2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Teaches You to Meditate on the Lord's Prayer Phrase by Phrase, June 29, 2011
This review is from: Praying the Lord's Prayer (Paperback)
Any book that can teach Christians to pray the Lord's Prayer more frequently, more thoughtfully, and more fully is, in a sense, a great book.
Packer's teaching on the Lord's Prayer in "Praying the Lord's Prayer" is excellent. He divides his teaching on the Lord's Prayer into 16 short chapters, so it's a very user-friendly book. He spends time on each phrase, as well as providing a few introductory chapters, and even a chapter on "Amen."
Packer writes in a very simple yet deep way that will be a benefit to just about any Christian, young or old, young in the faith or a pastor, teacher, or parent. One of the things Packer does best is to break down the structure of the Lord's Prayer and show how the parts relate. And then he explains each phrase in a way that gives you something to think about. Packer is also good at providing some mnemonics for remembering key points. For example, "provision, pardon, and protection" - 3 ideas that are central to the Lord's Prayer.
This is the secret to praying the Lord's Prayer: to meditate on it in slow motion and phrase by phrase so that whenever you pray it is filled with rich meaning in Christ for you. Unfortunately, I think that most Christians who pray the Lord's Prayer simply pray it when in church and try their best to think about something for the 23 seconds it takes to pray it. This isn't a very fulfilling way to pray! What if, instead, you had already deeply meditated on the meaning of each phrase, as well as how they work together?
"Praying the Lord's Prayer" is a great little book.
The only reason I'm giving the book 4 stars is because "Praying the Lord's Prayer" was extracted from Packer's larger work, "Growing in Christ." For only $1.50 more or so you can get not only Packer's teaching on the Lord's Prayer but also his teaching on the Apostles Creed and the Ten Commandments. I've used "Growing in Christ" in a confirmation class I teach because the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, and the Ten Commandments are the foundations of the Christian life.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Attention Kindle users: read this before you buy!, August 12, 2011
Be advised, Kindle user that this is just one third of a larger book by Packer called "Growing in Christ" ([...]) - the other sections covered in Growing in Christ are the "10 Commandments" and "the Lord's prayer". At the time of my writing this, the full book "Growing in Christ" is $2 LESS than this book.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Short, but Full, August 15, 2010
This review is from: Praying the Lord's Prayer (Paperback)
Praying the Lord's Prayer was originally written as part of Growing in Christ by J.I. Packer. The book is broken into small chapters with Scripture and questions to answer at the end. Each chapter covers a line or portion of a line from what most people know as "the Lord's Prayer." Packer also refers to other prayers through out the Bible to use as examples.
This book is well written. There are very few wasted words as every paragraph is full of thought provoking insight. The book itself is short, only 120 pages. I was not expecting a devotional style book, but found this to be a great way to study the Lord's prayer because it kept me from reading too fast; there is a lot to digest. Packer challenges his reader to examine his/her own prayer life, something not to be done quickly. If you're looking for something short, but powerful, this is for you.
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