A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. The Magnificent Promise: The Unifying Power of Prayer. Helen Smith Shoemaker. Abingdon Press, 128pp.
There is a great proliferation of books on the subject of prayer; this is understandable. Helen Smith Shoemaker, the author of The Magnificent Promise, points out in her introduction “When you pray” Jesus says, not “if you pray.” Prayer is to be a normal activity of Jesus’ followers.
Mrs. Shoemaker, founder and former executive director of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer, has written several books on prayer. This book identifies the unity that is brought about by prayer. “Christianity is not primarily a religion of rules, not a system of ethics, not an ideology. It is primarily a person and that person is Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God”, and prayer unites us with Jesus Christ; “intercession develops holy friendship.” The author devotes chapters to the teaching of Jesus on prayer and to Jesus’ prayer promise; subsequent chapters identify the various areas into which prayer brings unity.
We read of the unifying power of prayer in families, on the job and in a competitive business world. Mrs. Shoemaker quotes from a 1981 article in The New York Times telling of various prayer and Bible study groups among business executives. “Businessmen turn to this because of the desire for fellowship with those who have a common understanding of the pressures of business life.”
One chapter describes “The Pittsburgh Experiment” which started over 30 years ago with a few professional men in Pittsburgh meeting each week to discuss needs, problems and opportunities and to pray together. While numbers have increased they have continued in small groups and are encouraged to take part in a “Thirty Day Experiment.” This, as its name suggests, involves people praying for one another consistently for thirty days, and we read of some of the marvellous responses coming from this.
We learn, in other chapters, of prayer uniting clergy and laypeople, and of growing congregations based on a foundation of prayer in North America, Korea and other parts of the world, of prayer uniting us with the needs of the world. “We have made this world a neighbourhood through technological revolution. How can we make it a brotherhood?”
I found this book interesting, but many quotes from other writers strengthened the feeling that it had few new ideas on the subject of prayer.
Shirley Charleson is a homemaker and member of Bridlewood Presbyterian Church, Agincourt, Ont.