(RE)Understanding Prayer by Kyle Lake

So continuing on my Kyle Lake reading spree, I just finished his other book entitled “(Re)understanding Prayer.” Now I must say this, just like his previous book, is very well written, and he offers a very interesting and in my opinion unique take on how we pray.

He begins the book by dispelling so common thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about prayer. He speaks against such things as their being a particular formula to how we should pray. He posits that there is no set way of asking God for something and his obligation to give it, a term lake deems as “Recipe Theology.” He also speaks out against prayer as being any sort of drama, discussing heavily how many use prayers as a way to enhance the self and not communicate with God.

Then, starting in chapter 8, he gets into the way he has arrived at understanding prayer. He first states that we should probably take a more eastern view of how we relate to God, as opposed to the western, formulaic view we have adopted in American culture. He seems to implore the reader to look to Christianity’s eastern roots and realize that how religion is done over there is as an envelopment of the whole person. He points out that we should not be so quick to boil down prayer to a set time and place of prayer; he posits the possibility that prayer may begin with being fully immersed in the presence of God. He stresses prayer as a way of life, a life lived in conversation with God. He argues that, while coming to God with a final product prayer in a set way is not a bad thing and is at some times necessary, prayer is designed to be more conversational, where we verbalize how we are working out are thoughts before God.

He also talks about how what hearing God truly means. He posits that all to often we as Christians throw out the importance of our part in the process of communication with God. He argues that God doesn’t necessarily speak through us, but more he speaks with us when we live a life in his presence. This does not negate are humanness.

All in all, I think that this book is as well written as his first book. I would highly recommend it to anyone, because it does offer some interesting points and thoughts on the prayer life of a Christian. It is also very accessible, you don’t need a degree in theology to understand this book.

Understanding God’s Will by Kyle Lake

So I just finished reading the book “Understanding God’s Will” by Kyle Lake. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. In the book, Lake seeks to revamp how we as Christians approach the will of God, mostly by adjusting some of how we view God.

He first says that we need to approach the will of God as an apprentice or learner of Jesus Christ, wanting to follow him on this journey of life. He posits that being a disciple of Jesus, which we are all called to do, is something that is lived “out there” as he puts it, in the work place, the ball field, and the classroom. He reminds us that discerning God’s will for our lives is an aspect of our discipleship to God, but not the end goal. To often we see God’s will as leading us to an end goal, like a treasure map, but lake does not see it as working that way. He reminds us that God never promised this life would be easy, and it was never promised to be safe, that often we think the will of God will offer us the path of least resistance, but that is not evident when we look at the lives of the disciples. He also points out that the decisions we make should be made with a sense of being on mission, that we often cop out of being a Christian first and our profession second, but more often we are an accountant who happens to be a Christian. He says we need to see where we are as a mission to a world that may not know God. He sums up this section by saying that we need to be prepared to meet God wherever the road leads us, planned or unplanned.

He secondly says that we need to look to God as a father. Though he admits that this may be a stumbling block for those who grew up in a bad home situation, he says that we need to approach God as the father who is their for advice but ultimately wants us to be good people and make our own decisions. We often ask God what his will is for our lives, just to be disappointed that maybe God’s will is for us to make the decision and be responsible in that. Lake then addresses intuition, and says that making decisions based on intuition is not a bad thing, but that certain decisions do not need to be made that way, i.e., marriage. He also states that when we view the will of God in light of God being father, we need to remember that sometimes we are going to make decisions that turn out great and others that don’t, but we need to take responsibility for our decisions. He concludes this section by saying that God doesn’t offer 100% success, but he does offer his presence in life, we just have to step up and take it.

Thirdly, he discusses how we need to view the will of God in terms of the Kingdom of God. He points out that the Kingdom of God is one of the most often mentioned things in the New Testament. Lake says that to view God as a king may better our understanding of God’s will. He posits that a King is concerned with the big picture of the kingdom, and with the character of his people, but not in the small details of which job to take or what show to watch. Lake is quick to point out that God is absolutely concerned with the decisions we do make, but it seems that God is much more concerned with the kind of people the decisions we make will allow us to be.

Overall, I think this is a great book. Kyle Lake writes a lot like I think, with random little interjections here and there. I think is approach to the will of God is insightful and new, and I think there is a lot we could learn from what he has to say.