Yancey's "Prayer"

I first picked up Prayer in January 2007; I've only just laid it down as finished tonight. It's rare that a book takes me so long as I can devour a novel within hours, so long as I don't get sidetracked by life. 

So why linger so long with it unfinished? I wanted to savour it, I wanted to study it and apply myself to it as a scholar. I was glad to hear Di mention at Home Group recently that she considered Prayer to be the most academic of all Yancey's books and the hardest one to work through. 

It doesn't lend itself in the same way as some of the others where you can just ease into reading a chapter and then lay it down til the next evening. It's dealing with a fundamental part of our relationship with God and for that, it deserves some respect. 

There's still thematic Yancey threads running through it from his journalistic past and worldwide experiences of struggle, the letters people send in to him to speak of their heartbreak and their rejoicing in their walk with God. 

I'm glad to have read it & to have lingered that long. It taught me anew about Jesus and the patterns he modelled with prayer and the encounters of people like Peter and Paul. 

There was a recurring affirmation of 'Prayer is' used throughout the book and each time I stopped and pondered and saw anew how multi-faceted the nature of prayer is. 

Mostly I learnt of the partnership and of God's attentive ear, the Spirit's groans and the desire to communicate.

 I learnt of prayer as a continual state, of breath prayers and a way to aid change and be changed. Of how if we present our requests, very often they will represent themselves back to us in a different light. 

I learnt that even the wise and greatest stumble in keeping the channel for prayer open and articulate and that the simplest acts can offer a prayer in themselves. 

And lastly I learned that Abba Father wants our words of desires and fears and longings and rejoicing, no matter how poorly we seem to express ourselves; because prayer keeps company with God.