Prayer: An Audience with the King (The People's Bible Teachings)

by Joel V. Petermann

Book Overview

The People's Bible Teachings is a series of books on all of the main doctrinal teachings of the Bible. Following the pattern set by The People's Bible series, these books are written especially for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810012235
• ISBN13: 9780810012233
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Northwestern Publishing House
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Simple yet concise introduction to prayer

Parish pastor Joel Petermann has produced an excellent book for lay Christians examining Biblical teachings about prayer. He begins with the identities of both the one to whom we pray (God our Father-King), us (rebels through our sin who have been redeemed by grace) and Jesus (who has redeemed us with his blood). The second part of the book examines the content of our prayers through the window of the Bible's many and various prayers. The third section deals with "prayer etiquette" such as posture, vocabulary, and proper/improper prayer forms. Finally, Petermann's is a less structures (yet not random/disorganized) section covering many common questions he (a parish pastor) gets about prayer and common misconceptions Christians have concerning it. An epilogue meditating on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6, Luke 11) round out the book. Petermann certainly excels in this book. Among this work's most notable features are its superb prose-Petermann writes simply without being simplistic. One can tell through his writing (both stylistically and the topics covered) that he cares for and listens to the people attending his church. The structure of the book is very well thought out, flows, and is amply supported by both Scripture verses and (to a lesser degree) the writings of Martin Luther, Augustine, and other theologians. The weaknesses are very few. He does incorrectly tell the reader not to pray with Christians of other denominations/synods and supports this radical assertion weakly (101). He suggests that Jesus was unaware of the details of his earthly work (105). And toward the latter part of the book it can be argued that he begins to confuse Law and Gospel as he covers prayer content and the concept of doubt. Nevertheless, these weaknesses do not come close to overshadowing its many insights and teachings. Overall, considering the significant confusion about prayer in modern Christians circles, I would highly recommend this book to any who are still struggling with this topic. Petermann addresses many questions the Christian has and provides a foundation from which to address any questions that may remain.