Finished this month:
The Law of Christ by Charles Leiter
OK. If you’re going to buy a book – get this one. Ohhhh I
LOVED this book! On a couple of occasions it actually made me so joyful in the
Lord it made me want to jump up and down and shout Hallelujah!
This book lays before you the supreme excellence and glory of Christ, and it is
so freeing, and so beautiful!
“The way of holiness is ultimately a love relationship with Christ,
empowered by the Holy Spirit.” (p. 220)
How is one to understand the law? Is the law of Moses and
the law of Christ the same thing? How do they relate? What does it mean when
the Scripture says that we are “free from the law” (Romans 8:2) or are no
longer “under law” (Gal 5:18)? In sum: How
should we live out this Christian life? Charles Lieter does a wonderful job
exploring these questions, showing from the Scriptures how we should live in
light of the example and commandments of Christ. We are indeed set free from
the law and “in-lawed to Christ” (1 Cor 9:21). Throughout Scripture we have
contrasts: flesh/spirit, law/grace, Moses/Christ. “It is not that the law of
Christ overthrows the ‘holy and
righteous and good’ law of Moses. God forbid! Rather, it fulfills and surpasses
it!” (p. 94) We actually live by a higher standard – Christ! Over and over he
emphasizes, our standard is Christ, and
it is in light of the New Covenant and the supreme law of love that we
interpret and “keep” the law. It’s not by rules, it’s by walking in the Spirit,
by walking in love. Charles writes, “The Christian lives in a realm of glorious
freedom, a freedom that brings with it the responsibility to serve others through
love” (p. 104). It was convicting of course… how short I fall of Christ’s
example to love!!!
If you have questions about this area, about what the law
means or how you should be living out the Christian life and applying Scripture’s
commands you need to read this book! If you are a Christian this will SO
encourage you! There’s also a whole appendix in the back with some further
discussion as well as a whole bunch of “frequently asked questions” which
Charles does a fabulous job answering!
There’s a great summary of the book on this page as well.
And on the same website you can get the e-book for $8.
This month I also read four books on prayer. It was interesting to compare, but also learn from each
of these authors:
Answers to Prayer by George Muller
This one was less teaching and more just stories of answered
prayer. At some point I want to read George Muller’s 2-part Narrative, but this
little book gave a number of its highlights. In it you also find a section on
how George Muller “found” (discerned) the will of God and how he knew what to
pray for. Great little book that will give you great encouragement in your
prayers!
The Prayer Life by Andrew Murray
In this book Andrew Murray very seriously addresses the sin
of prayerlessness. Prayerlessness is really self-dependence and pride. We think
we can control or change the situation so why pray? But at the heart of
Christianity is the need for humility and dependence on God, thus we pray.
Andrew Murray also address the importance of realizing one’s position in
Christ. Thus he spends several chapters discussing sin and our need for Christ,
and how our salvation secures for us victory over sin, assurance and enables us
to pray with boldness. The relationship with Christ must be cultivated though
and the Christian must learn to abide in Christ if he/she is to have a strong
and effective prayer life. We must pray by faith, in dependence on God and with
full surrender. There are one or two things in this book that I didn’t really
like – but it was mostly phrasing… for clarity. Some do not like Andrew Murray
for his association with Keswick, but for him (and I would agree) Keswick
theology was simply emphasizing the truth that God can be trusted to keep us – we simply
need to trust Him to do it and seek to abide in Him instead of relying on our own efforts.
“Nothing, nothing but
the constant nearness and unceasing power of the living Christ can make it
possible for you rightly to understand what sin is and to detest it.” (p.
59)
“Prayer is not merely
coming to God to ask something from Him. It is above all fellowship with God
and being brought under the power of His holiness and love…” (p. 40-41)
Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson
This is one of those books that within Reformed circles
there is much criticism. I can understand why, but I will start off by saying
that this book did challenge me. It challenged me to pray more boldly, more
specifically and to not be afraid to pray (which is really doubt). The chief
complaints from critics about this book (which would also include Mark’s first
book The Circle Maker) involve two
things: Mark’s use of Scripture (how he often makes a point, and then uses
Scripture to back it up when we should normally be doing the opposite – Mark’s
sermons, from the few I listened to are the same way), and his mysticism.
Mysticism can be hard to define. There are many examples of extreme mysticism and
many false religious are big on mysticism, thus naturally we should be wary of
it. However, I am of the opinion that we can also go too far to the other extreme
and become rigid in our religion and lose all passion. Christianity is in a sense a "mystic" religion - it is spiritual. How easy it is to simple
believe in a sovereign God and become apathetic. I
do love what Mark says, “In His omniscience and omnipotence, God has determined
there are some things He will only do in response to prayer. The Bible puts it
bluntly: ‘You do not have because you do not ask God.’ If we don’t ask, God can’t answer.” (p. 96, emphasis his). I would
probably say I’m about 25% mystic, but this book is more like 50% mystic… less
theologically precise and more experiential. That said, I would read this book with some caution.
I would NOT give it to an unbeliever or even a Christian who was not very
grounded in their walk with the Lord or in their knowledge of Scripture. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m glad I read it and there are sections in this book that I
loved (like I put exclamation points and a yes!
next to it). His thoughts on prayer and fasting were really good, and throughout
I was inspired and encouraged in a God who does indeed answer prayer – even the
ones that seem impossible. He talks about how the answer to prayer is not the
goal, the process is, because that’s often what changes us. He also shares how
God’s answer to our prayers may be a no – and we need to be willing to accept
that. But, if we are praying something that is His will then He will answer –
although in His time and in His way. I love this quote:
“Our biggest problem is our small view of God. God is so much bigger
than our biggest problems. God is so much better than our best thoughts. He is
infinitely wiser and more glorious and powerful than anything we can imagine.”
(p. 206)
Personally, my biggest problem with this book was that I was left with
this question: How does one discern the
will of God? How do we discern if what we want, what we feel is the will of
God? Also, if we think we know what it is, how do we know that’s what it is?
Where do we cross the line into presumption? These are important questions and
unfortunately Mark does not really address them.
There are some who sharply criticize this book as a
“name-it-and-claim-it” type of praying but I do not think this is accurate. This quote
will sum up Mark’s view of prayer nicely:
“Drawing circles is a
metaphor that simply means ‘praying until God answers’. It’s a determination to
pray as long as it takes, even if it takes longer than you ever imagined.
Drawing prayer circles isn’t some magic trick to get what you want from God.
God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not His command. His command
better be your wish. If it’s not, you won’t be drawing prayer circles, you’ll
end up walking in circles. Drawing prayer circles starts with discerning what
God wants, what God wills. And until His sovereign will becomes your sanctified
wish, your prayer life will be unplugged from its power supply. And getting
what you want isn’t the goal; the goal is glorifying God by drawing circles
around the promises, miracles, and dreams He wants for you.” (p. 119)
Amen! So, go ahead and draw circles around your prayers if
that will help you grow in your prayer life!
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
If you're going to read a book on prayer though, this one should probably be it. This book was excellent! Immensely practical with helpful
stories and it covers so many things in the area of life and prayer! Many of us
tend to separate our real life from prayer – as if they exist in different
realms, but in reality prayer is to be a part of our reality! Paul Miller has
had his share of suffering and through this he really has learned how to have a
praying life.
There were a number of similarities to Mark’s book above…
like this quote: “Prayer is simply the
medium through which we experience and connect to God” (p. 20), and his
emphasis on asking God for the dreams and things on our hearts – even if they
seem unrealistic or impossible: “We can
dream big because God is big” (p. 206). In contrast with Mark’s though, it
is much more Scripturally precise and also more practical. There’s a whole chapter on
“hearing God” and how to discern what He’s saying to us. It was excellent – I
rather wish he’d write a book just on that chapter! One criticism or weakness
is where Andrew Murray is strongest – out identity and position in Christ gives
us great boldness in prayer. Yes, we are to come like children, but we are also
called to become mature. But he had such great thoughts on the reasons we don’t
pray, the number one being cynicism, and writes on how we can guard and fight
against these false ideas. It gave me so much to think about! He is very
practical and very wisely answers questions that many have in the area of
“unanswered” prayer. There were so many beautiful thoughts in this book! It
drew me to adore my Savior more, and to be more aware of times when I
should/could be praying instead of resuming I have it under control. Towards
the end of the book he gives some practical advice on how to have a prayer time
that is organized so that you can pray specifically.
“Prayer is strikingly
intimate. As soon as you take a specific answer to prayer and try to figure out
what caused it, you lose God. We simply cannot see the casual connections
between our prayers and what happens…The only way to know how prayer works is
to have complete knowledge and control of the past, present, and future. In
other words, you can figure out how prayer works if you are God.” (p. 128)
“The great struggle of
my life is not trying to discern God’s will; it is trying to discern and then
disown my own.” (p. 157)
“When we don’t
receive what we pray for or desire, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t acting on
our behalf. Rather, he’s weaving his story.” (p. 187)
Conclusion: Each
of these 4 books emphasizes that
the
driving force behind having a life of prayer is summed up in one word: Abiding.
Each of them encouraged me to seek the Lord, to pray and not rely on myself. Again, I
would say that if you want a book on prayer, I’d definitely recommend starting
with the “A Praying Life”. The others are fine additions if you want to read
further and for other recommendations, I’d also recommend the following:
“A Treasury of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds, edited by Leonard Ravenhill, “The Power
of Prayer in A Believer’s Life” by Spurgeon, “A Hunger for God” by John Piper,
“Rees Howells Intercessor” by Norman Grubb, and any of George Muller’s books on
his prayer life. For Tim Challies top 5 recommendations see
here.
Currently Reading:
Plugged In:
Proclaiming Christ in the Internet Age by Marie Notcheva (This is a
newly-released book I will be reviewing in a separate post – look for it in about
2 weeks!)
Additional books I
want to read this next month:
Found in Him by
Elyse Fitzpatrick
How to Live Right When
Your Life Goes Wrong by Leslie Vernick
