone else -- I am trying to absorb information from this book and a more thoughtful slow read would have been beneficial to me. Perhaps it won't be an issue with anyone else. And I have absolutely no complaints about the content as the book is excellent. Just know that the audioversion moves along at quite a brisk clip!

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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