Finding Jesus in His Prayers

In this brief but substantive examination of the prayers Jesus prayed, Stephen Shoemaker offers helpful applications of Jesus' prayers as both a way to better understand Jesus and as a way to use his prayers as a model for our own prayer lives. The book addresses our twin hungers for spirituality and for a deeper grasp of who Jesus was. The author takes seriously the way Jesus prayed and how his prayers open a window to our own experience of God. Included are discussions of: the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), the Prayer of Thanksgiving amid Life's Reversals (Matt.11:25-26), the Gethsemane Prayer (Mark 14:36), the Prayers from the Cross (Luke 23:34; Matt. 27:46; Luke 23:46), and prayers from John's Gospel (11:41-42, 12:27, 17:11). The author stays close to the text of the prayers (sometimes including his own translations) but explores their meaning in our lives. He uses Abba rather than the English translation Father in order to bring the reader closer to Jesus as he spoke the words of each prayer. A study guide is included to assist leaders in using the book with small groups. Jesus' prayers are a challenge and a scandal to the ways our culture wants to pray. His spirituality, found in his prayers, is a profound guide to the soul and a remedy to a culture in search of a soul. --H. Stephen Shoemaker.…