book reaction: God on Mute

Today is Good Friday, and a most apt day to comment on this book I’ve been reading titled God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer by Pete Greig.

The introduction opens with Jesus’ own unanswered prayers, ultimately being forsaken and abandoned by God, gasping: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” He entered that darkness so that we can be brought into the light. My heart dropped at the end of Chapter 1, as he retold of a time when his wife had a seizure, and his own prayers were reduced to barely 2 words, “Oh, God.”

When it comes to prayer, I don’t need more theology, I need more empathy. It helps me to just read the stories of people and the kinds of prayers they pray in the worst of circumstances; it gives me the camaraderie and fellowship with other saints to know that prayers of genuine honest feelings are just as meaningful as logically affirmation of theological truths about God’s character, His creation, and dizzying circumstances. Pray truthfully, and honestly.

[disclaimer: I received a comp review copy]