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Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals | 
 enlarge | Authors: Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-hartgrove
Publisher: IVP Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 8583
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 124
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 0830836225
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.32
EAN: 9780830836222
ASIN: 0830836225
Publication Date: October 2008
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Product Description
"Prayer is not so much about convincing God to do what we want God to do as it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do." --from the Introduction Activists Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove show how prayer and action must go together. Their exposition of key Bible passages provides concrete examples of how a life of prayer fuels social engagement and the work of justice. Phrases like "give us this day our daily bread" and "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" take on new meaning when applied to feeding the hungry or advocating for international debt relief. If you hope to see God change society, you must be an ordinary radical who prays--and then is ready to become the answer to your own prayers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Simply Profound November 28, 2008
This simple work on prayer is "bookend-ed" by these two quotes:
"When we pray to God asking, 'Why don't you do something?' we hear a gentle whisper respond, 'I did do something. I made you." and...
"This is the great paradox ad humor of God's audacious power: a stuttering profit will be the voice of God, a barren old lady will become the mother of a nation, a shepherd boy will become their king, and a homeless baby will lead them home. God works not in spite of but through our frailty."
In between Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove walk us through the words of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer" (John 17), and Paul's prayer for believers in Ephesians 1. If we listen with our hearts, the Lord will help us see ourselves as his answer to our own prayers...as well as to the heart cries of our world.
 Prayer coupled with action November 25, 2008
One of the best books ever - why we can't just pray passively discussed here
A MUST read for EVERY follower of Christ October 31, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Finally, the nuts and bolts, the ins and outs of living in the way of Christ. Read this, absorb it, become it.
A Book on (un)Common Prayer October 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Many teachers I've read tend to emphasize what prayers does, not to God, but to the person praying. They argue that the primary purpose of prayer is to make our hearts more like God's rather than His more like ours. I'm inclined to agree, at least in large part, and this is the tact taken by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove in their new book Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals. The two authors examine the Lord's Prayer, Jesus' high priestly prayer from John 17, and a prayer of Paul, all the while asking the question "How should the priorities here inform the way we live?"
Those of you who have read Shane before will see many of the same themes here: social justice, community, love for the least of these. He and Jonathan do a pretty good job of linking them to the texts themselves. At the same time, I felt like this book was a clear demonstration of the fact that, despite accusations to the contrary, they're thoroughly evangelical.
Two things stood out to me about this book. One was the way the authors managed to pull off an admirable co-writing project. Rather than simply writing different parts of the book as individuals, the two consistently use the plural when talking about themselves, slipping into singular only to tell personal stories (of which there are a number; both these young men have certainly lived eventful lives). I was impressed by how well they worked as a team.
The other thing I liked were the prayers interspersed through the book. Interspersed with the text are little boxes with different prayers from saints and liturgies. Many of these were fantastic, and I especially appreciated how historically-rooted and catholic the selection was. Too many young evangelicals have never been exposed to the rich tradition we have from the early and medieval church, and this is a good place to start.
My biggest complaint about this book is that the actual exegesis of Scripture is a mixed bag. Shane and Jonathan clearly have an agenda coming to the texts, and I think there are times that this shows in their readings of the different prayers. They have a tendency to read a text and then take one application and say "Here! This is what it means!" This is fine as long as it's recognized that it's one of many things you could do with the text, but at times I get the feeling the authors would feel like their emphasis is the only one the prayers could give you, and I'm not so sure. That said, I don't want to be too harsh on them; every time you use a text to make a point you necessarily do this, and I'm not unhappy with the points they're making.
I enjoyed this book. It came at a time when my life has been busy, so I feel like I wasn't able to soak in it as much as I would have liked. However, I think some of the prayers littered throughout it will pay rich dividends down the road, so I'm sure I'll be picking it up again.
I'd recommend the book if you like Shane or Jonathan, or more general if you are active in areas of social justice and struggle to connect that with your prayer life. I should note that this is not a manual on how to pray. If you're a new believer or someone seeking advice in this area, I'd recommend Thomas Watson's The Lord's Prayer and Andrew Murray's With Christ in the School of Prayer.
 Lacking Clarity but Needs to Be Heard October 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I think Shane did so amazing on Jesus for President that I went into this book with very high expectations. I think that both Shane and Jonathan have amazing stories and experiences that need to be shared and so I was disappointed in how desultory the book felt. I didn't quite always get the connection between the prayers they were using and what they were saying and I think they could have done a better job connecting prayer and action.
That being said, these men deserve a voice. They are doing amazing things with their lives and they have something to share. And there are definitely glimpses of that in this book, I just think it could have been better.
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