Book review - How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal people

A book review by Tim Kidger

Pete Greig is good with words. So, this book is very easy to read. His style is casual and friendly, and he is almost alarmingly candid about himself and his relationships, and therefore it is very easy to identify with him. He also has a wealth of stories and examples which help you understand the principles that he sets out for the reader.

He is also a lover of the bullet point and acronyms, which makes it very easy to make notes and to recall what he says. For me, probably the most important part of his message is to:

Keep it simple.

Keep it real.

Keep it up.

It is very reassuring to be reminded that God doesn’t expect us to produce clever, well worded, articulate prayers that leave nothing out and are succinct. We are reassured that the Holy Spirit will help us, and that God will fill in any gaps that we leave. However, there is a cautionary note struck that just because God knows what is in our hearts we still must ask. Prayer is part of our relationship with God it isn’t like make a wish then blowing out all the candles! Pete also makes it clear that what you ask for should be Jesus like.

The book works its way through the Lord’s Prayer phrase by phrase expanding on each section to help us understand things in more depth. It also summarises it by giving us a handy acronym: P.R.A.Y – Pause, Rejoice, Ask then Yield. This isn’t quite as brutal as Anne Lamott’s even simpler “Help, Thanks, Wow.”!

There is plenty in this book for the more studious reader too. We learn of the nine different paths of prayer: Stillness, Adoration, Petition, Intersession, Perseverance, Contemplation, Listening, Confession and Spiritual Warfare. All these are thoroughly and simply explained with examples and guidance and for each there is a hero with often a humbling example of how people have used these paths with success. For me the most moving is the story of Gordon Wilson who in the immediate aftermath of the IRA bomb in Enniskillen in which his daughter, a nurse, had been killed said “I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She’s dead. She’s in heaven and we shall meet again. I will pray for these men tonight and every night.” This awesome statement shook the IRA and ten years later Sinn Fein issued an apology.

My only problem with this book is the title. Having been a psychiatrist for 30 years my concept of “Normal” is much too exclusive. A Simple Guide for Everyone would have been better for that is what it is.

I commend this book to you. There is also a series of videos on Youtube to accompany it. Search for The Prayer Course.

How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People is published by Hodder and Stoughton and is available for £5 to £9 or on Kindle for £4.99.