Minor Prophets, Major Prayer: Getting Real with God [9781788931212]

Expand the description and scroll down to view the Preach magazine review.

In a world of global connectivity, how can we be such great communicators with each other but not with God who loves us unconditionally? Many of us think prayer is complicated. We are not sure how to pray and so just do not do it.

To get help in praying we often turn to the New Testament or the Psalms for inspiration. Yet buried in the often overlooked minor prophets in the Old Testament are pearls of wisdom that in fact form the raw material of prayer. These prophets understood the power of prayer, so what made them turn to God and how did they ask him for help?

By looking at each minor prophet in turn, Debbie Duncan explores their background, highlights the main themes and looks at how their example can help us to pray, revealing how surprisingly relevant these lessons are to our modern world. These biblical characters may be called minor prophets, but they can teach us major truths about prayer.

Read an interview with Debbie Duncan here >

PREACH REVIEW:

There must be many preachers who have tended to bypass the minor prophets in their personal Bible reading and also in their sermons. I recommend this book, to all those who identify with these words and for others who want to think freshly about these Old Testament books.

The twelve chapters about the Minor Prophets, two written by co-writers with Debbie Duncan, follow the same pattern. The main character, the prophet, is introduced in the context of the times in which he lived. Not all readers will agree with every point of detail here. Another section gives further information about the background. Then the main message of the prophet to his original hearers is helpfully set out. The final part of each chapter has the heading ‘About Prayer’. This concludes with a prayer which readers can use privately or publicly.

One great strength of this book is that Debbie Duncan and her co-writers have an obvious desire to relate the messages of the minor prophets to the realities of life in the world of Covid 19. The authors emphasise the importance of prayerful responses. So they encourage their readers to pray into what the Lord is saying to us through these final books in the OT. For example, in the chapter on Habbakuk, there are helpful words of application about the place of lament in the prayers of Christian people. With Joel, the prayer emphasis is on pleading with God for our world in times of desperation. We are reminded that the plague of locusts at the time of Joel has resurfaced many times, not least in Africa in 2020. It has also reappeared in a different form in the present pandemic.

This book has prompted me to revisit the minor prophets and to reflect that if I was still leading a church I could do well to preach a series of sermons on all or some of their messages and their contemporary application.

Debbie Duncan’s book, with its final chapter ‘In the Light of a Pandemic’, will help readers to revisit the minor prophets and to think freshly about their present day relevance.

Review by the Rev Henry Whyte for Preach magazine, Issue 29. Henry is an active retired vicar enjoying time with family, golf and writing. He is thankful for ongoing opportunities to preach and to minister.

AUTHOR: Deborah (Debbie) Duncan is a writer based in the UK. She is the author of four books , The art of daily resilience . Brave - courage through the seasons of our lives, Giften - women in leadership (with contributions from people like Margaret Sentamu and Christy Wimber. These are all published by Lion Hudson

Her first novel, 'Life Lines', was published in October 2014 (Authentic Media) which she has co-authored with a friend, Cathy Le Feuvre. He latest book is "Minor prophets, major prayer - getting real with God".

Debbie is also the author of The God Cares series by Lion Hudson . Theses are early readers and chapter books for children on topics such as God cares when I feel down, God cares when when I am strong., God cares when I am afraid.

This is Debbie's first work of fiction, although she is a prolific writer in her professional capacity. Debbie is a lecturer in Nursing at Queens university, She is the author of over 60 nursing-related articles in the past for nursing and medical journals. She is currently working on her third text book.