'25 SUMMER READING LIST, #3 - "CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD" BY J. GARY MILLAR

I've had the honor of reading several good books on prayer, including "Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church" by John Onwuchekwa. That book recommended "Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer" by J. Gary Millar, which I'm recommending as summer reading.

"Calling on the Name of the Lord" is the first book I've read of the "New Studies in Biblical Theology" series. You may be familiar with the term "Systematic Theology," which is looking at what the Bible says about a certain topic. "Biblical Theology" looks at each book of the Bible in order, and then from there concludes what the whole teaching on the topic is.

Millar's premise is that prayer is first mentioned in Genesis 4:26, which tells us that when Enosh the son of Seth was born, men began to call on the name of the Lord. Thus, praying and calling on the name of prayer were synonymous, and develops that thesis through Scripture, ending with how we can apply this to our lives.
 

BOOK REVIEW - PRAYER: HOW PRAYING TOGETHER SHAPES THE CHURCH BY JOHN ONWUCHEKWA

 Is prayer primarily a part of one's personal walk with Christ? Or is corporate prayer an important part of the local church? If the latter, how can your church maximize prayer's potential?

I am a big fan of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Church's series. This is the sixth book I've read from that series, and it's one of my favorites. 

Author John Onwuchekwa does an excellent job with the topic. He introduces the need, goes to a pair of examples (the typically named The Lord's Prayer and Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane), and concludes with how corporate prayer impacts corporate worship, corporate care, and evangelism/missions.

I highly recommend this book to every church.