Baker Academic


Does prayer make a difference?

Why

We

Pray

"Deeply moving" - Ingrid Faro

The latest book

by John C. peckham

If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and entirely good, why do we need to ask God to do good things? Won’t God act for the best regardless? Do our prayers even make a difference? Why do some go unanswered? This brief, accessible book provides a fresh angle on our questions to help us think differently about why we pray and what happens when we pray.


John Peckham applies the insights from his successful book Theodicy of Love to the perennial problem of petitionary prayer, offering practical implications for how we might pray and live in ways that advance God’s kingdom of unselfish love. Since our understanding of petitionary prayer is inseparable from our understanding of God, Peckham sheds significant light on the nature and character of God and the often-mysterious workings of divine providence. He does so by bringing theological and philosophical nuance to readings of key biblical texts on prayer, weaving in other scriptural clues to articulate an understanding of prayer that highlights not only its necessity but also its urgency. This book will appeal to students, pastors, church leaders, and thoughtful laypeople.

What readers are saying

Quotation Mark

“A deeply moving and profoundly theological case for prayer. Peckham makes sense of the conundrum of unanswered prayer, describing the parameters that impact the hearing and answering of our prayers. Every Christian, indeed everyone contemplating a conversation with God, will be enlightened by this important work.”


Ingrid Faro, Northern Seminary

Quotation Mark

“In this outstanding discussion of petitionary prayer, Peckham reassures us that prayer really does make a difference. Readers will learn much from Peckham’s rich theological treatment of prayer. And more than that, they will be inspired to pray!”


Kevin Kinghorn, Asbury Theological Seminary

Quotation Mark

“It is not every book of serious theology that leaves one eager to pray, but this one does—not by admonition but by fundamentally shifting our view of God and how he works in the world. . . . The only disappointment of this book is that it doesn’t come with a free pair of kneepads!”


Michael Lloyd, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford

About John C. Peckham

John C. Peckham (PhD, Andrews University) is research professor of theology and Christian philosophy at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. His numerous books include God with Us, Divine Attributes: Knowing the Covenantal God of Scripture, Theodicy of Love: Cosmic Conflict and the Problem of Evil, and The Love of God: A Canonical Model, a 2015 Readers’ Choice Award winner. He received educator of the year awards in 2012 and 2016 (Southwestern and Andrews University) and an excellence in scholarship award in 2018 (Andrews).

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