Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith [Paperback]

On the surface, this is a devotional prayer book which has one prayer for each day of the year. However, you do not have to read very far to find out that Scotty Smith intends to communicate far more than this. Through these prayers, Smith desired to find Jesus in every part of the bible, bring the gospel to bear on every part of his life, and help the reader to do these same things. He seeks to engage Jesus as prophet, priest, and king (a popular reformed rubric these days, and certainly not a bad one), as well as to continually return to basics of the gospel within the grand metanarrative of scripture.

As you read these prayers you will find that they truly are everyday prayers. They range from poetic to personal in style, grand to minute in scope, and topically they are all over the place. This is, in my opinion, a good reflection of everyday life.

My first problem with this book is not in reading it, but in reviewing it. One minor problem is that I didn't read it over the course of a year, and thus I experienced it differently than intended. A much more major problem is the question of how you review someone else's prayers? Smith is vulnerable, real, and personal. The prayers are clearly centered on Christ and on Scripture and other than some theological disagreements here and there (he is, after all, a reformed thinker; anyone who has read much of what I post knows I am not) these are solid prayers.

In terms of production, this book was put together from Smith's blogging/facebooking/posting prayers elsewhere on the net for quite some time. I think that is a great thing to do; to engage, within a community, in praying together, learning to pray, sharing our prayers, and growing together. By the time it becomes a book, all those elements of community have been removed. Thus, as I come to my conclusion in reviewing this book, I have to say this: I have a second problem with this book. It is not that it is a bad book; rather, it is superfluous. If you want to learn to pray, if you desire to pray more, to centre your prayers on Christ, and so on, these are great things. Do them within your Christian community. If this book can help, wonderful. But you certainly do not need a book for that. Instead, go out and pray. There is no substitute for the act itself.

Conclusion: 3.5 Stars. Not Recommended. It is a decent book, but not one you really need to read.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

I always felt a bit uncomfortable reading the prayers of others. There is always a disconnect for me reading the words of others as my own prayer. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I am not part of a tradition that uses prayer books in communal worship.

However, this is not to suggest that praying with the prayers of others is necessarily something to be avoided, especially since, as Christians, we have our own 'built in prayer books' in the Bible. Praying with the Psalms is a wonderfully rich and deep experience; the words of the Psalmist become my words. I have also found the prayer books of Walter Brueggemann and Phyllis Tickle to be profound ' they express the deep longing and vibrant hope that resonates with my soul, they pray for me when I am unable to pray myself. These prayers are works of art; poetic expressions of our need for and encounter with Yaweh. They remind me that the act of prayer is not simply relegated to a time of pious devotion but an act of worship and a way of life.

I approached the recent prayer book, Everyday Prayers by Scotty Smith with the same hesitation I approach all prayer books. I realize it is not fair to compare or evaluate prayers, so it is difficult to do a proper book review of a prayer book.

So, allow me a few brief reflections.

The language of prayer is very important. The words and phrases we use cultivate our spiritual imaginations and shape our beliefs. It is interesting that the majority of Smith's prayers address God as Father. In the plethora of names for God given to us in the Bible, it seems strange to pray with such banal invocation. Yes, Jesus began his teaching on prayer with 'Our Father', but too many Christians seem content to limiting themselves to this as their primary way of addressing God, ignoring the other biblical images and names for God. What happens to our relationship with God and to our theology when we are content to limit ourselves to praying to the Father only?

Smith does begin a number of his prayers addressing Christ, and the Holy Spirit does get a few mentions, yet the majority of Smith's prayers tend to favour two 'corners' of the Trinity to the neglect of the Spirit. If John Calvin truly is a 'theologian of the Holy Spirit', then one would expect those who follow in his tradition to be more focused on the Spirit in their prayers. However, speaking from within the Reformed tradition myself, communal prayers to the Holy Spirit are almost always viewed with suspicion.

Because Smith operates within good ol' Reformed piety, the emphasis on God the father should not be surprising and neither should his penchant for preaching through prayer. His prayers are suffused with a heavy dose of Reformed theology and often seem more like polished sermons than longings of the heart. Often, these prayers seem to be an exercise in affirming dogma rather than a conversation with Christ.

I cannot fault Smith from speaking from his tradition ' indeed the language of our traditions inevitably shapes our piety. And, as another Smith (James K.A.) from the Reformed tradition notes, Calvinists tend to operate as 'brains on a stick' when it comes to our piety; this comes out clearly in many of Smith's prayers. Unfortunately, at times it felt that Everyday Prayers was more an exercise of reading theology than of praying and struggling with a brother in Christ. Sometimes while reading through the book, I would wonder ' who really prays like this, doesn't it seem a bit superfluous?

However, that being said, there are moments of honesty and beauty in these prayers, words that you can pray to draw you deeper into your relationship with God ' the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So, while it is difficult to review a book of someone else's heartfelt prayers, if you are from the Reformed tradition and looking for a resource to deepen your piety, Everyday Prayers may be the book you are looking for.

'Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group'.