A Simple Guide To Learning How To Pray The Scriptures
Reviewed By Dr. David P. Craig
I have completed several books by Donald Whitney over the years and always appreciate the fact that he is doctrinally sound and extremely practical. This little book is no exception. Whitney’s goal in this book is to help the reader overcome the “boring routine of saying the same old things about the same old things” by teaching the reader the variety, freshness, and excitement of praying through the Bible.
Perhaps the most helpful chapter in the book is the section on “Praying the Psalms.” He quotes Ben Patterson, “By praying the Psalms back to God, we learn to pray in tune with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” In learning to pray through the Psalms it helps the one praying to be (a) Balanced in prayer – as the Psalms convey every doctrine in the Bible; (b) Emotionally healthy – as the Psalms deal with every human emotion: joy, anger, fear, anxiety, discouragement, loneliness, etc.; (c) God centered – usually we have a tendency to be self-absorbed – the Psalms get our focus back on God; (d) Accurate – Whitney writes, “God gave the Psalms to us so that we would give the Psalms back to God. No other book of the Bible was inspired for this express purpose.”
Whitney, also has a helpful guide to praying through the 150 Psalms in the back of the book. Praying through this plan insures direction and guidance for prayer as well as momentum for prayer. The author gives great examples of how to pray other Scriptures and various genres and even tackles some thorny questions related to prayer. I have been tremendously helped in my own prayer life by this terrific book and I’m convinced that it will help anyone grow in their excitement and communication with the Lord in prayer.
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