Customer Reviews

Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer

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I have to agree with the reviewer of August 7, 2001's enthusiasm for this book. I first read "Answering God: The Psalms As Tools for Prayer" when I checked it out of a local library. The book so moved and changed me that I had to stop midway, turn the book back in at the library, and order a copy.

"Answering God" is the kind of book that helps the reader open doors that have always be locked to them. In my case, it has revolutionized the way I pray while giving the Psalms greater meaning to me.

It is a small book of great depth. It looks at the Psalms--warts and all. It digs deep into the topics it discusses. It looks at the basic questions of what a Psalm consists of. It then teaches what prayer is and how it affects those who pray. It follows this by teaching the reader how to pray the Psalms.

This book is full of practical advice and direction. Eugene Peterson is the perfect person to write this book. He is an expert in the field of prayer...not because of any degree he holds but because he is a deep person of prayer (this will be crystal clear to anyone who reads the book). Peterson is a trusted guide for the sometimes unforgiving terrain of the Psalms.

I give "Answering God" my most heartfelt recommendation. I urge you to get a copy today.

I just placed an order for six more copies of this book to give to friends and family ... and that's only a start. Am I new to the Bible? Not hardly. I'm one of those "veteran" Christians who has been active in church and other ministries all my life. Even so, "Answering God" introduced me to the Psalms in a way I've never before experienced. I'm excited about using the Psalms to help me develop a deeper, richer prayer life. As Peterson writes: "Prayers are tools for being and becoming ... The Psalms come from a people who hear God speak to them and realize that it is the most important word they will ever hear spoken. They decide to respond." So have I.

Peterson delves into the literary components of the Psalms to bring out the passion and the purpose of the Psalms in community and individual life. His love for Psalms and the reality of its content further illuminates the power behind the emotion, the praise, and the faith of Israel's musicians and priests. Peterson writes with such a great command of language (both English and Hebrew) that his writing can leave you wondering if you caught what he is saying. It reminded me of reading a CS Lewis book. I always feel like I'm missing the nuances of what he is saying but am awed at how he puts it into words.

This is a tremendous book if you want to begin to read the Psalms with the passion of King David and want to infuse your spiritual life with a more complete understanding of who God is and how we communicate with Him.

Until I read this book, I felt that I ought to pray, even wanted to pray, but when I sat down to do it prayer seemed so complicated and burdensome, and I would come away with a haunting feeling that I never got it "right". This book taught me that prayer means listening, and responding to God--not just talking at him, or coming at him with lists. It set me free to rest in the presence of God, something I often enough ended up doing anyway, but then would feel guilty for. After all, wasn't I supposed to be "praying?" Thank you to Eugene Peterson for this beautiful, well-written, well-expressed book, which is a joy to read. I have heavily underlined and re-read my copy 3 times. It is fresh each time.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It does have a lot of $1.00 words in it, and occasionally, I was taken back at his wordsmithing, however it is a very thoughtful book. As soon as I finished it, I started reading it over again. It is not light reading. You need to take time to digest it, Psalms in hand.

This book was my introduction to Eugene Peterson. I immediately fell in love with it. The truth within it's pages has transformed my prayer life. Since reading this book, I have read several other of his books, but I always come back to this one.

I've found Peterson's work very helpful and a good introduction to praying the psalms. I wish that it would include more of a corporate sense of worship rather than a private or individual approach. This reflects my own bias that our faith in the west is too often centered on the individual rather than the body of Christ.

One of the other Pastor's in our church handed me this little book from Eugene Peterson and told me that he thought I would enjoy it. He was absolutely correct. Although the book was printed in 1989 it is still an appropriate dialogue about how we learn to pray. I was captured immediately by his thought process and comments. I started writing down quotes because they were so good, then I realized, I need to stop writing and start learning how to pray. Not just any prayers, but learning to pray based on the models that God gave us in the Psalms.

In his introduction Eugene Peterson says, "Prayers are tools, but with this clarification; prayers are not tools for doing or getting, but for being and becoming." I think that was so true. As I listen to people pray in small groups I am often confronted with their prayers being like a session of "God this is what I want You to do!" We ask for God to give to us, or we ask to get things from God. What Peterson is pointing out to us is that prayer is about our relationship with God. It is about being Christlike and becoming more Godly, more in tune with God and His word.

While this is an older book on prayer I am happy to see that it is still in print and available here on Amazon. I would highly recommend this excellent little book for every pastor and layman alike. You will enjoy it and learn lots about prayer.

Enjoy!

The book, "Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer" came quickly and in excellent condition. Using the Psalms as tools for prayer makes me more attuned to what God has in store for me.

This wonderful book by Eugene Peterson is not a detailed critical commentary about the Psalms, but a sublime introduction to their usefulness as examplary prayers. I found this book to be thoughtful, provocative, and very well-written.