Why Pray?

by John F. Devries

255 pages. 4" x 6.75" dimension.

Genres: Christian, Faith, Christian Living, School, Read For School, Nonfiction, Religion

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do I condense 40 days of learning into one reasonable length review? Don't think I can do that.
All I can do is say what this book has done for me. So that's what I'll do.

I have been a Christian for a long time. However, I don't think I really accessed most of that power that comes from being a follower of Christ. Prayer is that key, that instrument to access the power that Christ gave all his believers in his ministry, persecution, crucifixion, death, and resurrection from the grave. Jesus prayed, all the time. And he is the living God. But he needed to access the power of God while he was in a fully human body. He did this through prayer. Jesus prayed through some of the most painful times in his life. When he and his disciples had material needs to be met. When he was tempted by the devil for 40 days, when he knew he was going to be tried and crucified. His last night before he was crucified, he prayed so hard that he sweated blood. If my Lord prayed, and I follow him as my model, then how could I not pray every day of my life, not just in the worst moments, but in the best, and in everything between? That would be huge folly on my part not to follow his model. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he told them to say what we know as The Lord's Prayer:

‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.'

Matthew 6:6-13

I learned to say this prayer when I was a very young girl, but I didn't realize the absolute power in it until I read this book. God still blessed me in my life despite that. But there is so much more God can do with his children if we only ask him. Let me tell you, practically every need you would have as a human being can be met through this prayer. God will supply all your needs. He's just waiting for you to ask him to do it. And also you should pray this when you pray for others. They need the same things and this prayer accesses the unlimited resources of heaven to give them what they need. Sometimes we see so much hopelessness and it makes feel us helpless. Well, believers in Christ are not helpless in any way. Even if we can't reach out and touch and physically help someone, we can pray for them, and there is power in that prayer. Merely using The Lord's Prayer. Now, I have learned to pray it out loud and let every line resonate through my spirit. You see, there is power in God's word. When we pray God's word, he hears us. He hears the prayers of the believers (and even those who don't know him but are seeking to know him and need his help) anyway, but God will always honor his word. If it says that he will give us our daily bread, then he will do it (and I truly have found that out in this season of my life). This book helped me to understand this, that I should use my prayers with power. Not demanding anything from God, but agreeing with him in what he says in his word.

I will honestly admit that prayer is something I've done half-heartedly most of my life. It's very foolish of me. As a believer in Jesus, why wouldn't I want to spend time with him? And that's what prayer is. Prayer is fellowship with the Living God. He loves us and he wants to spend time with us. Does he need us? No, but he takes great joy in us, his children. I think it's like if you are a parent and your children don't ever want to spend time with you. It must feel bad to know they don't care to spend time with you. Well, I know that God loves me so much, and because of his love, I love him so much, quite desperately. So now, even when I don't feel like praying, I still pray, because the power of agape love gives us the strength to break through the barriers that come between us and those who we share a relationship with. God doesn't care for fancy gestures, just a sincere heart. The Holy Spirit will make the words when we need them. And let me tell you, whenever I pray and spend time with God, the peace that comes into my heart is like nothing else, no matter how bad things seemed before I started praying. It's like being wrapped in his arms. My insides become suffused with a powerful light. There is no substitute for fellowship with the Living God. This book has encouraged me to dive into experiencing the presence of the Living God. And I know that I don't need to be ashamed of my sins and shortcomings, afraid to approach my father in heaven, and Jesus my lord. The Lord paid for my cleansing from sin and he has promised that I can always approach him in confidence. Now I cast all that at the Lord's feet, and I know he can do better with it than I can. Every believer has this right and privilege.

Another incredible revelation that this pilgrim has discovered is the incredible supernatural power that we can harness through prayer. Jesus said that anything he did, we could do.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14

That means heal the sick, provide for material resources, protection from spiritual and physical enemies, and yes, even raising the dead. How do we access this? By praying in confidence (not in ourselves but him) as the Lord did. That doesn't mean fancy prayers. Jesus didn't pray 'fancy'. He prayed with faith and humility. That's all that we have to do as believers in him. This is not just me saying this. This is in the Word, which is the inerrant essence of God.

The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever. Psalm 119:60

Oh goodness. Very hard to condense all of this. I'm getting excited to write this, to share this incredible message through this review. Let me talk about the writing a little. Mr. Devries has a good way of illustrating his points. He tells stories of his life and what he's seen and had others tell him. They are very good at bringing the importance home of the power of prayer. Some of the stories had my jaw dropping. The supernatural happening right here in the middle of this mundane world. And it has encouraged me to follow this model of prayer and marvel and praise God for doing what he promised to do. I think that Mr. Devries sets challenges out there for the readers. Some of his guidelines may not work exactly as he suggested, but don't let that turn you off his message. The essence of what he is saying definitely has merit, and this is a very good starting point for a Christian who doesn't feel like they are very good at prayer.

I am very grateful that my church decided to read this book as a group, and even provided free copies to everyone. The blessings reaped are without measure. I would recommend this book to Christians--old and new--who want to understand just how valuable prayer is.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I read this, in 2011, I was just beginning my relationship with God, so I ate up every word. Now, I am looking at this with a bit more experience. I have a very different take on it now.

There were many great ideas, but the overall book was much too formulaic. Devries insists prayer must be done a certain way. Well, I've prayed a totally different way and have seen amazing things happen. He uses mostly stories to prove that his way works. What little scriptures he references are borderline twisted to prove his point. I wasn't convinced. There is plenty to consider and implement, but maybe it shouldn't be followed strictly.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book is really good! It's not the type of book where the author really pounds something into you and wants an emotional reaction, it's a special type--the kind that slowly helps you to understand more and more about what it's talking about and that leaves you with a changed heart. I really like it! My favorite illustration of prayer is of us sitting on our Father's lap and Him just holding us and listening to us (the little boy who loved to sit on his grandfather's lap on the tractor.) I reccommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about prayer--and even those who don't.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good preparation for our local mission.

[Cat *living for the One who breaths life into me* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. So got me pumped up for prayer. Now I can actually enjoy praying. :)

[LiterarySparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of my "clean out the bookshelf" project of 2023. In brief, this mixed bag of a book is best suited to new believers and children/teens who are just beginning to learn to pray and who will not be put off by the lack of historical grounding or the heavily American Evangelical missions emphasis.

This is not a book to read all at once, so I used it during my Lenten devotions. (Note that it is not actually designed for Lent. It is organized into 5 sections of seven readings each, with a briefer section of 5 readings to round out the "40 days" concept, so that if the reader begins on Ash Wednesday, she will end on Palm Sunday.)

I found it to be a mixed bag, with nuggets of insight and useful practical applications nestled in a vessel that was shaped by a particular form of American Evangelicalism tempered by an international flavor. DeVries does not root his book in the historical schools of prayer and seems ignorant of the wealth of devotional prayer practices in other traditions. I repeatedly noticed a lack of attention to the discipline of confession and to methods for listening to God while praying.

The book's focus is on what we say in prayer. In its favor, the methods DeVries advocates are far more robust than the ACTS/PACT method, and he presents an outwardly-focused rather than self-focused vision of prayer. I greatly appreciated the couple of days he focused on the necessity of praying first before beginning any work in God's name, rather than making plans and then asking God to bless them. Week 4 (on using the Lord's Prayer as a framework for our prayers) is the heart of the book and by far the best section. (That said, I don't know that using only week 4 would be an effective use of the book, as this week depends on the context of what he says in the first three weeks.) The other real gem in this book is Day 37: Prayer as Praise, in which DeVries gives concrete steps for praising God. Praise is, in my experience, the most difficult part of prayer to learn to do, and the five steps that he extrapolates from Psalm 145 have done more to teach me how to craft my own praises than decades of sermons and Sunday School lessons.

This volume is not likely to appeal to Christians from a Reformed background because DeVries encourages great familiarity with God (e.g. Day 2: Prayer is sitting in God's lap) and perhaps a too-light view of soteriology. It is also not likely to appeal to Catholic/Anglican/Orthodox Christians due to its lack of foundation in the established historical prayer practices of those traditions.

I could expound on my dislike of his presentation methods, which rely greatly on catchy mnemonic devices and acronyms. I could also critique his underlying "salesman"-like attitude (evidenced in the original title: Does It Pay to Pray?, which attitude greatly shaped the first two sections of the book). Both of these irritating devices nearly caused me to stop reading when I reached my personal benchmark of completing 25% of a book. However, I am glad I persisted, since I did find some gold amongst the dross.

Overall, I judge the strengths of the book to outweigh its weaknesses sufficiently to give it a qualified recommendation. It is likely to be most beneficial for children/teens and for adult believers who are either newly converted or who are just beginning to make a study of prayer. The concrete steps laid out provide a good starting place in learning to pray. This book is less likely to be helpful to those who are very experienced in prayer and have already studied it through other books. There are useful nuggets to glean, as I pointed out above, but they are presented in a rather narrow framework.

[Jordy Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book challenges. Though not particularly based on any particular Scriptures, it includes scriptures throughout the daily devotions. It pushes the reader and his/her family to act based on the lessons of each day, thus expanding it/s influence from one individual person and soul, to their entire family and other families in their spheres of influence. It gives vivid extended analogies that people of this day and age can connect with easily. It gives concrete and practical next steps and memorable acronyms to look at words like "hope", "care" and "blessing" in a new way.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this aloud to the kids as part of Bible class. It is changing the way we look at prayer and how we can bring blessing to our neighbors, help to our friends, and deepen our relationship with our Lord.

This is an excellent book for pre-teens/teens to develop their prayer life. Even my littles got a lot out of the stories and practical application shared in this book.

[Heidi'sbooks]

This is a really good, short devotional to get your family to become a family of H.O.P.E.--Home of Prayer Everyday.

[Ligia Stockwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It made me think about my prayer life and how I need to incorporate my children into my prayer life. I really encourage others to read this book as well.

[Hope Boring]

A wonderful book on prayer during Lent. The book explains why, how, and praying for others.