Book Review: Praying With The Church

Praying With the Church, by Scot McKnight, is a new book about old ideas. McKnight urges the Christians to unite their hearts with others in prayer by praying at set times throughout the day when others are praying as well. In so doing, he has offered some thoughts that I have never considered.

The premise of the book is that the church has historically observed regular times throughout the day when the church prays, even though they may not be assembled together. It draws on the OT practices of Jewish prayer such as recorded in Psalm 55:17 (morning, noon, and night), and shows the apostles in Acts following the pattern when Peter and John go to the temple to pray at the ninth hour (Acts 3:1.). (McKnight stops short of showing this practice of prayer as a mandate for continuation in the NT church.)

The book is centered on the idea of “sacred rhythms,” or praying at fixed times with set prayers (p. 1). He calls this “praying with the church.” It is contrasted with praying in the church, when “an individual prays exactly and only what is on his or her heart” (p. 1). In praying with the saints, we come closer to God and closer to God’s people, and we “confess the communion of the saints” (p. 11). By doing this, “we are invited to join a revolving twenty-four round of uninterrupted prayer offered by God’s people all over the world” (p. 13).

This focus on regular set times of prayer for the church is undoubtedly the highlight of this book. McKnight urges believers to plan their day around prayer times, rather than considering prayer and interruption, or something you schedule around your day. This idea is an idea worthy of serious consideration, whether or not one follows McKnight’s other suggestions.

The book is divided into four major sections. One chapter each is devoted to the introduction and conclusion, with two longer sections about “Jesus and Daily Rhythms of Prayer” and “The Church and Daily Rhythms of Prayer.”

A large portion of the book focuses on the use of prayer books, such as the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican), The Liturgy of the Hours (Roman Catholic), A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers, and The Divine Hours (ecumenical). These books contain pre-written prayers and prayer schedules. After having read McKnight’s evaluation of these books, I remain unconvinced of the value of using such prayer books, in particular these books. McKnight reminds us that “everything Israel and Jesus learned about prayer can be found in the psalms” (p. 44). He says “If the Psalter was good enough to be Jesus’ prayer book, it is good enough for ours.” So I can sum up my thoughts on this third section about prayer books by simply wondering this: If the Psalter is good enough for Jesus and good enough for us, why did not McKnight skip the five chapters on prayer books and write on the Psalms? This theme of Jesus and the Psalter (which I think is correct) seems to undermine a large part of his book. And quite frankly, I think the book would have been better had he focused on the prayers of the Psalms rather than the prayers of the prayer books. Prayer books can serve a function in the way that hymns and poems, that of crystallizing scriptural truths that are found elsewhere in Scripture. But I am not sure that these are the best prayer books, nor are they necessary for prayer.

There is much good in this book. McKnight issues a healthy call to formulate our lives around prayer, rather than considering our lives interrupted by prayer. It is helpful to think in terms of set prayers as a way to schedule our days, knowing that others are praying with us at that time. Used in a corporate setting of a local church, encouraging church members to pause throughout their days at set times could be a way of giving the church some concrete solutions to the age old struggle with prayer. He says “Learning to pray set prayers at fixed times according to a sacred rhythm can reinvigorate our prayer lives and life the burden of creativity off our shoulders” (p. 14). I can certainly identify with this.

McKnight rightly comments that the use of set prayers does not lead to vain repetitions. Mindless use of set prayers leads to vain repetition. Set prayers are not magic wands. They help to formulate our own prayers using the prayers of others as a basis. Though I cannot recall McKnight saying this (and I think he should have), I would urge that set prayers be the bases of our prayers, not the totality of them. Of course, I would urge that we use the set prayers of the Psalter, perhaps worded in a more personal and direct ways, such as Ken and Karen Boa do in Simple Prayers (a prayer book that I greatly enjoy).

McKnight concludes his book with nine excellent suggestions about prayer. These help to summarize his book in an effective manner.

However, there are some troubling things in this book. On p. 12, McKnight talks about “Christians throughout the entire world—Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Christians of other stripes and hues.” He later talks about getting to know our “brothers and sisters in the faith” (p. 137) through the use of their prayer books. This is troubling since historically, the definition of Christian has not been this broad, nor should it be now. The modern (and post-modern) move toward erasing the lines of distinction that have historically been drawn over the doctrine of soteriology is troubling inasmuch as it recognizes more ways to God than Scripture allows. Historically and theologically, Roman Catholicism has not been considered a Christian religion except in the social and cultural sense of the word. Christianity was distinguished from Catholicism over the issue of sola fide sola Christus. This is a matter on which we must not compromise. To broaden Christianity in such a way is disappointing in this book.

There also seems to me to be a lack of teaching about the role of Jesus in our prayer. While McKnight spends some time talking about Jesus and his prayers, the reader without theological background is left with the idea that Jesus is a great example of prayer, but it seems to leave it at that. After my initial read through, I sat back and thought, where was Jesus? He devotes four chapters to Praying with Jesus, but it did not strike me as particularly useful in the formation of his book. The first chapter, the section on prayer books, and the conclusion were much more instructive for me. I think an increased focus on the role of Jesus as our intercessor through his sacrificial death, as the one through whom we can enter boldly into God’s presence seems a needed focus any time we talk about prayer. I wish McKnight had focused on this more.

Throughout the book, McKnight cites some sample prayers, some of which are troubling in their theology, primarily because the people who wrote the prayers, or the people being cited are, at best, questionable in their orthodoxy. Let me cite just two. On p. 75, he cites a prayer from Robert Webber that includes “cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit.” The inspiration of the Holy Spirit has not, to my knowledge, ever been used theologically in forgiveness. Inspiration has a very specific meaning in theology that deals with revelation, not forgiveness. Theological imprecision leads to confusion. It would be better to be precise and specific, especially with words that have specific theological weight.

He also cites Frederica Mathewes-Green on her habits of early morning wakefulness when she prays “Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful to me” over and over “until her body tells her it is time to go back to sleep."

‘The goal,’ she says, ‘is to focus on those recurring words, not on any other prayers or intercessions, not on Bible study or theological truths; you have all day long for that. For this half hour, just fall into the presence of God like warming your hands before a fire, without a conscious thought in your head’ (p. 80).

The idea that we can “fall into the presence of God” without any conscious thought in prayer is mystical and runs contrary to the idea that God is only known through the propositions of his revelation. Our experiences of God in natural revelation are coherent only because of special revelation. To divorce prayer from theological truth is not the biblical teaching on prayer. Prayers in Scripture are deeply filled with theology and truth, and personal cognitive and volitional response to that truth.. It is hard to imagine ours should be any different.

Given the ecumenical nature of the book, and the lack of clear instruction on the nature of true spirituality vis a vis the false spirituality so prevalent in our contemporary culture, I think much more could have been made about the theological foundations of prayer, and it would not have required a longer book. Such a section would have made it a much stronger book. Spirituality is all too often divorced from real life in Jesus. I fear with a book such as this, with what seems to be a lack of emphasis on Jesus' role in prayer, there is a doctrinal minimization that is unhealthy for the church. Prayer is not the most important thing in the church. The truth is. Suggesting the use of prayer books from various doctrinal orientations will likely not result in a church more strongly committed to the pursuit of truth, and that would be an unfortunate result.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I found it thought-provoking in thinking about prayer and the prayer life of the church. Having listened to people pray in church and in prayer meetings, I am convinced that most Christians prayers would benefit from the use of set prayers to teach them how to express theology in prayer. I think McKnight helps to point this out. I would take issue with his selection of prayer books, and the breadth of his definition of Christianity. I think we need to be stronger on this issue, not weaker.

I think his nine closing suggestions are the best part of the book by far, followed only slightly behind by his ideas about scheduling life around prayer, rather than scheduling prayer around life.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thanks to Paraclete Press.