Customer Reviews

The God Who Hears

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I read Dr. Hunter's book during my first year as a student at Talbot seminary. His insights into the nature of prayer, and how we go about praying, were a powerful influence in my own relationship with Jesus Christ. I strongly suggest this book.

I don't know of any other books that focus on prayer like that this one does. Very well written. Discusses all the questions that people have about prayer. And most importantly takes a very Biblical perspective.

This book really helped change my thinking on prayer and drew me to pray more, which is Bing's intent. I just taught a seminar on prayer and used several quotes from the book. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in deepening their relationship with God. It answers a number of practical and important theological questions about prayer in a readable style. Well done!

Hunter begins where prayer really should begin - with who God is. He deals with several aspects of God's character and how they impact our prayers. He asks questions like "If God is all-knowing, what is there to tell him?" and "How do I relate to a God who is Spirit?" He doesn't shy away from the tough ones, either, like "Why pray to a God who lets people hurt?".

I love Hunter's statement that "Prayer is not a means we use to get what we want from God; it's a means God uses to give us what He wants." Praying well, then, starts with understanding what God wants, and that begins with knowing who God is, what He is like, and having a personal relationship with Him. Hunter makes the observation that God responds not to our words but to our lives.

This book is not light reading, but it's the best perspective on prayer that I've ever read. Hunter's understanding of prayer keeps the believer from falling into "prayer fads"; he rejects formulaic approaches to prayer in favor of a relational approach. This is surely the way God meant prayer to be. Hunter sees prayer not as a separate activity but rather as a pervasive part of an overall relationship with God. If I could recommend one book on prayer for everyone to read, this would be it.

This book is a fantastic biblical approach to prayer. While using Scripture, it presents prayer to us not by making us guilty of an area that all Christians fall short in, but rather presenting the joy and privilege that we are missing when we neglect prayer. I highly recommend this to all believers in Christ.

Prof. Hunter doesn't deal in a shallow fashion with prayer, but engages the major theological mysteries concerning prayer with a scholars mind and a prayers' heart. The book is easy to read and I felt as if Prof. Hunter was having a conversation with me.

The insights on questions such as: "Does prayer change God's mind?"; "What can I tell an all-knowing God?"; "Why pray to a God who lets people hurt?" were all satisfactorily dealt with. I highly commend this book.

Simple yet profound, Hunter's indepth approach on understanding prayer comes from looking at the one to whom we are praying. The first portion of his book looks at prayer from the perspective of who God is and how he acts. Written in the fashion of J.I. Packer's Knowing God, Hunter examines prayer in the light of God's holiness, sovereign power, innate goodness and spirit compositon. The second half of the book addresses issues like thanksgiving and praying in the name of Jesus. The entire book is well written, insightful, filled with scripture; yet spiced with personal annadotes.

So I'm intrigued by prayer. This strange communication, influence perhaps, we have upon the sovereign, almighty King of the Universe. Intrigued, I decide to try and learn as much about it as I can. I'm reading lots of things -- Andrew Murray, Henri Nouwen, as well as more moderns, like Dutch Sheets and whoever wrote "too busy not to pray".

Hunter's point in writing this book is a little different than what I was looking for. I'm trying to understand this profound mystery of prayer; he's setting out to show how prayer is a piece of a harmonized spiritual life. The book reads mostly like a handbook on Christian living - with chapters devoted to the holiness of God, the sovereignty of God, forgiving each other, obeying God, even church discipline. He has a good point -- that no part of the christian life is disconnected, and all of these will affect one's prayer life, ability to hear God, and God's answers to prayer.

I believe that he is a seminary professor or pastor of a large and largely successful church, and he writes like one. Everything's very pragmatic and classroomish; there's no mystery or wonder involved. And he writes like a speaker (note to speakers: writing out your speeches is not the same as writing a book.) funny or interesting story, weak and obvious tie to relevant material, then fully jump into the teaching points and forget the corny story altogether.

So basically, I got pretty bored with it. It's not bad, he has good points, he's not wrong, some people would probably benefit from reading it, maybe I did even, but it did not capture me, or change me. Ultimately, a forgettable book. Like so many others.

Does this feel harsh to you? Can you believe a christian would say this about another christian's work? do you agree with me and can't believe someone else would write that way? do you want to meet this strange guy? are you bored? e-mail me at williekrischke@hotmail.com. i'd love to chat.