I came to Watchman Nee’s treatment of prayer in The Prayer Ministry of the Church hoping that I would find some good solid reminders of what God desires for us in prayer. Instead, I came away with finding (in it’s perusal because I could not bring myself to read the rest after the first chapter) reminders of what man hopes to accomplish in prayer to God. Let me specify, that I do not mean that that is the full intention of Nee; I respect him as a teacher and brother, but beginning the book with basically saying that we “bind” or “restrict” God by our will on earth is not going to win me over in a book on prayer.
I don’t want to pray to a God that is weak when it comes to accomplishing His purpose. I pray to God that He will accomplish His purpose in the world, in my life, in spite of me not because of me. I agree that God may withhold blessing at times from His children, but this is not contrary to His will, it is in full accordance with His will, for His will is to chasten His children when they disobey, in order to bring them back into the right path. God’s will is full of blessing, cursing, chastening, wrath, and reward, and though we may have trouble reconciling that in our finite minds with God’s mercy and grace, it does not mean that you can throw out the Almighty power which is necessity to God (for Him to be God) or half of the Bible which details God working in some of these negative ways.
Nee constantly contradicts himself like on page 49 of my book, he says, “He is God; who can hinder His will from being done? Is it man who hinders God or is it Satan? Actually none can hinder Him.” I would agree with this whole-heartedly. But just a paragraph later he says, “Prayer is this: that God desires to do a certain thing, yet He will not do it alone; He waits until men on earth so pray, and only then will He do it.” Is this not saying that He is being restricted by the lack of prayers.
This teaching, though I have not seen it documented any where else I am sure, has been a key support for the signs and wonders movement of our day and perhaps is even a basis for the recent trend in theology called “Open Theism,” which essentially says that God cannot know the future because man has a free will and can determine his own future.
Some things that I can agree with Nee on:
1. “Seldom are there those who pray aright. Many think of what they themselves wish to have, few pay attention to what God wants.”
2. I will agree that we might miss out on some blessing because of our lack of prayer, but it is not because we bound the hands of God, it’s because we did not pray, and God knowing that we would not pray, did not will us to have that blessing.
3. Godly prayer does often precede great movements of God, I would say even most great movements of God. The revivals occur not because we unbind God’s hands to be able to bless us, but because God unbinds our hearts to be able to look to Him. Though there surely is an element of personal responsibility in this, we must not confuse the enabling power here: not by our might, but by His Spirit saith the Lord. Besides, if God does not stir the people who are the first to pray for revival, then who does? Do they do it themselves? Then who does this glorify?
I, honestly, could not bring myself to read this book entirely. When I saw the direction that it was taking, I began to peruse the text, so any comments pointing me to some better information would be welcomed.
I would not recommend the book.
Finished the Max Lucado book, It’s Not About Me, last week. This was a very simple book to read, but held a very important, impacting message. I definitely did not come away from this book with many new lessons in theology, but I did come away from the book with a renewed passion in life to see that God is primary in my life. It challenged me to:
1) Contemplate and Commune with God constantly in my life, since all of life is about Him.
2) Worry less about the details of life, since that is not what life is all about.
To me the importance of this book was a reminder to me to be seeking communion with God at all costs of other frivolities of life. The most important reminder sentence of the book for me comes in chapter 2, which is about Moses request to see God and God’s revelation of His glory:
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“We cross a line when we make such a request. When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God Himself, we cross a threshold. Less self-focus, more God-focus. Less about me, more about Him.”
I just finished John G. Paton Missionary to the New Hebrides An Autobiography today. I have heard the story of John Paton through the Child Evangelism Fellowship and through a lecture on him by John Piper before I read the book, but reading the book was a great experience.
This book was one of the greatest that I have ever read for the following:
1. It showed the Sovereignty of God using a servant of His to bring salvation to the South Pacific islands.
2. It showed the profit of trusting in the sovereignty of God for the believer. With his trust in God, Paton was able to overcome many obstacles in prayer. He references George Muller at the end of the book, and his life reminds me much of Muller’s.
3. It clearly showed the power of God to overcome great obstacle in the lives of His servants.
4. It gave me a stronger desire to reach the unreached peoples of the world.
5. Paton does a good job relating his every day life to Scripture, the Church (especially pointing out problems in the present church), and relationship with God. His short maxims at the end of many of the chapters were profound and challenging.
This book is definite recommended reading by me. If you have some time each day, you will finish quickly, since it is a very easy read. The chapters, though there are 92 of them in 362 pages, are very short and make for quick reading and good stopping off points throughout.
I thank the Lord for this tremendous servant that He raised up in the 19th century, and I am thankful that Mr. Paton determined to leave us his legacy in writing. It has been a tremendous blessing for me.
Book Information:
John G. Paton Missionary to the New Hebrides An Autobiography
Christian Focus Publications, 2009.
http://www.amazon.com/John-G-Paton-Missionary-Historymakers/dp/1845504534/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262437179&sr=1-1
