God on Mute by Pete Greg

This book was lent to me by Luke and it tackles the very complex issue of unanswered prayer, including why it sometimes feels that God is silent in the face of some of our most desperate and heartfelt prayers.  The author is refreshingly honest and refuses to settle for simplistic platitudes or easy answers, where none such exist.  Pete Greig is one of the founding leaders of the 24-7 prayer movement, which has touched many nations and was Director of Prayer at Holy Trinity Brompton.  He writes from personal experience of the pain of his wife’s fight for her life and subsequent chronic epilepsy and interweaves this story, with the biblical account of Christ’s agony of abandonment on Maundy Thursday through to His eventual victory on Resurrection Sunday.

Pete Greig says “If you are hurting and secretly wondering ‘Where is God’ and ‘Why has this happened to me?’ and ‘How come my prayers aren’t working?’ then I dedicate this book to you.”  The author challenges us to persevere in prayer and to stand firm against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  He also challenges us to believe in God even more that we believe in miracles and to consider that our unanswered prayers may actually be the real ministry of our lives.

The book is well-researched and contains some lovely quotes from C.S Lewis and The Pilgrim’s Progress.  It certainly inspired me to keep on fighting the good fight using prayer as a powerful weapon until Resurrection Sunday comes.