Mini Book Review #6: Alone with God: Rediscovering the Power and Passion of Prayer, by John MacArthur.
THIS IS THE SHORT-AND-SWEET 6th EPISODE OF THE RESTFUL HOME’S NEW SERIES OF MINI BOOK REVIEWS. Check back each week for a new installment of short book summaries and favorite quotes! Alone with God is one of my new favorite, accessible books on prayer. (I make an effort to read one book on prayer each year.)
Alone with God is worth repeated, thoughtful readings. MacArthur draws from Scripture and primarily Puritan authors to teach through the Lord’s Prayer and practical application. This book is very easy to read but in places difficult to digest, as he voices thoughts about how prayer really effects us and our lives in light of God’s sovereignty. We Christians long to know God better and to approach Him in the way He wants us to, rather than pretending to order around the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. So what does it look like to pray in faith? How do we approach God? What does prayer do in our lives? MacArthur attempts to answer these questions and more.
Favorite Quotes from Alone with God
This first quote I found particularly powerful. We tend to either fall to the extreme of praying in faith for whatever we want rather than what God wills, or to the other extreme of praying by rote obedience. Somehow we must walk in both obedience and faith. (By the enabling power of the Holy Spirit!)
“Prayer is not a vain duty to be performed for the sake of obedience only. We must pray in faith, believing that our prayers do make a difference to God.”
(From ch. 6, “Your Will Be Done.”)
And, later in the same chapter:
“When we pray in faith and in conformity to God’s will, our prayer is a sanctifying grace that changes our lives dramatically.”
John MacArthur
If you enjoyed reading this review, you might also enjoy this mini summary of R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God.