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Intercessory Prayer: Modern Theology, Biblical Teaching & Philosophical Thought

Reviewed by Paul Beasley-Murray.

Over the years Philip Clements-Jewery, currently minister of North Road Baptist Church, Huddersfield, has contributed a number of articles to Ministry Today, and has also been a regular reviewer. It is therefore very gratifying to be able to welcome his first book. And what a great book it is! It will certainly become one of the standard texts on prayer.

Although the material first saw light of day as a Manchester University PhD, it has been written into a very absorbing and accessible book. The author addresses five questions in particular: ‘What does the New Testament teach us about prayer?’; ‘Why is it necessary to pray?’; ‘Is God capable of answering prayer?’; ‘How does God work in the world?’; and ‘How does prayer ‘work’?’ In a most illuminating and helpful manner, the thinking of theologians and philosophers is unpacked, leading to the conclusion that prayer is not an exercise in personal therapy. Rather it is the means by which “God enlists the freely given cooperation of human beings in the realization of the divine purposes. It gets certain things done in a way that might not have been fully possible had the prayer not been made. This is because intercessory prayer, as a personal partnership between God, the one who prays, and ideally, the prayed-for, reinforces the personal nature of the universe, aiming at producing more fully personal human beings in communion with one another and with God”. As can be seen from this quotation, the book is written with great care, and many a sentence deserves being pondered upon.  

My one concern is the price, for this is a book which should be in the hands of every minister, especially those about to preach a series of sermons on prayer.