Prayer by John Onwuchekwa

1 minute 30 second read

Confession time. My first thought was: not another book about prayer telling me that I need to pray more (which I know I ought to do anyway!).

But this book is a bit different, in that, instead of focusing on the individual, as so many other books do, it has a very specific purpose: to examine how prayer shapes the life of the church.

Also the opening hooked me in with this telling line, ‘it seems many churches simply don’t realise how little they pray together, or how little their prayers reflect the bigheartedness of God’ (p14). How accurately does this describe your fellowship’s prayer life? Having been to a few Sunday services at my home church since I have read the book, I must admit it’s more true than I had realised.

Inspiring and practical

The book is one of a growing range of books in the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series. They’re not long books, but from the ones I’ve read, they’re good and practical. They are designed to encourage church leaders, and in this case prayer leaders in local ministry. But to be honest, this book is useful for anyone who prays!

The book starts with a look at the problem of corporate prayerlessness and then we learn together how Jesus talked about prayer. The final three chapters are practical. The first of them looks at prayer in corporate worship. The second looks at prayer meetings – at a time when, for so many churches, prayer meetings are a thing of the past, and for other fellowships, prayer gatherings are an afterthought, often poorly planned and poorly attended. The last chapter looks at the role of prayer in missions.

I would recommend this book, and will share two short quotes to hopefully whet your appetite:

A church’s commitment to prayer is one of the greatest determiners of its effectiveness in ministry (p29).

We taste God’s glory in a unique way as we participate together in corporate worship through prayer (p89).

Prayer by John Onwuchekwa
ISBN 9781433559471
128pp, Crossway