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A Pastor Prays for His People: A Collection of Wise and Loving Prayers to Help You through Life's Journey
From pastor Wendell C. Hawley comes a timeless collection of prayers to bring you―and your church―closer to God. Drawing upon years of experience shepherding a congregation, he offers eloquent prayers to help the people of God bring their unique joys and struggles, problems and praises, before the throne. A Pastor Prays for His People contains a year’s worth of wise, thoughtful, and loving prayers for Sundays and special occasions (including holidays, weddings, funerals, children’s services, and church meetings). Whether you pray in public on a regular basis or simply want to deepen your private prayers for the church, A Pastor Prays for His People will help you share the gift of prayer with others.
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 14, 2016
While there are some who are completely against the idea of using written prayers or prayers written by others, and many more who are concerned about such prayers becoming rote ritual, there still seems to be a growing appreciation for the benefits that can come from reflecting upon, using, and learning from the prayers of others.
To this end there is A Pastor Prays For His People by Wendell Hawley. These seem to be prayers mostly designed for use in Sunday assemblies. There are between four and six prayers presented per month with additional prayers for religious and secular observances. The last section features prayers for various circumstances-- meetings, weddings, deaths, etc. In all, seventy-three prayers are provided.
The value in these prayers feature the value of using-- or at least learning from-- the prayers of others. They provide thoughts, forms of expression, and other such things about prayer that might not automatically come to mind in prayer. Through these prayers one is reminded of various distressing situations people might find themselves, the various sins and challenges that beset us that might not always be confessed, and reminders about what is really important in life.Some of the prayers feature material from non-Biblical Christian literature (especially Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) and songs. The prayers also presuppose the "church year" and its observances, and has prayers for those events. Such might cause challenges for those who take issue to such things, but one can still reflect on the message. The book's title-- and many of its prayers-- also presuppose the not very Biblical pastoral system of the church, as opposed to elders and a possible evangelist (Ephesians 4:11-16, Philippians 1:1, etc.). The insidious idea of the church building as the "house of God" can be perceived in many of the prayers; while the church does reflect the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15), we are always in God's presence (John 4:20-24, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 2:4-11).
Ultimately, there is value in learning from these prayers, even if one may not feel comfortable in repeating them verbatim. All of us can grow in our prayer lives, and should seek to do so!
*--book received as part of early review program
To this end there is A Pastor Prays For His People by Wendell Hawley. These seem to be prayers mostly designed for use in Sunday assemblies. There are between four and six prayers presented per month with additional prayers for religious and secular observances. The last section features prayers for various circumstances-- meetings, weddings, deaths, etc. In all, seventy-three prayers are provided.
The value in these prayers feature the value of using-- or at least learning from-- the prayers of others. They provide thoughts, forms of expression, and other such things about prayer that might not automatically come to mind in prayer. Through these prayers one is reminded of various distressing situations people might find themselves, the various sins and challenges that beset us that might not always be confessed, and reminders about what is really important in life.Some of the prayers feature material from non-Biblical Christian literature (especially Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) and songs. The prayers also presuppose the "church year" and its observances, and has prayers for those events. Such might cause challenges for those who take issue to such things, but one can still reflect on the message. The book's title-- and many of its prayers-- also presuppose the not very Biblical pastoral system of the church, as opposed to elders and a possible evangelist (Ephesians 4:11-16, Philippians 1:1, etc.). The insidious idea of the church building as the "house of God" can be perceived in many of the prayers; while the church does reflect the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15), we are always in God's presence (John 4:20-24, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 2:4-11).
Ultimately, there is value in learning from these prayers, even if one may not feel comfortable in repeating them verbatim. All of us can grow in our prayer lives, and should seek to do so!
*--book received as part of early review program
December 6, 2010
This review first appeared on my blog, Jacob's Café (http://jacobscafe.blogspot.com/2010/1...). I received a complimentary review copy of this book without a requirement or expectation of a positive review.
This small, gift-like book, A Pastor Prays for His People, by Wendell C. Hawley begins with an introduction explaining the creation of the book. Most of the prayers in the book were crafted by Hawley to be read during services at his church throughout the year, for special liturgical occasions or particular (happy or tragic) events in the life of the church. He noted that people so often approach prayer as something that must be spontaneous. There is something good to spontaneity. However, as he noted, there is also something powerful about taking the time to contemplate the words of the prayer and connect them to words in Scripture and other ancient prayers.
I think this is where prayer books can be particularly powerful and helpful: They encourage an additional level of depth, thoughtfulness, and contemplation in prayer. When using already-made words as prayers, they can be used devotionally, which is quite helpful when we are lost for words.
Hawley's text is broken into months, although the prayers associated with the months appear to be generally arbitrary. However, he includes an index so the reader can search for topics. The prayers he wrote live up to his goal of being deep, meaningful, and yet easily understood. They can be useful for individual prayer, but I think they would be particularly helpful in more of a group setting (that was their original purpose anyway). This book tends to have a more traditional feel, which reflects the context from which it came.
This small, gift-like book, A Pastor Prays for His People, by Wendell C. Hawley begins with an introduction explaining the creation of the book. Most of the prayers in the book were crafted by Hawley to be read during services at his church throughout the year, for special liturgical occasions or particular (happy or tragic) events in the life of the church. He noted that people so often approach prayer as something that must be spontaneous. There is something good to spontaneity. However, as he noted, there is also something powerful about taking the time to contemplate the words of the prayer and connect them to words in Scripture and other ancient prayers.
I think this is where prayer books can be particularly powerful and helpful: They encourage an additional level of depth, thoughtfulness, and contemplation in prayer. When using already-made words as prayers, they can be used devotionally, which is quite helpful when we are lost for words.
Hawley's text is broken into months, although the prayers associated with the months appear to be generally arbitrary. However, he includes an index so the reader can search for topics. The prayers he wrote live up to his goal of being deep, meaningful, and yet easily understood. They can be useful for individual prayer, but I think they would be particularly helpful in more of a group setting (that was their original purpose anyway). This book tends to have a more traditional feel, which reflects the context from which it came.
April 9, 2011
The prayers in this little book were written for corporate use, but individuals will find them uplifting and inspiring for their own prayer life as well. Each prayer is thoughtfully, skillfully, and poetically crafted to address a wide array of needs and praises. Based on my own experience, I think that readers using this book individually will find little snippets of many prayers that stand out to them that they will then want to extract and re-craft to suit their particular needs.
Continue reading this review here: http://parchmentgirl.com/2011/02/02/a...
Continue reading this review here: http://parchmentgirl.com/2011/02/02/a...
January 28, 2011
This book is excellent! After R. Kent Hughes' resignation from College Church - Wheaton, the author of this book was asked to serve the congregation in ways that included visitation and the weekly pastoral prayer.
This book is a collection of his prayers, arranged according to the weeks of the year. His pastoral prayers are informed both by the circumstances his parishioners found themselves in and also by the Word of God and a rich life experience of walking with His Savior.
This book is a collection of his prayers, arranged according to the weeks of the year. His pastoral prayers are informed both by the circumstances his parishioners found themselves in and also by the Word of God and a rich life experience of walking with His Savior.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews