Customer Reviews

Praying Like the Jew, Jesus: Recovering the Ancient Roots of New Testament Prayer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sometimes we pray like phony; we treat God like a vending machine, or we don't pray with intimacy.

This book by Prof. Jones could help. The author discusses ten prayers of Yeshua (Jesus) in a somewhat unique way. He starts each section by citing Jewish prayers, mostly from Jewish sources, and some from the Scripture itself. He then proceeds to describe the situation in which Yeshua uttered the prayer, using very vivid language to make the scene real. He then discusses each element of the prayer, using a partial scholarly and partial devotional style. Finally, the section is concluded with a meditation that nicely summarizes the main points of the prayer.

I am very glad to see a Christian author search through Jewish sources in order to understand the backgrounds of Scripture; this is sometimes desperately missing in Christian books. The book has the feel of Messianic Judaism; use of Jewish sources, the use of Hebrew words (with a glossary), and it is published by a Messianic Jewish publisher (Lederer).

While the book did not go into as much detail as I had been hoping, the author makes up for it with some really inspiring and practical insights. His storytelling descriptions of the backgrounds of the prayers are far from dry, but as with this kind of writing one can go too far and make assumptions that really aren't justified. But I did enjoy the stories.

In all, this book will give you some valuable insight into how Yeshua prayed. Good Biblical points are brought out. The book is a pretty quick read, and could also be useful for a small group study or even as a devotional guide. I would recommend this to those in Messianic congregations or for any Christians who want to explore a little more into the Jewish origins of their faith.

First, let me say i enjoyed "reading" this book. The idea of "filling in the blanks" that surround Yeshua growing up and going into ministry, with Jewish culture and tradition, is nice. However, many times the author (as do many Messianic commentators, too quickly) will say that Yeshua, or the Ruach, or another Biblical character said or heard or did "such and such" when the "such & such" is really something that Judaism from the past 1000 years or 1500 years (maybe slighly more SOMETIMES)has made into a practice. We honestly DON'T KNOW if these things really were a full part of Yeshua's life when He was a child or if His mom heard these things, or if other Biblical Brethren from days past heard or said these things or did them. My family likes the rich traditions of Biblical Judaism (verses much of the more Modern Rabbinical Judaism), and my family even uses some of the modern practices that are Biblically encouraging, but to assume that the Master and others did the exact things (or heard, or felt, or said...) is NOT to be treating like fact! Sometimes these "possibilities" are treated as "likelihoods" which is somewhat appropriate, but the chain of events listed in the book are tying what we DO know for sure, with what can be classified as conjecture, forming a thought in your mind as if it were a single unified factual ride thru history all the sudden (when it isn't provable at all).

As for the basic good Torah style love God & neighbor thoughts it presents, they are done well.

All in all this is a good book, but i was personally looking for more of a research oriented, factually stated, background and historical finding on 1st Century prayers. This book is nice, but also has a heavy dose of conjecture. Buy it if you want a good read, but DON'T be confused between fact & lore (a temptation when also reading Modern Rabbinic lore).

A must read for everyone who claims the title of "Christian."

It brings sights, smells, and sounds to the countryside that got to touch Jesus.

In today's U.S. Christian society, people often try to shrug off pain and make light of prayer. "It's for the best," "It will turn out great for me because I claimed this scripture," or even "I know the plans for you...plans for hope..."

This book helps reveal why prayer is not a magic formula. Life is tough and painful. If it was for Jesus (our Savior, the Word, the SON of God) then what makes us think we deserve better?