Book Review: The Soul of Prayer

N. R. Johnson of The Deeper Christian gifted me P. T. Forsyth's classic, The Soul of Prayer. While difficult to digest, it is full of truth about the purpose and power of prayer. Oftentimes, I had to reread a sentence to understand. The second half of the book seemed easier to follow. I admire this author's fervent belief in the power of importunate prayer!

He quotes someone named Vinet (unfamiliar to me) as saying, "Prayer is like the air of certain ocean isles, which is so pure that there vermin cannot live. We should surround ourselves with this atmosphere, as the diver shuts himself into his bell ere he descends into the deep." I found it interesting that he observed prayer as an act of God within us to God the Father. The Holy Spirit prompts our prayers and thus, when we pray, it is God in us talking with God above us. Prayer is not an asset, meant to exploit Him, but is a gift, meant to glorify Him.

This quote was also encouraging: "So many of us pray because we are driven by need rather than kindled by grace. Our prayer is a cry rather than a hymn. It is a quest rather than a tryst. It trembles more than it triumphs. It asks for strength rather than exerts it. How different was the prayer of Christ!" He adds, "The greatest things Christ did... were done in the night and not in the day; His prayers meant more than His miracles." 

He talks about the sacrament of pain and how we must pray for pain's conversion rather than its removal. "Whatever drives us to Him... has a blessing in it.... [We should] turn pain to praise, to thank Him in the fires, to review life and spend some of the energy we spend in worrying upon recalling and tracing His goodness, patience, and mercy."

Forsyth urges readers who struggle with prayer to begin praying. Just as when a writer struggles to get words on the page, the trick is to write and the flow will inspire more flow. "Do it as a duty, and it may open out as a blessing. Omit it, and you may miss the one thing that would have made an eternal difference." He argues we should use the Bible as our prayer primer and that "prayer should be strenuously importunate." Prayer should wrestle with God while being submissive to His final will. If we don't believe our prayers are effectual, we will not wrestle. He writes, "We obey God as much when we urge our suit, and make a real petition of it, as when we accept His decision; as much when we try to change His will as when we bow to it."

Even though I have finished my 2023 prayer project, I continue to pray this year. I pray for each individual, 1 day instead of a full week, as their name comes up on the list. I no longer alert them or seek requests. But, I have grown into the habit of noting (on my ongoing list) needs that others mention on Facebook. Prayer begets more prayer. Praying may be the most important thing I do each day.