Book Review: With Christ in the School of Prayer
One day in our Bible Fellowship class, or Sunday School class, our pastor’s wife (who is also our teacher) mentioned this book to the class. Offhandedly she said that it was one of the most impactful books she has ever read.
YES! When I heard that, I listened up! That morning I put it in my Amazon cart. I ordered it and started reading a few weeks later. It took me a little over a month to read, but I wanted to give you an honest review of it.
Here is what the publisher’s description says
To Andrew Murray, prayer was more than a means of maintaining the Christian life. He believed prayer was the highest work entrusted to man by God, the root and strength of all our other work in Him. It is only through prayer that the believer taps into the Source of highest power.
Murray discovered that it is Christ who teaches us to pray. The more we abide in Him and grow into His likeness, the more our lives will become like His. It was Murray’s heartfelt desire that all Christians would enroll in a personal session With Christ in the School of Prayer.
It is Easy to Read
The book itself is written in 31 small chapters. Andrew Murray is known to write most of his books in devotional style, to be read in a month. Each chapter is easy to read. It only takes 10-15 minutes with a major point centered around the theme of the book.
In the book With Christ in the School of Prayer, Murray walks the reader through Jesus’ various teachings on prayer through the Gospels. We might think that this is only the “Lord’s Prayer.” But there are lots of other places Jesus gives the disciples lessons on prayer.
Overall this is obviously a well-written book with deep insight. I purchased this version, but it has been re-worded in some places to make more sense to the modern reader. Although I enjoyed it, I maybe would have liked to have read the original. I found this one on Amazon as well.
Although I don’t agree with Andrew Murray’s complete theological stance, I really appreciated his willingness to address this seemingly paradox: Why should we pray if God is just going to do His will?
Five Star Review
In fact, I was so encouraged by this book that I gave it a five-star review. I loved that the chapters were small and I could read each one in a single sitting while drinking my coffee in the morning.
Each time I read a chapter, I was inspired to sit for an extra 5-10 minutes and just pray. Leaning into the promises of Jesus about prayer gives us so much strength and confidence! I was burned for those around me, but the power of prayer became so real to me after reading this book.
One of my favorite quotes was this one:
“The Word must dwell and abide in us; the heart and life must be under its influence day by day. Not from without, but from within, comes the quickening of the Word by the Spirit. Only he who yields himself entirely in his whole life to the supremacy of the Word and the will of God can expect in special cases to discern what that Word is and will permit him to ask boldly.” – Andrew Murry
I hope you will get this book and be encouraged as well. I highly recommend it!
