Pray with Your Eyes Open
Richard L. Pratt, Jr.,
Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company: Phillipsburg, NJ (1987),
199 pages

If God Already Knows,Why Pray?
Douglas F. Kelly,
Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publisher, Inc: Brentwood, TN (1989),
217 pages

The authors, faculty colleagues, teach at Reformed Theological Seminary. Douglas Kelly is professor of theology on the Jackson, Mississippi campus while Richard Pratt is associate professor of Old Testament at the Orlando, Florida, extension campus.

We expect books on prayer to 1) Realistically convey to the reader what the Bible says about prayer; 2) Reinforce our belief that God answers prayer; 3) Satisfy our curiosity about the amazing answers to prayer God gives to certain individuals and congregations (we admit at this point that our curiosity may not be Spirit-motivated); 4) Teach us how to pray, assuming we have a Spirit-directed desire to want to know.

With all the books on prayer written for this generation by contemporary authors, it is amazing that so many in our congregations (even among ministers) remain prayerless souls.

We continue to be moved and inspired by reading the prayers of the saints in past centuries. Our hymns by Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley are prayers, often of praise and devotion. The lack of such verse from modern writers is a commentary on the level of spiritual life in our age. Our contemporary praise songs cannot compare with the old hymns in quality of verse, in reference to Christ and His cross, in transport of delight in fellowship with God, or in the biblical view of man's need and spiritual poverty.

The saints of past centuries may have had their books about prayer, but they certainly had fewer than we. They wrote their prayers, not because they were stirred by books on prayer in their libraries, but because they knew God. Brother Lawrence spent more time in the kitchen than in the monastery library, in the company of pots and pans and floor mops, not with books on prayer. He and others wrote for the benefit of themselves, their contemporaries, and us. They did not copyright their prayers; they did not demand financial remuneration for each use of their prayers by scattered congregations.

We need books such as these by Pratt and Kelly to counter the careless saying we hear so often: "Prayer Changes Things." The words give credit to the praying person (or at least to his prayers) rather than to the God who answers prayer. They even permit a considerable tolerance in choosing or defining what sort of God fits our fancy to pray to.

This reviewer believes these books have value, if we remember that in our reading time, and in our praying, it is the Spirit of God who motivates our praying in order ultimately to glorify God, not bring gratification to the one who prays.

Richard Pratt's book, Pray with Your Eyes Open (he refers to the eyes of the heart [p. vii]), does not disappoint the reader who looks for biblical encouragement to pray in the plan of God rather than for personal satisfaction only. Right off, in the first of three parts of the book, "Looking at God," we are invited to a "Fascination with God's Character" and "Fascination with God's Actions." The involvement with God's character and actions, shown by writers of the Bible text, especially the Psalmists, enlarges our focus (because God is eternal) and limits our focus (because we pray according to God's will, not ours). Eleven pages in two appendixes give us comprehensive lists of "Names, Titles and Metaphors for God" and "The Attributes of God," all very helpful in encouraging us to pray the quality of these names and attributes into our prayers.

In part two, "Looking at Ourselves," the author helps the reader "to explore how the Bible presents the relevance of prayer for the modern world. In many ways, the key to this issue is to discover how prayer relates to different aspects of our lives and how it fits in moments of happiness, joy, sadness, grief, and pain" (p. 67).

How should we then pray to God whose immutable decrees have determined all that happens in the universe, down to the smallest details of each life? Pratt says, "Thankfully, nothing can thwart God's sovereignty over His world. In this sense, therefore, it is impossible for prayer to change God" (p. 109).

Why pray when God already knows and controls everything? The same question may be asked of other areas of life. Why go to the doctor? Why work a job? Why spread the gospel? The reason we do all these things is that God has established these actions as vital creaturely means for accomplishing His purposes. The same is also true of prayer. Prayer is one of the many secondary causes through which God fulfills His plan (p. 110).

Commenting on Moses' prayer following Israel's rebellion against God (Ex. 32), the author writes:

We must remember that Moses did not alter the eternal decrees of God; his prayer did not take God by surprise, nor did it force God into doing something He had not planned. Yet, this text illustrates that God uses prayer as an effective means of fulfilling His purposes. He has chosen to use the petitions of His people as instruments of change. Prayer is a powerful human effort that can significantly affect not only the lives of individuals but the very course of world history (p. 112).

In the third part of this book, "Looking at Our Communications," Pratt discusses first "Form and Freedom in Prayer," and shows the values and dangers of reading prepared prayers in worship services:

Form, like freedom, has advantages and disadvantages. By using prepared prayers, we may achieve a balance and expression in our communication with God that will please Him greatly. Yet, we may also fall victim to insincerity and irrelevance if we are not vigilant to pray from our hearts and in the light of our current circumstances (p. 133).

In the chapter "Communicating Petitions" the author discusses "building a case" when bringing requests to God, as did many Bible characters in their praying.

In the final analysis, it is the people who know God who know how to pray, and the people who know how to pray know God. For Bible saints, godliness and prayer were inseparable. That is why this book is important; prayer is first brought into focus in the great plan of God for the world and the church and the Christian. Without considering God, His decrees, and His plan for the believer, prayer is not much more than an exercise of the mind engaged in whatever subjective benefit may be gained.

Douglas Kelly's book also bases the exercise of prayer on biblical certitudes. Each of the opening chapters relates to a part of our Lord's model prayer taught to His disciples, by which, says Kelly, "we should be able to discern the very heart of the biblical theology of prayer" (p. 5).

In part one (of three parts), "If God Already Knows," the author deals in chapter one with the thought, "Prayer Depends on Who God Is," and relates the discussion to the first line in the Lord's prayer-"Our Father which art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9, KJV). Chapter two, "Prayer and the Praise of God," relates to the words, "Hallowed be Thy name." "Prayer and the Purposes of God" are tied in with the petitions, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

Part two of this book, "Why Pray?" begins with chapter four, "Prayer Changes Us," and addresses the final petitions of the prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

While chapter four deals with "the corporate needs and destiny of the people of God, and in particular ... [with] ... what God is doing in His people," chapter five, "Prayer Changes Others," discusses what God is doing through His people" (p. 125).

Part two's second chapter, "Prayer Changes Others," has a helpful study on the results of intercession, in which the author first recounts Moses' experience in standing in the gap for Israel in her sin (Ex. 32; Ps. 106), God's search for a man who would "stand in the gap" (Ezek. 22:30), and our Lord's present ministry of interceding for His church (Heb. 4:14-16; 7:24-25) (pp. 125-32). The author follows with the statement that "the sin of the Western world is deism" (p. 133). (The book's editor erroneously titled this section, "Practical Atheism.") "If we really believed that God was intervening in this world all the time, in answer to the prayer of His people, and if we were convinced that it is our prayers that change the course of lives as well as nations, would not hundreds of thousands of believers be giving top priority to standing in the gap and interceding?" (pp. 133-34).

In part three, the author deals with "The Challenge to Persevere," "Wrestling in Prayer," and "When God Appears to Say No."

Two appendixes give "A Suggested Plan for Bible Reading" and "A Suggested Plan for Prayer."

Pratt quotes nearly five hundred Scripture texts in his book while Kelly cites only a few. Pratt's book includes some 50 illustrative silhouette-and-line drawings, and at the conclusion of each chapter a list of review questions and prayer exercises.

Both books are to be commended for their faithfulness to the Scriptures in relating the Christian's prayer life to our God to whom we pray.