Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation

“Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation” by D.A. Carson, is a helpful corrective to much of what passes for prayer in the modern church. If you spend much time in groups that pray you understand the situation on the ground. Much of group prayer and, indeed, personal prayer is devoted to the non-spiritual self—call it iPrayer. Carson uses selected prayers of Paul from Scripture as a helpful measuring rod against which we can view our own prayers. This corrective is especially helpful, in fact the only reason it is helpful, is because Paul’s prayers are inspired (God breathed). Because Paul’s prayers are inspired, then learning to pray like Paul is not only spiritually helpful, it is spiritually essential.Carson does not attempt to cover every prayer of Paul, but the prayers he does cover, he covers in helpful, scholarly and biblically faithful depth. Carson is a scholar. But Carson writes with mind and emotion. Carson calls for a spiritual reformation of the church through prayer and yet Carson does not browbeat nor does he write to produce emotionalism on the positive side or guilt on the negative side. Instead, Carson faithfully exegetes the inspired text of Scripture faithfully, cogently and ardently.The Church is called to pray. Our interaction with our Creator is through prayer. Our Lord provided His Church with the pattern of prayer. And God provides us further direction through the prayers of Paul. If we choose not to follow the examples of Our Lord, and others, in Scripture, our prayers will be shallow, vapid, self-serving and empty. But if we choose to learn from the biblical record, our prayers will be faithful to Scripture, full of power because we are praying inspired Scripture and our prayers will be focused on the glory of God and much less focused on ourselves.This book is no less than a call to revival in prayer. May God use this book to drive people to the only God-breathed book—the Bible—to reform our hearts, to reform our prayers, and to reform Christ’s Church. Happy reading!

D.A. Carson is one of my favorite commentators and theologians. This book on the prayers of Paul is an outstanding expression of his heart for the body of Christ. Through a study of the prayers of Paul he challenges us to pray in the will of God and teaches us the importance and proper standards for our prayer life. This book is a gem, and I hope to use it in the future for reference and recommendations. This would make an outstanding home group, prayer group, or Sunday School text. Very enlightening, encouraging, and convicting!

D. A. Carson has pulled out of the prayers of Paul both insights into the meaning and applications to our own prayer life. It is encouraging, instructive, and in places, convicting. I highly recommend Praying with Paul for anyone who senses a need to deepen her or his prayer life.This book was a gift to a dear friend. Reuben is 96 years old and a real gift, himself. I had not asked him if he would like to read the book, but just ordered it. Then the questions: Would he be able to read it? I have a Kindle copy and live a few hundred miles from him, so I couldn't determine the print size. So if he could read it, would he enjoy it?When I talked to him two nights ago, the answer to both was an enthusiastic "Yes!!" My friend is a retired pastor, then college professor of religion and philosophy, and Sunday School teacher to mostly professional adults. In fact, he taught his class until his church closed due to the pandemic. I am so thrilled that he is enjoying this book, as I am. So we both enthusiastically recommend it!

I used the book for a book club . It was a good read.

Very helpful. After each chapter, I have found myself praying in terms of the chapter's teachings. It is practical as well as motivational. It has enough detail to be transformative in daily ways. It has changed the way I pray, to be more biblical in what is prayed for.

This book reveals how selfish and shortsighted our prayers can be. It reveals how much we need to pray in the right direction and how we can do that by looking at Paul’s prayers. May we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

This is a very helpful, encouraging, and convicting book as Carson zeroes in on God's character and our relationship with Him. He truly helps us to think about how and why we pray.

Very "meaty". Loved it. Unlike any other study on prayer that I have been through. Analyzes Paul's prayers in depth. Worth the time if you like deep material, others found it a bit much and had difficulty understanding the author. I don't think they really wanted to take the time to understand the author's points.