Book #4 - Praying Backwards

Bryan Chapell's book is a wonderful addition to the subject of prayer. Praying Backwards is a simple, yet profound work that describes the foundation for a strong prayer life. The author explores the motivation, practice, and pitfalls of prayer in a clear and easy to read way. What a powerful book "Praying Backwards" is. I must admit that I had never really given deep thought to why we close our prayers with "in Jesus' name", other than that it is an acknowledgment that he intercedes for us. Dr. Chapell asserts that "to do anything in the Lord's name means to do it for his purposes. When we pray in Jesus' name, we are petitioning God to bring glory to Jesus and we are asking for his will to be done in everything so that he will be honored above all....by appealing to Jesus' name, we surrender our prayers to his purposes." His premise is that we need to test the motives of our hearts before we pray and ensure that we are praying prayers that honor Him, rather than just tacking "in Jesus' name" onto the ends of our prayer almost as a postscript. Instead of tacking on "In Jesus's Name" to the end of our prayers, Chapell argues that we should begin praying in his name – that is to say, praying with his priorities, will, and glory as our ultimate aim. Instead of praying our wishes or prayers that are self-centered, we should have the ultimate aim of hallowing God's name in the earth. God's will is not always apparent yet that is part of the praying process which changes us as we persistently pray, expecting Him to act on our behalf as He glorifies Himself .

“The message of this book is to put first in our hearts what those words are supposed to mean: 'I offer this prayer for Jesus' sake.' When Jesus' priorities come first, our prayers will change. They will be less self-oriented, more Christ-directed, more blessed, and ultimately most satisfying to our hearts." Chapell patiently exposes our false preconceptions and turns our eyes to Jesus, our Intercessor. God always answers prayers in one of four ways: yes, no, not yet, or immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

My finite, fallible will cannot devise the best course for the universe. Still, I pray because I believe the Holy Spirit works in ways I cannot comprehend. He forms my prayers into God's beautiful design for all things. The Holy Spirit uses fallible prayers offered in faith to accomplish God's perfect will. The Holy Spirit turns our prayers inside out, upside down, and backwards. By his work in us, not only do we seek Jesus' priorities above our own, but we actually want to seek them. Not only does the Spirit use his power to fulfill our prayers in accord with God's will, but he grants us love for Christ that makes us want what God wills.

The chapters build on each other, and each one is even better than the one before. Each chapter ends with a "key thought" – a summary of the key concepts in that chapter – and an example prayer that incorporates the cumulative ideas presented thus far. I found this incredibly helpful. There are also study questions for each chapter at the end of the book that would make this book great for a group study. If you're looking for a thoroughly biblical, incredibly encouraging book on prayer, look no further!

If you want to learn to: Pray in Jesus' Name. Pray in Jesus' Way. Pray without Doubting. Pray in the Spirit. Pray Boldly. Pray Expectantly. Pray Persistently. Pray in God's Will. Pray in God's Wisdom. Pray Forward, I highly, highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to better their prayer life.