"The Prayer of Unwanting" (David Williams)

TITLE: The Prayer of Unwanting
AUTHOR: David Williams
PUBLISHER: Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2025, (176 pages).
 

Many have heard of the bestselling book "The Prayer of Jabez." Despite its attractive thesis, it is still a prayer contrasting sharply with the Lord's Prayer. The key difference is the focus. While the Lord's Prayer is how we yield ourselves to God's will, the Jabez Prayer's key thesis is about making God yield to our wants and needs. Enters this book about the essence of prayer. Entitled "The Prayer of Unwanting," it pushes back against almost everything the bestselling book on the Jabez Prayer is all about. Author and pastor David Williams gives us this book as a guide to the essence of what the Lord's Prayer is all about. As far as Williams is concerned, the Lord's Prayer is not a magical list of verses that we can use to bring God to our needs. Rather, it is an opportunity to think more of God and less about us. He guides us through the entire prayer with an exposition of the prayer snippets.

Beginning with "Our Father," he points out that prayer is a personal connection with God as our Heavenly Father. "Who Art in Heaven" lifts us above this finite world toward hope in the Infinite God. We learn to see the proximity of what it means to live heavenly thoughts on earth. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" focuses on holiness. Williams laments about the lack of holy awareness in this world even among believers. This prayer for holiness comes when we learn to let go of our earthly anxieties and gaze at God's holiness. The fourth snippet, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, on earth as it is in heaven" takes us to the heart of Jesus. 

"The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry" (Steven D. Mathewson)

TITLE: The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry
AUTHOR: Steven D. Mathewson
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024, (256 pages).
 

This is an excellent book about preaching from the wisdom and poetic books of the Old Testament. Filled with lots of biblical insights, historical backgrounds, and illuminating observations, preachers will be excited when reading about the many ways to approach the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Written for those who preach and teach Scripture, author and professor Steven Mathewson takes us through these five books, to give us tips on teaching and preaching strategies. He typically begins with a description of what the texts are saying. He patiently elucidates the purposes of each book by ensuring that we do not put the cart before the horse. For instance, in Psalms, he shows us the emotive components of the Psalms, to ensure we are aware of the stance of each psalm and the emotional plot development. In Proverbs, he reminds us to be mindful of Proverbs 1:1-7, which shows us the purposes of the wisdom texts. In Job, he reminds us to discern the structure and flow of the arguments and counter-arguments. In Ecclesiastes, he calls us to first examine the structure, and understand its perspective, keywords, and concepts, before preaching it. He covers the general and specific structures of the book, taking care to supply the framework of the book before leading us through some powerful strategies for preaching. That is not all. He gives us helpful resources for studying and preaching, leading us to some of the most valuable resources for the Bible book concerned. For instance, in Proverbs, he recommends Bruce Waltke's monumental work on Proverbs. For Job, he highlights John Walton's NIV Application Commentary and Daniel Estes's Teach the Text series, etc. For Ecclesiastes, he takes guidance from Iain Provan, Craig Bartholomew, etc. Many pointers can also be gleaned from "The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching." Mathewson uses Dr. Haddon Robinson's Big-Idea expository Preaching throughout the book. This is no surprise given that the late professor was his mentor. (Dr. Robinson was my mentor too!) At the end of the book, Mathewson gives us six sample sermons, two from Psalms and one from each of the other Bible books concerned to illustrate his points. 

"Discern" (Mark E. Thibodeaux)

TITLE: Discern: Listening for God's Whispers
AUTHOR: Mark E. Thibodeaux
PUBLISHER: Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2024, (100 pages).
 

How do we listen to God? The Bible tells how Elijah could distinguish God's voice from the earthly elements of earthquake, wind, and fire? In a busy distraction-filled world, how do we discern God's leading? Based on the teachings of St Ignatius of Loyola, author Mark Thibodeaux leads us through the two key Ignatian themes: Consolation and Desolation. Consolation is feeling uplifted, peaceful, and connected to God. Desolation is a state of emptiness, restlessness, or inner turmoil. The way of discernment is the way of consolation over desolation. Each page comprises a subject to think, ponder, and pray about. Presented with a brief and concise description, the empty spaces let the subject percolate through our minds and encourage us to pray. We learn to distinguish listening to God versus listening to other voices of distraction. This requires fine-tuning our spiritual senses. It puts the being before the doing. Listening helps us detect the forces pulling us away or toward God. Each page shows us how to recognize the tensions between consolation and desolation. This includes questions to challenge ourselves. Discerning desolation are questions like: