Customer Reviews

Praying Like Jesus: The Lord's Prayer in a Culture of Prosperity

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Jim Mulholland seems to have his head on straight when it comes to talking with the Lord. Unlike other prayer books that are being offered he makes us look at the real reason we should pray in the first place. Most of us wait until we are in some predicament before falling to our knees which in itself is a selfish reason, but Jim has pointed out what it means to have a real relationship with God, not just a convenient one.

His real-life experiences show that he is not a pulpit-banger but a goeth-forth-and-doeth type of minister that the everyday person can relate too. Too many of our "intellectual" minister/writers are merely sending forth the flock while they stay behind and shepard, but Jim seems to know the feel of blisters on his hands and sweat on his brow by sharing the workload with those less fortunate.

His attitude of prayer makes us all take stock of ourselves when he points out the necessity of gratitude, compassion and forgiveness in our own lives before we can expect God to bestow the same on us.

I was particularly touched by his pointing out that Jesus prayed to "Our Father" and not just to his father. This should remind us all that no one sect or religion has a monopoly on God. He is the God of all, for all and in all. I hope Jim Mulholland continues to write books like this to teach and inspire us all.

Recently I wrote a review on the book `The Prayer of Jabez.' I outlined in that review some of the things I appreciated about that book, but also recounted the many things that made me uneasy with both the development and the intention most seem to pick up from the practice of the prayer.

There are few things in our lives that are as personal and touch us as deeply as prayer, particularly our own prayer life. We each feel we are an expert at praying in our own ways, and to a large extent, each of us is. For this deep part of our lives to be co-opted by a feeling of selfish intention for personal gain is tragic. This is why I considered `The Prayer of Jabez' problematic - the author's intent might not be selfishness, but the message being heard is precisely that.

In searching for an alternative to hold up as a model more in keeping with my own prayer temperament, Charles Allen, a theology professor at my seminary, directed me to James Mulholland's `Praying Like Jesus: The Lord's Prayer in a Culture of Prosperity.'

The book begins where the disciples of Jesus began -- Thomas asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. In an interesting, fictional conversation, the disciples recount their experience of praying another prayer that seems to work better for them (of course, this is the prayer of Jabez). Many followers of Jesus seem to slink away after hearing Jesus tell people that they should stop asking for an increase in territory, but rather ask God to provide for their needs; that they should stop asking for a blessing in earthly terms, but rather be willing to follow the will of God even to death, to 'take up their crosses and follow'. This teaching is too hard to follow!

`This is not what happened two thousand years ago. Unfortunately, it is happening today in thousands of churches and with millions of Christians. ... Thousands of Christians are repeating an obscure prayer first uttered by a man named Jabez over three thousand years ago. Many have become convinced his words are the formula for prosperity.'

As Mulholland points out correctly, Wilkinson did not intend his prayer to become a manifesto for righteous greed. He also points out that neither Jabez nor the Bible hold up the prayer of Jabez as a model for anyone but Jabez to follow.

`This honour is reserved for another short prayer located in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. It is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. We call this prayer The Lord's Prayer, though I prefer to call it the Prayer of Jesus.'

Mulholland does not promise riches or special healing or power; he does not give the magic formula for getting what you want. What he does is reiterate the intentions of Jesus with the Prayer of Jesus -- an opportunity to reconnect with God and with each other through the words that, as the disciple Peter said, 'contain eternal life'.

The first chapter is entitled When You Pray. This, of course, assumes that you pray. Not if, but when. Mulholland talks about the prayer of self-righteousness and the prayer of self-interest. These prayers are one-communication, but even worse than that, they are directive or instructive, as if God needs to be told what to do or informed of something God did not yet know (such as, how good we've been lately). God is put in the mode of Santa Claus. Jesus gives a corrective to this.

`Praying like Jesus offers far more than prosperity. When prayed with sincerity, it cleanses our hearts of self-righteousness and strips our motives of self-interest. It challenges the false and inappropriate ways we approach God and each other. It reminds us of what we so easily forget -- our proper relationship to God and the world.'

Praying like Jesus reminds us of God more than it invokes ourselves. Praying like Jesus also reminds us of our needs as a community. This prayer is a prayer for the world, a world in which the will of God is primary.

The other chapters give insights into the particular parts of the Lord's Prayer: chapter titles include Our Father, Thy Kingdom Come, Give Us, Forgive Us, and Deliver Us. Each of these chapters stress the love of God for us, the importance of community, the importance of relationship, and the need to see who and where we are in right respect of God. This is not a prayer for become rich and famous, which is the trap of much of current culture, including the prayer of Jabez and many other 'Christian' things.

`This obsession with material blessing, at the expense of the spiritual, is a congenital disease. Being born an American is to be so afflicted. Jim Bakker was merely the most blatant prophet of a philosophy to which most of us pledge allegiance. His lifestyle was an exaggeration of a nearly universal merger of religious life and the predominant values of our culture. He sprinkled holy water on the American way.'

Of course, one of the problems with the Lord's Prayer is that it has become, for most Christians, an almost genetically-encoded prayer routine that it is done without thinking. Unfortunately, this means it is almost always done with comprehension on any level; it is just one more part of the liturgy that we say in our drive to get on and get through on our way to the next thing. Praying like Jesus requires us to pay attention, and pay attention deeply. Mulholland's final word in the conclusion is a charge for us to regain this attention and incorporate the prayer anew into our lives deeply and with meaning that it has in abundance, but which we've missed for so long.

In the middle of this book, I was ready to throw it in the trash - BUT I am glad I didn't. You may well be frustrated by some of the liberal theology in this book. Hang in there, the book isn't about the author or theology, it is about Jesus and the Word of God. The author feels there is a resurge in health and wealth Gospel thinking due to the popular "Prayer of Jabez" book. The point of this book is to encourage the social Gospel aspect of Christianity. All in all, the book has a very Godly and timely point, and is presented in an inspiring way, through the Lords prayer. A chapter named "Deliver Us" uses the AA 12 step plan as a way to think about recovering from our "addiction" to prosperity / greed / money, and is a very powerful chapter indeed.

The book is flawed (all books but one are), but it is in the end a fresh and inspiring commentary on a familiar portion of the Word of God. God tells us that when His Word goes out "It shall not return to Me void" (Isaiah 55:11). True always and true again. In the time I spent with the book I was puzzled, irritated, disgusted, convicted, inspired, and challenged (roughly in that order).

This book is a sane reproach to the millions of Jabez-type books that scatter the landscape. The author spurs the reader to be more than a narcissistic, self-serving prayer warrior. He challenges the reader to act out his or her faith. He deals with the text at hand by providing an exegesis that emphasizes the social aspects of the Christian Gospel. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because he tends to interject some very liberal (some would say non-Evangelical) opinions that a reader will need to be aware of. If you are aware of the liberal slant in the author's theology, this book will provide you with many ideas on how to put feet to your faith. "The Prayer Of Jesus" by Hank Hanegraaff is a good read from an evangelical view that will give you a well-rounded perspective of this prayer. Books on Matthew 5-7 that are also helpful include John R.W. Stott's "The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, The Bible Speaks Today" and D.A.Carson's "Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: And His Confrontation with the World".

Why all the fuss over Jabez, an obscure Old Testament character, when Jesus himself offered a pattern for prayer in the Lord's Prayer? I like the way James Mulholland asks tough questions about the latent narcissism of the modern church. This will get you thinking...

This book sets on its ear the common misinterpretation of "The Prayer of Jabez" and other parts of the Bible as commanding personal materialism and selfishness. It examines the Lord's Prayer line by line, showing how Christians can live more as Jesus would live.

It's a timely antidote to the church-sanctioned culture of greed followed by so many American Christians. Parts of it literally made my jaw drop. Thank you, Rev. Mulholland, for a thought-provoking and inspiring book. I'll be buying and distributing several copies.

This is a very good book whose content I found very convicting to normal run of the mill Christianity. The challenge to the radical Christianity of Jesus is much needed in our day. My only complaint is that, at times, I wound up feeling guilty for praying for myself, saving for retirement, or finding spiritual meaning in Jesus' teachings, as well as radical life meanings for reaching out to the poor, an emphasis which is much needed for sure. I also heard a certain arrogance in this book that seemed to fly in the face of the very thing the author is against. I would say to Jim, "take the log of your own eye in order to see clearly to take the speck out of another's eye". Maybe I'm just convicted and don't like it. Having said all that, I plan to read this book again. The message is not comfortable, which is why this book is very important and needs to be read by every Christian searching to know the full meaning of the Christian life. Mulholland definitely puts the reader in touch with more of that through his comments on the Lord's Prayer.

We read this book while on a mission trip to Haiti. The phrases, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done" and "Give us this day our daily bread" took on a completely different meaning. I suspect the context was much closer to the times that Jesus shared this prayer with His disciples. I highly recommend this book for those struggling with how to live as Christians in our culture of prosperity. This is one you'll want to share with others who are looking to live lives of compassion and equality amidst a society that encourages us to put self first.

I found this book to be very insightful and thought provoking. As someone who always felt like I was a good Christian it also cut a bit, which I think is good. It really makes you take a hard look at how you are living your life and are you living it in a way that would make our Father proud.

This book is a call back to the true Jesus of the Scriptures and away from the false "bless me" Jesus who is primarily being preached today. The writer is not harsh towards today's Christians but, rather, he writes with compassion.

He speaks of us turning to Jabez's prayer as a model when Jesus gave us the model prayer. That part really touched me. The popular prayer today is not "give us this day our daily bread" - - today's ideals say that daily bread is not enough! Some of our leaders even teach us that "faith" will cause us to ask for more than just daily bread. Why do a lot of us Christians not get as excited about forgiving those who trespass against us as we do getting blessed and having our territory enlarged?

A couple of other things the author says in the book:
"The prayer of self-interest is more interested in getting God's blessings than in discerning God's will." And "What is the will of God? We often make this a selfish search. What does God want for me? What is the best path for me? However, in the context of kingdom of God, seeking God's will is always discerning our role in making earth as it is in heaven."

There are many other things the Mr. Mulholland writes that will cause us to think and repent.

If you've felt that something is lacking in some of the more popular teachings on prayer, this book will bless you.