I obtained my copy of the book (autographed) some ten years ago, after hearing the author preach. He seems a very fine fellow and I estimate that he would be a valued friend. I took the book off my shelf and began to read it as part of my daily devotional read several months ago, reading and reflecting on the material carefully.
The tenor of the book bothered me more and more as I read through it. I have read numerous books on the topic of prayer, including "All The Prayers Of The Bible" by Lockyer, "Only A Prayer Meeting" by Spurgeon, "Prayer" by John Bunyan, "Affirmative Prayer In Action," by Adela Rogers St. Johns, "Prayer - Asking And Receiving," by John R Rice, "Exploring Prayer," by Jack Hyles, and "Power Through Prayer" by E. M. Bounds.
As you can see from that partial list, the books I have read on prayer are from across the theological spectrum. It is important to note that any author's thrust on the topic of prayer can and sometimes does deviate significantly from how he defines prayer, aside from his best intentions to reflect his stated definition.
My concern with the book arises from how it reflects the theology of Charles G. Finney, who so dramatically influenced 19th century American Christianity, both the practice of evangelism and the theology of salvation. Since he wrote only three books, Finney's positions on important matters is very easy to discover and evaluate in light of the Bible. Sadly, few take the time to evaluate Finney's positions or impact, forcing me to write on the devastation of his and Horace Bushnell's legacies.
Though the word and the concept it reflects is a concept not explicitly identified in Beckum's book, synergism is a patently unscriptural distortion of the Biblical doctrine of salvation. I well remember extended discussions with my friend, the late Roland Rasmussen, on the issue of monergism versus synergism. How passionate he was about the issue. And how accurate!
That this book on prayer does not distinguish between monergism and synergism is unfortunate, because the topic of prayer as seen from one perspective cannot be the same when seen from the other perspective. And the positions embraced by Rice, Hyles, Bounds, and Finney on one hand, are most definitely not embraced the men listed in the book's bibliography; Spurgeon, Bunyan, Bonar, Brooks, Cairns, Edwards, Mack, Murray, Pink, Piper, and Whitefield.
My point? These men profoundly disagree what prayer is and what prayer accomplishes, as a result of their differing position on monergism versus synergism, something the author does not address. That is unfortunate.
