Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?
I’ve read multiple books on prayer over the years, but I’ve never read a better one on the subject than Philip Yancey’s new book, “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?”. It’s well over 300 pages long, but it’s definitely worth you spending the time to read through it.
In fact, in my opinion, this is the book on prayer! And although I usually don’t push books onto people, this is one I actually think most of you should try and set aside some time to read.
And you need to read it because (and now I’m quoting Yancey), “If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer.”
I can’t say it any better. Anyway, here are a few other classic thoughts Yancey shares about prayer throughout the book:
- “Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”
- “The main purpose of prayer is not to make life easier, nor to gain magical powers, but to know God. I need God more than anything I might get from God.”
- “The Son of God, who had spoken worlds into being and sustains all that exists; felt a compelling need to pray.”
- “Sometimes, like the boy who asks his parents to solve a math problem while he plays video games, we ask God for things we should be doing ourselves.”
- “Of all the means God could have used, prayer seems the weakest, slipperiest, and easiest to ignore.”
- “We should pray like a salesman with his foot wedged in the door opening, like a wrestler who has his opponent in a headlock and won’t let go.”
- “Prayer sets God loose.”“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.”
- “If I want fluency in a foreign language, I must set aside time, no doubt giving up something else in the process. I must keep working at it, persisting despite the awkward feelings of a beginner. I persevere only because I value the final result. Nearly everything worthwhile- learning a sport, mastering the guitar, improving computer skills- involves the same process.”