Praying Like the Jew, Jesus: Recovering the Ancient Roots of New Testament Prayer

The author discusses ten prayers of Jesus in a somewhat unique way. He starts each section by citing Jewish prayers, mostly from Jewish sources, and some from the Scripture itself. He then proceeds to describe the situation in which Yeshua uttered the prayer, using very vivid language to make the scene real. He then discusses each element of the prayer, using a partial scholarly and partial devotional style. Finally, the section is concluded with a meditation that nicely summarises the main points of the prayer.

I am very glad to see a Christian author search through Jewish sources in order to understand the backgrounds of Scripture; this is sometimes desperately missing in Christian books. The book has the feel of Messianic Judaism: use of Jewish sources, the use of Hebrew words (with a glossary), and it is published by a Messianic Jewish publisher (Lederer).

Whilst the book does not go into as much detail as I had been hoping, the author makes up for it with some really inspiring and practical insights. His storytelling descriptions of the backgrounds of the prayers are far from dry, but as with this kind of writing one can go too far and make assumptions that really aren't justified. But I did enjoy the stories.

In all, this book will give you some valuable insight into how Yeshua prayed. Good biblical points are brought out. The book is a pretty quick read, and could also be useful for a small group study, or even as a devotional guide. I would recommend this to those in Messianic congregations or for any Christians who want to explore a little more into the Jewish origins of their faith.