At the recommendation of a couple friends and colleagues, I decided to pick up a copy of Enjoy Your Prayer Life by Michael Reeves. And I’m so glad I did!
Reeves serves as as President and Professor of Theology at Union School of Theology. And though he is a scholar of high caliber, this brief volume (~50 little pages) reveals a pastoral heart in guiding the reader to do just what the title promises… enjoying communion with the triune God through prayer.
Like a careful surgeon, he begins with making an incision that, while painful, is necessary for healing: “Prayerlessness always goes hand in hand with a lack of Christian integrity. This is even more so for Christian leaders – to put it bluntly, if they are not enjoying communion with God, then they are selling a product they don’t really believe in.”1
Having made the cut, he next offers a positive definition of prayer in chapter two. And for this he builds on Calvin’s description of it as, “the chief exercise of faith.”2 He writes, “Prayer is the primary way true faith expresses itself.”3
This prepares the way for the next incision in chapters 3-4: Given what prayer is, we are naturally inclined away from it because we are all sinners. Yet it’s precisely at this point that he applies the healing agent: “You’re just a sinner, naturally inclined away from faith and prayer. We’re all sinners. And you know who the friend of sinners is! Jesus."4 From this point forward, Reeves masterfully shows how the Gospel is simultaneously what pulls us from despair over the state of our prayer lives and propels us forward in it.
A special highlight for me was how he describes Christ’s finished work in connection with our prayer life: “for eternity [Jesus] has enjoyed communion with [the Father] and he has prayed to him… the salvation he brings is a sharing of his own communion with his Father. Praying is learning to enjoy what Jesus has always enjoyed (emphasis original).”5
I also appreciated how he wrapped up by placing a focus on the corporate nature of prayer: “Prayer for each other is sharing our Father’s compassion. Prayer with each other is being family, and it fosters the unity our God loves (emphasis original).”6
Given the unusual combination of depth and brevity is what makes this book an ideal volume for readers of any level. I heartily commend it to help you enjoy your prayer life in 2025!
Michael Reeves, Enjoy Your Prayer Life (Leyland, England: 10Publishing, 2014). $7.
Reeves, Enjoy Your Prayer Life, 10.
Ibid., 12.
Ibid.
Ibid., 14.
Ibid., 21.
Ibid., 42.
Thanks, Drew. I will get my copy soon.
Just ordered a copy. Thanks for the recommendation!