August 15 1994

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"A Call To Spiritual Reformation: Priorities From Paul And His Prayers," by D. A. Carson (Baker, 230 pp.; $11.99, paper). Reviewed by John R. Throop, pastor of Saint Francis Episcopal Church, Chillicothe, Illinois.

"You do not have, because you do not ask," wrote James. Just what Christians should ask for is the issue D. A. Carson examines in this prophetic book on prayer, "A Call to Spiritual Reformation."

With engaging exposition, Carson shows how the apostle Paul kept eternal values at the center of prayer. Carson is emphatic that we need to move beyond personal desires for health, wealth, good grades, or a problem-free life. He feels that focusing on material well-being betrays spiritual shallowness. Instead, he says, we should pray with eternity in view, asking that God conform our character to his, and that we live a life worthy of our calling. Carson gives many helpful, practical illustrations of what such prayers would be like.

He also shows how Paul was constantly focused on people, praying that God would be glorified through the growth, joy, peace, and power of others. "His unaffected fervency in prayer is not whipped-up emotionalism but the overflow of his love for brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus," Carson writes. If we are to grow in prayer, he says, we must strengthen our loving.

"A Call to Spiritual Reformation" is a manifesto for profound, other-centered, God-guided praying. Such prayer is not caught up in the tyranny of the urgent, but the urgency of the eternal.