"This clear, thoughtful reflection pores over each phrase in the prayer, honoring the history, context and the embedded theologies found within."--"Publishers Weekly." (Biblical Studies)

"The prayer that Jesus handed down to his disciples — known in the New Testament as 'The Lord's Prayer' — has a long history of devotion among Christians. White, a pastor and theology professor at Gordon-Conwell Seminary (Embracing the Mysterious God), is obviously a devotee. This clear, thoughtful reflection pores over each phrase in the prayer, honoring the history, context and the embedded theologies found within. White looks at each phrase in order because, as he puts it, 'order matters,' beginning with us naming and praising the one to whom we pray, then moving seamlessly from God's will to our needs. White advocates that we place 'all of life within the context of [God's] governing care,' bringing all our hopes and desires to God in prayer. Yet he wisely warns against treating God as a 'cosmic errand boy' and speaks frankly about those times that God says either 'no' or 'not now' to our petitions. And although Christians are fond of a repeated use of the Lord's Prayer in devotion, White recommends that believers go beyond recitation. If modern Christians, like the disciples, want to learn how to pray, he invites them to allow this special prayer to guide their conversation with God. Read as a meditation on prayer, this book can further inform that conversation. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)