Enriching your prayers (by Mark McDowell)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time I check for free downloads for my Kindle. Around a year ago, I downloaded an interesting looking short book called ‘Enriching your prayers’. I had never heard of Mark McDowell - also known as Markus McDowell -  but am always willing to try something that sounds appealing, which has good reviews, and which is free.

The subtitle to this book is rather lengthy: ‘How to study the prayers of the Bible: A companion to the praying through the Bible series’. That explains why it’s free. This book is a general guide to the author’s methods in a somewhat ambitious project he has undertaken: to understand and pray through all the recorded prayers in the Bible.

The material is well-presented, and the writing is straightforward. Not that it offered anything that was new to me, but to some who tend to take the Bible literally, it could be quite eye-opening. And it’s a good reminder, too, that any passage of the Bible must be looked at in different ways, or from different angles, if we are to understand it fully and see what it means to us as individuals or groups today.

The main points the author makes are that we need to explore the context in which each passage or prayer was written. What was the approximate date? What culture was it in? Who was the author, and what was the purpose of the prayer? It’s obvious to me that we need to take these things into account; whatever one believes about the Bible’s inspiration or accuracy, it was written down by individual people, with their own styles of writing, with particular audiences or purposes.

This book also discusses nine different styles of praying - rather more than the four kinds which are often discussed. The author gives examples of each, and it was helpful to see his distinctions between (for instance) petition and intercession. But as he also explains, what is important is to pray - to be in relationship with God. Seeing distinct kinds of prayer (albeit with much overlap) can help us understand more why certain Biblical prayers were written down. They can help us, too. But we are all unique individuals, and the way we deal with problems or offer thanks are going to differ for each person.

My only minor annoyance with this book was the way the author kept mentioning his project, as a not-too-subtle way of advertising his other books. It was mostly in the introduction, but not exclusively. It certainly didn’t tempt me to get hold of any of his other books.

Still, as a free Kindle book, it made an interesting read and I would recommend it. The link above is to the paperback edition of this book, as the Kindle one is no longer free.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews