Austin Phelps. The Still Hour: Communion with God in Prayer. N.p., 1859. Reprint: Birmingham: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005.
Reviewed by Ryan M. McGraw
In many respects, prayer is the centerpiece of our communion with the great Triune God. In our present day, prayer has fallen on hard times. Corporate prayer is given little attention in most churches and wrestling with God in private prayer is becoming a lost art. In addition to these facts, every believer who has taken the duty of prayer seriously has, no doubt, begun to recognize that as vital as prayer is to our relationship with our God, true prayer is hard work and often comes neither naturally nor easily.
In many respects this little book on prayer is unique. It does not deal primarily with the theology of prayer or the manner in which we are to pray. It addresses the psychology of prayer, or the struggles of our hearts and minds in prayer. It exposes many of our sins in prayer, and it will reveal to you many failings that you were probably not aware of before reading it. For example, the chapter on “Idolatry in Prayer” is particularly searching. This book will improve your prayer life tremendously. However, I must warn you that this book shall convict you before it comforts you. As you read, this work will cultivate your communion with God and help to set you upon a straight path with respect to your private prayers.
One last note: this book is a must read on prayer because you will be hard pressed to find its contents in any other place. Phelps wrote in the middle of the 19th century and his book is written with such a broad vocabulary and wealth of imagery that sometimes it reads like poetry. For those of you who love poetry, this will make the book even more enjoyable to read. For those who do not, I am still willing to guarantee that you will not regret the time that you spend with The Still Hour.
This book is truly excellent & one of the most helpful I've read on prayer. Perhaps because it addresses the psychology of prayer (and in short chapters) I find myself returning to it often both for the conviction and the comfort, as well as the encouragement to pray, that it provides. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Pastor McGraw.
ReplyDeleteTo further whet the appetite of any potential readers, here is a brief outline I had made of chapters and topics covered, in hopes that it will convince you of the book's value.
Chapter:
1) The sense of God's absence in prayer
2) The unconverted or impenitent heart
3) A falsely romantic view of prayer - praying without being willing to have our requests answered
4,5) Faith's role in prayer - "Christians often have little faith in prayer as a power in real life." "Let the faith of the apostles in the reality of prayer as a power with Go take possession of a regenerate heart, and it is inconceivable that prayer should be to that heart a lifeless duty."
6) Specificity of object, and intensity of desire in prayer
7) The temperament of prayer - devout joy as the subsoil from which prayer grows
8) Indolence in Prayer
9) Idolatry in Prayer
10) Continuance in Prayer
11) Fragmentary Prayer - brief prayers throughout the day, prayer as a state, not simply an act
12) The Aid of the Holy Spirit in Prayer
13) The Reality of Christ in Prayer
14) Modern Habits of Prayer - Despite an "aggressive revival of religion" (1857-59), "the tendencies of our modern Christian life... embody certain centrifugal forces... Modern piety goes outward in duties & activities... [the] obvious peril is, that the vitality of holiness may be exhausted by inward decay, through the want [lack] of an increase of its devotional spirit... Individual experience may become shallow, for the want [lack] of meditative habits and much communion with God."
As Pastor McGraw said, it's convicting...
Happy reading,
A GPTS Student