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Leading
in Prayer: A Workbook for Worship (Eerdman, 1995) by Hughes Oliphant
Old. 369 pages. Reviewed
by Dr. Barry Liesch.
Buy
the Book Now from Amazon.com Hughes Oliphant Old has written in this volume both
a source book and a workbook to prepare pastors for leading their
congregations in prayer. This
book is desperately needed because prayer today is seldom a significant
part of contemporary worship services. The pastor who follows the
guidelines in this book is certain to enrich the prayer life of his
entire congregation. A first rank scholar and a seasoned pastor, Old shares
about 150 examples of public prayer that he has composed for churches
where he has served. All of the prayers are printed on large-sized
pages with ample margins so that pastors can write in their own alternate
phrases to suit their congregations. Chapters on a wide variety of
prayer types are included: invocation, confession and supplication,
illumination, intercession, thanksgiving, benediction, communion,
doxology, as well as hymnic settings. Each chapter begins with a definition
of the prayer type, an illuminating discussion, historical background,
and some biblical examples, followed by prayer examples composed by
Old Many of the prayers written by Old recast or abridge
classic prayers, or paraphrase Scripture into contemporary English. Pastors would be enriched if they followed Old's
example. When he was a pastor, he says: "I started to pray the
Psalms and the prayers of Scripture.
Saturday mornings I set aside to prepare the prayers for Sunday. One of the things I found most helpful was to
take a psalm and attempt to rewrite it in contemporary English…One
must be experienced in prayer in order to lead in prayer…Spontaneity
has to arise from a profound experience of prayer." (p.2-3).
He advocates balancing careful preparation with spontaneity.
Old believes that prayer is one of the spiritual gifts and
that there is an art to leading public prayer. Every page in this
book reveals a profound respect for Scripture. Clearly written with no padding, this book is replete
with scholarly perspective, common sense, and pastoral insight. Hughes Old strikes me as a trustworthy author
with a lot of heart! Pastors
cannot fail to be influenced and moved by this book. Huges Oliphant Old is currently a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton University and writes worship articles for the cutting edge, popular magazine, Worship Leader. Buy the Book Now from Amazon.com Worshipinfo gets a small payment from Amazon.com if you buy the book by clicking on our link. |