Prayer, 50th Anniversary Edition

What can I say, Karl Barth, good, good, good. Makes you think and thank God for the Gift of his Son and our ability the ponder on the things we may never fully understand. This book is good, good, good.

Prayer is one of the central activities of the Christian life. This anniversary edition of Karl Barth's lectures on the Lord's Prayer, along with supplementary essays by three Barth scholars, introduces readers to what he had to say about this important Christian practice. For Barth, the ultimate aim of all theology is worship, and here he mines the theological and spiritual wisdom of Luther, Calvin, and the Heidelberg Catechism urging us to participate in the work of God through prayer. Karl Barth was one of the major theologians of the twentieth century. He is remembered for his voluminous theological writings especially his Church Dogmatics. I. John Hesselink is Professor of Systematic Theology Emeritus at Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan. Daniel L. Migliore is Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Donald K. McKim is Academic and Reference Editor for Westminster John Knox Press.

I found Prayer by Karl Barth in the suggested readings of Eugene Peterson in Christ Plays in 10,000 places. I think I'm probably not alone in thinking that my praying could be improved. My conversations with God, well ... they often seem corney for my part. They don't meet my personal standards for a quality discussion with my God. Barth is in the 'super stars of theology hall of fame'. I was hoping he might provide a few pointers. Prayer is a super primer! Barth takes the Lord's Prayer model, dissects it word for word and provides a mental template for raising prayer to the quality standards befitting communication with the Almighty. I'm not great at prayer yet, but I'm learning and enjoying my private time with God more, thanks in some measure to this book.

We know Barth for his massive Church Dogmatics; deep, penetrating, difficult, beautiful, massive, circular in argument, and life-changing. Here we see the spiritual side of Barth; a side not often observed beyond the usual personnas. We are familiar with Barth the theological warrior, writer, dogmatic theologian, family man, university professor, but this book gives the reader a picture of the man who had a deeply felt love for the God known in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit that Barth never tired of talking about, preaching about, or writing about. Much writing about "spirituality" is not worth the time or the effort of reading-- this book is!

I have just begun to read the books of Karl Barth and I am enjoying them immensely.They are deep in thought but easy to read especially for the layman.Reading the books of Barth has given me a better understanding Christian religion and also our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.This book is highly recommended as are other books by Barth.