I will be returning to this book’s early chapters for material on biblical foundations for prayer and thinking hard about how to overcome obstacles for helping God’s people pray. Foremost, Miller’s case rings true that a prayerful church starts with prayerful leadership. He is on the mark to remind us that nothing about the church should rest on the foundation of merely a good plan but should be planted and watered in the soils of prayer.

Paul E. Miller, A Praying Church: Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023). paperback. 304 pp. $21.99.

Prayer is one of the pillars holding up the Christian life. As the Heidelberg Catechism 116 says, prayer is necessary for Christians, “Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us: and also, because God will give his grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who with sincere desires continually ask them of him, and are thankful for them.” Our thankfulness before the Lord and our hope to receive his grace channel foremost into our life of prayer.

Paul Miller has written a book exhorting the church to return to this basic Christian practice, specifically focusing on the church’s corporate prayer. The argument is that the church as such needs to rediscover the riches of seeking the Lord in prayer together, not only because it is one of the best ways of loving and serving our fellow believers but also because it is one of the ways seeing the Lord at work in our midst as he noticeably responds to our spoken needs.

In chapters 1–8, Miller outlines rich and nourishing biblical and practical insights about prayer in the context of the church. His biblical arguments remind us how the church is not a merely earthly institution but is the interface between our earthly lives and the supernatural. We are not meant to solve our problems only by expected means but to rely on the Lord to provide for us. He also gives an account of the decline of the church’s corporate prayer meeting, prompting us to consider how our churches might reengage with the use of prayer meetings.

Throughout the book, Miller gives additional insights about how prayer meetings prove faulty. We become too fixated on enumerating medical issues. Of course, we should pray for genuine medical concerns. Miller is right, however, that opportunities to mention prayer needs becomes more about listing ailments that greatly vary in their true seriousness. Further, Miller notes how prayer meetings can gravitate toward religiosity, becoming “syrupy” in the style of prayers that we implement, rather than serious in seeking God’s help for the full gamut of spiritual and earthly needs among our church.

Although the strengths named above provide thoughtful recalibration for churches to double down on their commitment to prayer, much of the book sadly misfires. Primarily, Miller wrote a book about the church at prayer but is decidedly non-churchly in his outlook. His stories about his father’s pastoral work are clearly set in the context of the work of the local church. Even those stories, however, seem to be more nostalgic about dear old dad than driven by providing wisdom for prayer in the church. In this respect, they themselves have a syrupy feel that Miller himself says is not helpful.

Further, Miller’s primary focus is rarely the church as he writes in the context of a parachurch organization. Often he snubs his nose at churches that he finds to be too minded for the elite and not attentive enough to ordinary people. Yet, Miller regularly writes about the prayer meetings that he leads for his staff. For those of us working in churches, we are not attempting to promote prayer among people whom we employ but people whom we pastor. Certainly, I could drum up support and attendance if I pay my employs. My interest, however, is on encouraging a life of prayer among people who need to see the volunteered value and need for seeking the Lord in prayer.

The book has further tensions. Miller regularly notes his own prayer life – although at the end says that we should be quiet about our practices of private prayer and fasting – while also stating that he imagines most of his readers’ churches are relatively prayerless. He further criticizes churches for ignoring the (metaphorically speaking) janitors and people who prefer to shop at thrift stores, instead favoring the (again metaphorically) corporate directors. Now, I was a student intern for a year at New Life Glenside, where Miller’s father used to be pastor. Terry Traylor, who went to be with the Lord too early from the human perspective, was the pastor when I was there and gave me lots of wisdom in the year that I had with him. Terry was a brilliant pastor whom I look forward to seeing again one day. I understand that the culture at New Life was press toward a casual, low-level atmosphere that was proud of bringing in those who felt uncomfortable in other church environments. The problem is not that New Life was good at promoting this atmosphere for their own congregation, but that Miller gives the impression that he thinks that approach is the only way to bring in people from all parts of society. Many churches, including my own, are composed of blue and white collar workers, those with various types of and view on pedigree. Miller at times comes across as condescending by discounting churches that look differently from that which makes him most comfortable as likely unprayerful and focused on professional polish rather seeking the Lord.

These issues are again routed in the issue of the church. Miller seems to have a very loose view of the institutional church. He seems to count the call to corporate church prayer as applying to families and people who happen to meet up. These instances of prayer are necessary, good, and valuable but are not part of a guide for a praying church. Undoubtedly, part of problem here relates to Miller’s explicit embrace of pietism (pg. 155–60). Miller’s view of recovering churchly prayer seems to revolve around this sort of view of the church with fluid boundaries rather than members of congregations being recommitted to the means of grace, which includes prayer. Miller laments that “A whole generation of our youth finds syrupy spirituality cringeworthy.” (pg. 157) I personally fear that many will see much of Miller’s case to fall afoul of his own lament. His admirable commitment to expand prayer to include all who would pray and to penetrate to every aspect and person of our churches falters when he gives the impression that his sort of concerns are the only ones that drive “authentic” and “real” prayer, which he has not clearly related to the church’s formal means of grace ministry. A balance must be kept, which I think Miller has missed.

I will be returning to this book’s early chapters for material on biblical foundations for prayer and thinking hard about how to overcome obstacles for helping God’s people pray. Foremost, Miller’s case rings true that a prayerful church starts with prayerful leadership. He is on the mark to remind us that nothing about the church should rest on the foundation of merely a good plan but should be planted and watered in the soils of prayer.

Dr. Harrison Perkins is a Minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and is Pastor at Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC) in Farmington Hills, Mich. He is also a visiting lecturer in systematic theology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary and online faculty in church history for Westminster Theological Seminary.