A book I read a number of months ago was David Crump’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Doors”. It was a book for my colloquium on prayer. The book is highly recommended for those who desire an exegetical (rather than a mere devotional) analysis of the prayers of Scripture. Crump is stellar for taking many of the prayers mentioned in the New Testament and highlighting their context both historical and with a particular bent toward petitionary praying. He takes to task many of the common misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the prayers of the New Testament. By placing them in their proper context (which is what I think Crump succeeds in doing) he puts prayer back in the hands of God’s grace rather than the perfunctory daily task of the check list syndrome thus making God an idol. I would not recommend this book to the average layman due to Crump’s highly technical analysis simply because they may get lost in data and the book will do more harm than good. And some may accuse Crump’s intentional bent toward “exegetical praying” as not being led by the Spirit in prayer (urges, promptings, impressions, etc). However this book is well suited for anyone who wants to take a slow and deliberate walk through New Testament passages regarding prayer and understand them in their proper setting to understand why people prayed they way they did, and what were there requests.
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