Pray
About Everything: Cultivating God-Dependency by Paul Tautges is
a small but powerhouse book – almost a workbook or leader’s guide towards
leading your congregation or small group in prayer.
Tautges begins by explaining that this
book is primarily about congregational prayer within the local church, though all
Christians can use what he teaches (10).
He goes on to explain that the early
church did gather regularly for congregational or corporate prayer. Then, he shows that this is not only what
they did, but it is the will of God for all Christians. Texts and exegesis
uphold these pillars of the book (16-37).
The second part of the book contains what
he calls “brief meditations for prayer meetings.” Though one might argue the meaning of “brief”
for a couple of them, he gives examples of how one might lead a prayer meeting “in
Jesus’ Name,” in praying for unbelievers, for the government, with a forgiving
heart, for the elders, as husbands, and through the Holy Spirit (38-93).
Tautges saturates each of these meditations
with Scripture and shows how to pray Scripture back to God in our particular
contexts. I have found this to be a
helpful practice in my life. If we are
praying for what God wants – what God has commanded in His Word, He will most
assuredly do it.
In the seven appendices, Tautges explores
example of prayer events, types of prayer services, praying I regards to
evangelism, how to pray the Scripture, ways to put together other prayer meetings,
including a Bible study on God and prayer, and a plea to pastors to leave time
and have prayer meetings (95-112).
Certainly, in the Northeast, where I am,
prayer meetings have gone the way of the evening service, much to our detriment. It should be enough for Christians to know
that God wants us to pray and to pray together, but it is not. Other things have taken the place of time with
God. Some might call this idolatry.
Tautges is right. His presentation and process are Scriptural. He book leads us to go forth and pray.
May God bless his efforts and help us,
fellow servants, to join in prayer to the glory of God and for our joy.
#PrayAboutEverything
[This review appears on my blog and on
Amazon.com. I received this book free in
exchange for an honest review.]
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