Answering Speech: The Life of Prayer as Response to God

by Daniel J Brendsel

Pursuing an Expansive Life of Prayer In wondrous contrast to silent idols, the one true God speaks . He addresses his people in love, and it’s their great privilege to answer him in prayer. At its root, prayer isn’t mere self-expression or a prod to get a silent God to speak, but it is a learned skill to answer God’s initiating word in Christ. Through this thoughtful book, author and pastor Daniel J. Brendsel explains how responding to God can nurture prayerful engagement with Scripture, shape healthy rhythms among God’s praying people, and spur excitement for communion with God. For those disappointed by their current life of prayer,  Answering Speech  invites readers to enter into an expansive and exuberant life of response to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Genres: Theology, Prayer, Christian

288 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2023

Reviews

[Joe Palekas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. A theological, exegetical, and philosophical exploration of prayer that is somehow deeply practical.

[Kevin Halloran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking book on prayer as “answering speech” to the Word of God. It’s a little heady for many church-goers, but leaders and theological readers will find this an encouragement to seek the mind and heart of God in prayer.

[Mike Schutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the finest books I’ve read in some time.

I rank it right up there with Carl Trueman‘s latest as one of the most important books that I’ve read in the past 10 years.

This is a deeply theological, but but accessible and practical, discussion of prayer, from what it is to what it isn’t and everything in between. Brendsel is a good writer and a good reader, and he provides real insight into scripture on every aspect of the topic, both from his own study and from the dozens of sources he sites.

The book is divided into four major parts: God, Scripture, Language, and Rhythms. Each section could stand on its own as a helpful guide to prayer, but taken together, the effect is extraordinary.

It is hard to summarize the overall approach, but the author captures it well when he says his “aim in this book is to sketch in, from various angles, the realities and rhythms of the ever-continuing dialogue that God graciously invites us to participate in, so that we might indeed participate in it and do so more fittingly and faithfully and fervently and fruitfully.” He hits his mark!

I am grateful for this book and predict that I will read it again soon. So much more to learn from it!

[John Dekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on prayer since Richard Pratt's Pray with Your Eyes Open (1987). Brendsel's big idea is that in prayer we respond to God. This comes through most clearly in how we use Scripture in our prayers, and Brendsel's counsel is practical and therefore challenging.

This book is most helpful, however, in what it says about the corporate aspect of prayer. Brendsel emphasizes that we need the church to teach us how to pray (including, but not limited to, pastors), and then goes on to say, "the common prayer of the gathered church is not icing on the cake of the individual's prayer life but part of the cake" (p. 170). He also talks about covenant renewal worship (which is all about responding to God) but with a very helpful adjustment to the way it's usually conceived: he puts the emphasis on what *God* does and lists the components as "God Calls Us, God Cleanses Us, God Consecrates Us, God Communes with Us, and God Commissions Us" (p. 178).

This book is highly recommended for both informing and motivating our prayer life.

[Tim Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the start of this book; so thoughtful, exegetically sound, theologically robust, devotionally rich. I felt deeply helped in my prayer life! The conclusion was also spectacular, highlighting the extraordinary gospel reality of prayer. I found some of the second half less convincing - a bit too prescriptive, a love of ritual that I didn't share, bits I very heartily agreed with mixed with bits I just didn't. After such a fantastic beginning, I was puzzled to find myself singing from a slightly different hymn sheet when it reached these later chapters... but for the first half and the conclusion it's easily worth the price of the book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit academic at points (I have an MDiv in biblical studies so not bad for me), but provides a very thought out theology of prayer and practical application of how we shape our prayers as “answering speech.”

My favorite quotes:
- “We ask for bread, then, not only do that we might receive it, but also principally so that when we receive it, we might actually experience it as it is: a divine gift to us, and even more an answer to our prayers.” (115)

- “Reducing real prayer to only our spontaneous moments of “feeling it” wrongly excludes numerous other parts of the life of prayer in which God is near to us, continually seeking our response, and in which we are, however haltingly or fumbling, responding to him.” (189)

- “… praying is not, at bottom, theologizing. It is communicative communion…” (208)

[Jonah Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable and informative read. It tackles some foundational aspects of prayer and builds upon the idea of the subtitle of "prayer as response to God." I didn't give 5 stars because there are some parts that don't fit as much into the title of "answering speech" as others. And, I'm unsure as to who the target audience is. The book is dense with footnotes, and several chapters are fairly abstract about different aspects of prayer. Even though it contains great content, I wouldn't recommend it wholesale to any Christian, but only to those who would be interested in a more theoretical and "heady" take on prayer. At the same time, it also isn't any sort of monograph on a theology of prayer either. Those aren't big critiques, just observations. Overall, a helpful resource!

[Luke Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a great concept that I had hoped (judging by its cover only) that it would unpack biblically & apply appropriately. It somewhat did both, but I was left wondering still by the end what I had just engaged with. Happy to give the author the benefit of the doubt as the fault of engagement could entirely be with how I consumed the title. He should have started with what he ended with, and could have used more consistency of illustration and application throughout, and certainly could have spent more time focussed on scripture rather than the (too) large portion of the book promoting written prayers and forms. It diluted the main purpose of the book in my mind.

[Jonathan Pait · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book three stars only because for some reason it was very hard for me to get immersed in it. It took me a long time to get through. It was worth the read for some really great nuggets, but it wasn’t what I expected it to be. It was more of a theology of prayer (which is worthwhile to be sure), but the practical workings of prayer being “answering speech” did not come out clearly to me. Seems that the primary message I was left with was… “Pray from a prayer book.”

[Trisha Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book taught me a lot about prayer and changed many of my views on it. It challenged a lot of my thinking and opened my mind to various ways to incorporate prayer and different prayer types in my life.

[Julie Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite what I expected, very liturgical, but full of gems. I’d hoped it was a little more instructional.

[Nicholas Moonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and practical book on prayer. Reframes prayer well: we respond to the God who has already spoken to us.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that can’t really be fully absorbed on the first reading; it’s one of those that I need to read several times! Prayer is hard, but this book gives encouragement and real help. The only disadvantage is: if you don’t attend a church that uses liturgy, you might be tempted to be discontented about it. (Or maybe that’s just me.)

Full disclosure: I received a free copy in exchange for a review.