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New Studies in Biblical Theology #38
Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer (New studies in Biblical Theology, No. 38)
Preaching 's 10 New Books Every Preacher Should Read "At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26 ESV). From this first mention of prayer in the Bible, right through to the end, when the church prays "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20), prayer is intimately linked with the gospel―God's promised and provided solution to the problem of human rebellion against him and its consequences. After defining prayer simply as "calling on the name of the Lord," Gary Millar follows the contours of the Bible's teaching on prayer. His conviction is that even careful readers can often overlook significant material because it is deeply embedded in narrative or poetic passages where the main emphases lie elsewhere. Millar's initial focus is on how "calling on the name of the Lord" to deliver on his covenantal promises is the foundation for all that the Old Testament says about prayer. Moving to the New Testament, he shows how this is redefined by Jesus himself, and how, after his death and resurrection, the apostles understood "praying in the name of Jesus" to be the equivalent new covenant expression. Throughout the Bible, prayer is to be primarily understood as asking God to deliver on what he has already promised―as Calvin expressed it, "through the gospel our hearts are trained to call on God's name" (Institutes 3.20.1). This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume concludes his valuable study with an afterword offering pointers to application to the life of the church today. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.
264 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2016
57 people are currently reading
436 people want to read
About the author
J. Gary Millar
18Ìýbooks18ÌýfollowersGary has been the Principal of Queensland Theological College in Brisbane, Australia since the start of 2012. After studying chemistry in his home city of Belfast, Gary moved to Aberdeen in Scotland to study theology, before completing a D.Phil at Oxford on Deuteronomy. Gary worked as a pastor for the next 17 years in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and was involved in both church revitalization and church planting, before moving to Brisbane to lead the team at QTC.
Gary travels widely throughout Australia and beyond, seeking to encourage local churches. He is also the co-founder and Chair of The Gospel Coalition Australia.
Gary travels widely throughout Australia and beyond, seeking to encourage local churches. He is also the co-founder and Chair of The Gospel Coalition Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 11, 2023
I really wanted to like this one, as I do appreciate works on biblical theology... but overall I just can't recommend this volume from the NSBT series. Simply put, Millar's thesis is that biblical prayer can be understood in the Old Testament as "calling on the name of the LORD," while in the New Testament this is modified to be "calling on the name of Jesus." The connecting thread here is that prayer constitutes calling on the LORD to fulfill what has already been promised, namely, covenant promises. As such, no matter the form (lament, praise, penitential, etc.) it always falls into this concern. While this is an important component to it, Millar's thesis here is just too reductionistic and attempts to force all biblical prayer into this overarching framework. However, the biggest issue that I have with this volume is that there is not enough argumentation for Millar's point, as over half the book is just verbatim quotation of Scripture (which Millar notes as differentiating his work from others in the series). While this is not necessarily an issue by itself, what results is entire chapters of Scripture being quoted with mere sentences by Millar that can generally be summarized as "this passage proves my point." I hate to be so critical of this volume, as there are insights in it that are valuable, but overall it was rather disappointing.
April 20, 2025
It's not a bad book on the subject but not a go-to. The thesis is compelling and has certainly added to my understanding of prayer. The chapters on prayer in the Torah, the Psalms, and Jesus were really good! The difficulty with the book lies in the author's over-generalization. He makes the argument that every prayer (besides one or two) in Scripture pertains to a single purpose/meta-category. I think he could have simply said that most prayers in the Bible pertain to "calling on the covenatal name of the LORD" (thus making prayer primarily about God's covenant), but a minority of prayers don't fit into this category. Instead, he tried to fit prayers that don't fit this category into his thesis, like one forcing a hexagon peg into a circle hole.
All in all, I'm glad I read it, and it has helped me in my own prayer life.
All in all, I'm glad I read it, and it has helped me in my own prayer life.
April 29, 2022
This is a biblical theology - so don’t expect this to prescribe ways to pray and methods to help you improve. Millar is building up his thesis throughout the book by analyzing every instance of prayer in the Bible. His thesis that prayer is “calling on the name of the Lord/asking God to be faithful to His covenants� is evidently seen from Bible. His closing chapter providing ways in which we should pray, and prayers that God says He will always answer provide a nice ending to his work. Often times we can view prayer as this mystical laundry list, but Millar shows what it really is through what the Bible has to say about it.
May 10, 2022
J. Gary Millar's Calling on the Name of the Lord offers a helpful, even if overgeneralized (see below), examination of prayer throughout the Bible. Millar's overall argument is that prayer in Scripture is primarily understood to be "calling upon the name of the Lord" to deliver on his covenant promises. Prayer, therefore, is gospel-centered and God-centered, focused less on ourselves and more on God's salvific work.
First, the parts that I like. In general, I appreciate any attempt to focus prayer less on ourselves and more on the God who, in a grace and mercy that I cannot even begin to fathom, hears and is responsive to prayer. Psalm 116:1-2 should be reason enough to pray, "Because [God] bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath" (NLT). Too often the prayers of God's people, at least in a privileged Western setting (see Millars comments on p. 233 and following), sound less like calling upon God to do much of anything but answer our list of demands. Millar's argument offers a helpful corrective. The One whose demands, intentions, instructions, aspirations, hope, will, etc. are important above anyone else's is the Creator God's who, in Christ and by the Spirit, is ushering his redemptive purposes toward their wonderful end. It is Jesus himself who instructs us to prioritize God's kingdom and God's will in prayer. Millar's suggestion is that Jesus is only teaching us to pray the way all of Scripture teaches us to pray. It's a compelling point.
Another real strength of Millar's thesis is the way it resolves confusions and uncertainties surrounding certain NT prayer passages (Millar's reading of James 5:13-18 is in many ways worth the price of the book). Keeping, for example, the "ask and you shall receive" passages in the context of "calling upon the name of the Lord to deliver on his covenant promises" would mean, as Millar suggests, that when Jesus instructs his disciples in John 14:14, "If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it," the "anything" that he has in mind is "the works" that he refers to in the preceding verses. His teaching here, then, is less about God writing us a blank-check (as it were), and more about God's willingness, in Christ, to provide us what we need to share in the work of Jesus. Such a reading will not eliminate all of the questions that we may have concerning situations when we asked and most certainly did not "receive," but they offer a helpful way to address them.
Now to what I didn't like: First, while I recognize that the purpose of a "biblical theology" is to examine the theology of, in this instance, prayer throughout, well, the whole Bible, this book still felt long (or at least like it devoted too much time to the same point). There did not need to be as many parts of the book that made the "the-book's-thesis-is-present-in-this-passage" point as there were. What would have been more helpful is if Millar devoted a little more time to clarifying the ways that certain passages nuance or build on the general theme of "calling on the name of the Lord" (like, for example, the way the Prophets described seasons in which "calling on the name of the Lord" was essentially futile. What caused those seasons? What were they to do in the meantime then? Could the exiles pray at all?). Second, I struggled with Millar's reading of the psalms. It felt reductive. Related to my first complaint, I wish Millar would have spent less time pointing out the ways the psalms agree with him, and more time clarifying the touchpoints between the psalms calling on God to be faithful and the "deep chords of human existence" (163). I'm also not sure that I understand how, if the psalms are to be understood as the prayers of the Messiah, they are also mine. Millar offers a brief answer on p. 165, relating the psalters incorporative prayers to the NT's description of the Church as being incorporated into Jesus' Sonship. I get that, I just thought (and wished) he could have spent more time unpacking that claim.
My final complaint is my biggest complaint - Millar said next to nothing about how, if at all, prayers for personal needs/concerns function within this paradigm. In fairness, that might have been outside the purview of this book. Millar's interest is clearly in the biblical text (and biblical theology), not so much pastoral issues, and I recognize that this might not be a fair complaint (though it is surprising that this subject matter did not make the "Why This Matters" chapter at the close of the book). Be that as it may, there were several sentences throughout the book that struck the same tone as this one found on p. 153 (in reference to Psalm 102), "The climax of the psalm brings both a conviction of the ultimate security of God's people and a clear appreciation that the prayers of his people should be centered not on their own individual fate but on the progress of his covenantal agenda." To what extent, then, should Christian pray for their individual fate(s)? Should they at all? What about the fate of their spouses? Their children? The same Lord's Prayer that teaches us to pray, in support of Millar's argument, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done," likewise instructs us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (which I take to mean daily concerns). Elsewhere, Millar creates what seems like a false dichotomy when he says, concerning Romans 8:15-26, "the angst envisaged is 'gospel angst,' not simply struggling to make sense of life in our messy world" (210). Many would say that it is precisely their struggle to make sense of life in our messy world that produces "gospel angst." They are related phenomena. Millar is aware that much of the reason that people do not pray is because of, to use his own words, "the vacuum created by cynicism" (235), but it seems to me that his work could just as well contribute to that cynicism as it could work to resolve it. It is undoubtedly true that much of popular cynicism around prayer occurs because, to quote Millar again, "we were told that prayer would fix everything and it did not" (236). I have had heard this cynicism voiced in my own congregation: Widowers asking why, if Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive," they did not get what they prayed for when they asked for their wife to be healed. That is a heartbreaking thing to hear, and a great many people have been burned by similar circumstances. To my point, though, am I to tell him that a safer bet is not to pray for such things at all? Better to leave such prayers unvoiced rather than offer them and be disappointed? Who would pray if those were their options? I could imagine someone very easily saying, "if prayer is just asking God to do what he is going to do anyway, then why should I bother?" I realize that this may be a bit of an overstatement. There is a place to meet Millar in the middle, and maybe that is my complaint in short: I wish Millar would have met me there more than he did. His research, while helpful, raises just as many pastoral concerns as it resolves, and I don't think he addressed those concerns like he could have.
I do think, however, that this is a book worth reading. Even if I found his arguments lacking in pastoral nuance, Millar offers an important corrective that we would do well to receive. While reading Calling on the Name of the Lord, I found myself asking about my own prayer life, "Do I spend most of my prayers asking God to participate in my life, or asking God that I might participate in his own?" Also, as I said above, he offers a few readings, particularly of tricky NT texts, that are excellent and to which I will refer in the future. My three star rating may be a bit unfair, but it's where I'm at upon writing this review.
First, the parts that I like. In general, I appreciate any attempt to focus prayer less on ourselves and more on the God who, in a grace and mercy that I cannot even begin to fathom, hears and is responsive to prayer. Psalm 116:1-2 should be reason enough to pray, "Because [God] bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath" (NLT). Too often the prayers of God's people, at least in a privileged Western setting (see Millars comments on p. 233 and following), sound less like calling upon God to do much of anything but answer our list of demands. Millar's argument offers a helpful corrective. The One whose demands, intentions, instructions, aspirations, hope, will, etc. are important above anyone else's is the Creator God's who, in Christ and by the Spirit, is ushering his redemptive purposes toward their wonderful end. It is Jesus himself who instructs us to prioritize God's kingdom and God's will in prayer. Millar's suggestion is that Jesus is only teaching us to pray the way all of Scripture teaches us to pray. It's a compelling point.
Another real strength of Millar's thesis is the way it resolves confusions and uncertainties surrounding certain NT prayer passages (Millar's reading of James 5:13-18 is in many ways worth the price of the book). Keeping, for example, the "ask and you shall receive" passages in the context of "calling upon the name of the Lord to deliver on his covenant promises" would mean, as Millar suggests, that when Jesus instructs his disciples in John 14:14, "If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it," the "anything" that he has in mind is "the works" that he refers to in the preceding verses. His teaching here, then, is less about God writing us a blank-check (as it were), and more about God's willingness, in Christ, to provide us what we need to share in the work of Jesus. Such a reading will not eliminate all of the questions that we may have concerning situations when we asked and most certainly did not "receive," but they offer a helpful way to address them.
Now to what I didn't like: First, while I recognize that the purpose of a "biblical theology" is to examine the theology of, in this instance, prayer throughout, well, the whole Bible, this book still felt long (or at least like it devoted too much time to the same point). There did not need to be as many parts of the book that made the "the-book's-thesis-is-present-in-this-passage" point as there were. What would have been more helpful is if Millar devoted a little more time to clarifying the ways that certain passages nuance or build on the general theme of "calling on the name of the Lord" (like, for example, the way the Prophets described seasons in which "calling on the name of the Lord" was essentially futile. What caused those seasons? What were they to do in the meantime then? Could the exiles pray at all?). Second, I struggled with Millar's reading of the psalms. It felt reductive. Related to my first complaint, I wish Millar would have spent less time pointing out the ways the psalms agree with him, and more time clarifying the touchpoints between the psalms calling on God to be faithful and the "deep chords of human existence" (163). I'm also not sure that I understand how, if the psalms are to be understood as the prayers of the Messiah, they are also mine. Millar offers a brief answer on p. 165, relating the psalters incorporative prayers to the NT's description of the Church as being incorporated into Jesus' Sonship. I get that, I just thought (and wished) he could have spent more time unpacking that claim.
My final complaint is my biggest complaint - Millar said next to nothing about how, if at all, prayers for personal needs/concerns function within this paradigm. In fairness, that might have been outside the purview of this book. Millar's interest is clearly in the biblical text (and biblical theology), not so much pastoral issues, and I recognize that this might not be a fair complaint (though it is surprising that this subject matter did not make the "Why This Matters" chapter at the close of the book). Be that as it may, there were several sentences throughout the book that struck the same tone as this one found on p. 153 (in reference to Psalm 102), "The climax of the psalm brings both a conviction of the ultimate security of God's people and a clear appreciation that the prayers of his people should be centered not on their own individual fate but on the progress of his covenantal agenda." To what extent, then, should Christian pray for their individual fate(s)? Should they at all? What about the fate of their spouses? Their children? The same Lord's Prayer that teaches us to pray, in support of Millar's argument, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done," likewise instructs us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (which I take to mean daily concerns). Elsewhere, Millar creates what seems like a false dichotomy when he says, concerning Romans 8:15-26, "the angst envisaged is 'gospel angst,' not simply struggling to make sense of life in our messy world" (210). Many would say that it is precisely their struggle to make sense of life in our messy world that produces "gospel angst." They are related phenomena. Millar is aware that much of the reason that people do not pray is because of, to use his own words, "the vacuum created by cynicism" (235), but it seems to me that his work could just as well contribute to that cynicism as it could work to resolve it. It is undoubtedly true that much of popular cynicism around prayer occurs because, to quote Millar again, "we were told that prayer would fix everything and it did not" (236). I have had heard this cynicism voiced in my own congregation: Widowers asking why, if Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive," they did not get what they prayed for when they asked for their wife to be healed. That is a heartbreaking thing to hear, and a great many people have been burned by similar circumstances. To my point, though, am I to tell him that a safer bet is not to pray for such things at all? Better to leave such prayers unvoiced rather than offer them and be disappointed? Who would pray if those were their options? I could imagine someone very easily saying, "if prayer is just asking God to do what he is going to do anyway, then why should I bother?" I realize that this may be a bit of an overstatement. There is a place to meet Millar in the middle, and maybe that is my complaint in short: I wish Millar would have met me there more than he did. His research, while helpful, raises just as many pastoral concerns as it resolves, and I don't think he addressed those concerns like he could have.
I do think, however, that this is a book worth reading. Even if I found his arguments lacking in pastoral nuance, Millar offers an important corrective that we would do well to receive. While reading Calling on the Name of the Lord, I found myself asking about my own prayer life, "Do I spend most of my prayers asking God to participate in my life, or asking God that I might participate in his own?" Also, as I said above, he offers a few readings, particularly of tricky NT texts, that are excellent and to which I will refer in the future. My three star rating may be a bit unfair, but it's where I'm at upon writing this review.
March 12, 2025
Millar's biblical theology on prayer makes the assertion that prayer is (and only is) "calling on the name of the Lord." Praise, lament, worship, thanksgiving are excluded from his definition of prayer. While he makes a good argument in his book, I disagree with his thesis that prayer is only calling on the name of the Lord.
I enjoy his exposition of scripture and enjoy reading his biblical theology books, but I think some of his arguments were weak in this book. He made assertions without backing up his claims (much like I'm doing right here... at least I recognize it... right?)
All that said, his best argument is that all prayer is Gospel prayer. And any prayer that is not Gospel oriented is not true prayer. It was challenging to read him (correctly i think) assert that some prayers we pray are not prayers at all. The ones that are selfish, self aggrandizing, or seeking to make our name great -- a challenging truth, indeed.
I was most convicted by Millar's appendix where he discusses the state of prayer today. He discusses how little evangelical churches pray now - we have great Bible studies, but what we've gained in doctrine or biblical knowledge we've lost in time in prayer.
I am hopeful that this book will encourage greater, more gospel oriented prayer in me.
I enjoy his exposition of scripture and enjoy reading his biblical theology books, but I think some of his arguments were weak in this book. He made assertions without backing up his claims (much like I'm doing right here... at least I recognize it... right?)
All that said, his best argument is that all prayer is Gospel prayer. And any prayer that is not Gospel oriented is not true prayer. It was challenging to read him (correctly i think) assert that some prayers we pray are not prayers at all. The ones that are selfish, self aggrandizing, or seeking to make our name great -- a challenging truth, indeed.
I was most convicted by Millar's appendix where he discusses the state of prayer today. He discusses how little evangelical churches pray now - we have great Bible studies, but what we've gained in doctrine or biblical knowledge we've lost in time in prayer.
I am hopeful that this book will encourage greater, more gospel oriented prayer in me.
October 4, 2016
In Calling on the Name of the Lord J. Gary Millar undertakes the monumental task of putting forward a biblical theology of prayer. What sets Millar’s work apart from other books that seek to develop a biblical theology of prayer is his focus on both testaments. Many book either focus on one biblical aspect for example Carson in his work Spiritual Reformation draws specifically from the prayers of Paul contained in his epistles.
Divided into nine chapters this work begins with the developing understanding of prayer found in the Pentateuch pointing out the nature of prayer being rooted in the promises God had made with His people. Each chapter addresses a different section of the Bible all the way to Revelation. The chapter on Psalms is particularly helpful in addressing important interpretive issues and in arguing that there is an overarching message to the Psalter. Many are tempted to view works like this as being a purely academic interest, Millar however in his afterword demonstrates the vital importance of recovering a biblical understanding of prayer.
This book serves as a challenge to the current prayerlessness of contemporary evangelicalism. What strikes me most about Millar’s work is the fact that many people in the church don’t have the biblical categories or scope of prayer that those who have gone before us have. Many people when they pray they are not calling on the name of the Lord in the framework of being in a covenant relationship and calling on Him to fulfill what He was promised to us His people.
Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher for providing this review. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
Divided into nine chapters this work begins with the developing understanding of prayer found in the Pentateuch pointing out the nature of prayer being rooted in the promises God had made with His people. Each chapter addresses a different section of the Bible all the way to Revelation. The chapter on Psalms is particularly helpful in addressing important interpretive issues and in arguing that there is an overarching message to the Psalter. Many are tempted to view works like this as being a purely academic interest, Millar however in his afterword demonstrates the vital importance of recovering a biblical understanding of prayer.
This book serves as a challenge to the current prayerlessness of contemporary evangelicalism. What strikes me most about Millar’s work is the fact that many people in the church don’t have the biblical categories or scope of prayer that those who have gone before us have. Many people when they pray they are not calling on the name of the Lord in the framework of being in a covenant relationship and calling on Him to fulfill what He was promised to us His people.
Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher for providing this review. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
May 9, 2020
He has a lot of scriptural analysis. He has one point. Prayer/aka calling on the name of the Lord is asking God to be faithful to his covenant promises. I think there's a lot more there to the whole of praying than just seeing covenant everywhere.
January 9, 2024
it was good and everything, but WOW this was repetitive. The conclusion was the most helpful. To pray is to call on God to be faithful to His covenant promises - to do what He said he was going to do.
March 3, 2017
I've long confessed that I'm no good at prayer, but if Millar is right, maybe that's not the problem. Maybe I just don't know God's promises well enough. Food for thought.
Notes:
(1) definition of prayer: "calling on the name of the Lord" (17)
(2) asking God to come through on what He's already promised (17)
(3) Good point about the nonrepeatablility of the imprecatory psalms. None of us is as crucial to God's plan as David was (119)
(4) Author returns to his thesis that prayer is essentially calling on the Lord to keep His promises. He acknowledges this to be reductionistic but insists the germ is found in most Biblical examples (132)
(5) "To pray is to call on God to advance his agenda and deliver on his promises" (162)
(6) Interesting eschatalogical take on prayer. Once we're with Christ, we won't have to call upon Him (196)
Notes:
(1) definition of prayer: "calling on the name of the Lord" (17)
(2) asking God to come through on what He's already promised (17)
(3) Good point about the nonrepeatablility of the imprecatory psalms. None of us is as crucial to God's plan as David was (119)
(4) Author returns to his thesis that prayer is essentially calling on the Lord to keep His promises. He acknowledges this to be reductionistic but insists the germ is found in most Biblical examples (132)
(5) "To pray is to call on God to advance his agenda and deliver on his promises" (162)
(6) Interesting eschatalogical take on prayer. Once we're with Christ, we won't have to call upon Him (196)
December 26, 2018
Wonderful
June 7, 2023
3.5 stars
I love the NSBT series and mostly enjoyed this book. Millar's thesis is that across the Bible, prayer is most often asking God to deliver on his covenantal promises. In the OT is this "calling on the name of the Lord" to deliver on his covenantal promises and in the NT praying in "Jesus's name" is the covenantal expression of this same prayer. Millar mostly walks through the canon showing how this can be supported. In some places his exegesis is very interesting, in others it is quite plain. In a few spots he really shines.
Here are a few key insights for me. Regarding praying the psalms, most of the psalms are: 1) a Psalm of David the "messiah" then 2) Israel the people of the messiah, then 3) Jesus the Messiah, then 4) the church (union with Christ).
In Acts, The disciples are IDENTIFIED as people who pray (Acts 9:14; 21), especially for the advance of the gospel. This shows how central prayer was/is to the Christian experience (194)
In Revelation the references "the prayers of the saints & martyrs" (Rev. 5:8-10; 6:9-11; 8:3) show they were supremely concerned with progress of the gospel/kingdom and the outcome of the battles along the way. These prayers are depicted as complete. **Prayer is designed for a fallen world.** In Revelation, prayer is replaced by singing. There is nothing to pray for, only to celebrate.
I am persuaded by Millar's argument that praying for the fulfillment of the kingdom is the most significant or ultimate purpose of prayer and that it is seen throughout the Bible. I believe this will have a positive effect on my own prayer life. However, I'm concerned that this thesis is perhaps reductionistic and flattens much of the personalized praying in the Bible. The manifold examples of personal prayer in both testaments show that *prayer is at least this but it is also quite a bit more.*
My main take away: **we should pray like children–about anything–but that is not the primary burden of prayer in the NT. The NT is primarily praying in the kingdom. I should pray accordingly.**
I love the NSBT series and mostly enjoyed this book. Millar's thesis is that across the Bible, prayer is most often asking God to deliver on his covenantal promises. In the OT is this "calling on the name of the Lord" to deliver on his covenantal promises and in the NT praying in "Jesus's name" is the covenantal expression of this same prayer. Millar mostly walks through the canon showing how this can be supported. In some places his exegesis is very interesting, in others it is quite plain. In a few spots he really shines.
Here are a few key insights for me. Regarding praying the psalms, most of the psalms are: 1) a Psalm of David the "messiah" then 2) Israel the people of the messiah, then 3) Jesus the Messiah, then 4) the church (union with Christ).
In Acts, The disciples are IDENTIFIED as people who pray (Acts 9:14; 21), especially for the advance of the gospel. This shows how central prayer was/is to the Christian experience (194)
In Revelation the references "the prayers of the saints & martyrs" (Rev. 5:8-10; 6:9-11; 8:3) show they were supremely concerned with progress of the gospel/kingdom and the outcome of the battles along the way. These prayers are depicted as complete. **Prayer is designed for a fallen world.** In Revelation, prayer is replaced by singing. There is nothing to pray for, only to celebrate.
I am persuaded by Millar's argument that praying for the fulfillment of the kingdom is the most significant or ultimate purpose of prayer and that it is seen throughout the Bible. I believe this will have a positive effect on my own prayer life. However, I'm concerned that this thesis is perhaps reductionistic and flattens much of the personalized praying in the Bible. The manifold examples of personal prayer in both testaments show that *prayer is at least this but it is also quite a bit more.*
My main take away: **we should pray like children–about anything–but that is not the primary burden of prayer in the NT. The NT is primarily praying in the kingdom. I should pray accordingly.**
December 6, 2024
Shoe-horning one view on prayer into the entire Bible
To Millar, the Bible makes it clear (although I found it not nearly as clear as he purported) that prayer is one thing and one thing only: a petition that God will come through on His covenantal promises. Anything outside of that is not biblical prayer. Even words of praise are not prayer, they are response to God coming through on His covenental promises.
Millar is sincere in his faith but he takes a narrow definition of what it means to call on the LORD and tries to make it fit anywhere prayer occurs. His treatment of the Psalms was disappointing. His position is they are predominantly written from the perspective of a suffering Messiah who is sure of his deliverance. This viewpoint allows his to say they are prayers because it fits with asking God to deliver His Messiah, which he promised in a covenant. He doesn't think Christians should be quick to pray the psalms for themselves.
His narrow definition of "calling on the LORD" starts with his interpretation of Genesis 4:26. His reasining is that people started calling on the LORD because in Ge. 3 God said the woman's offspring will crush the serpent's head. After that didn't happen with Cain, Abel, Seth, or Enosh, people started asking God to come through on that promise. It's an interesting deduction but hardly obvious.
I do think "calling on the name of the LORD" involves asking God to fulfill His covenantal promises. I think prayer includes more than that and the content of prayers inScripture include more than a petition for God to fulfill His promises.
It felt like Millar was trying to shoehorn and twist every text to fit his narrow definition.
To Millar, the Bible makes it clear (although I found it not nearly as clear as he purported) that prayer is one thing and one thing only: a petition that God will come through on His covenantal promises. Anything outside of that is not biblical prayer. Even words of praise are not prayer, they are response to God coming through on His covenental promises.
Millar is sincere in his faith but he takes a narrow definition of what it means to call on the LORD and tries to make it fit anywhere prayer occurs. His treatment of the Psalms was disappointing. His position is they are predominantly written from the perspective of a suffering Messiah who is sure of his deliverance. This viewpoint allows his to say they are prayers because it fits with asking God to deliver His Messiah, which he promised in a covenant. He doesn't think Christians should be quick to pray the psalms for themselves.
His narrow definition of "calling on the LORD" starts with his interpretation of Genesis 4:26. His reasining is that people started calling on the LORD because in Ge. 3 God said the woman's offspring will crush the serpent's head. After that didn't happen with Cain, Abel, Seth, or Enosh, people started asking God to come through on that promise. It's an interesting deduction but hardly obvious.
I do think "calling on the name of the LORD" involves asking God to fulfill His covenantal promises. I think prayer includes more than that and the content of prayers inScripture include more than a petition for God to fulfill His promises.
It felt like Millar was trying to shoehorn and twist every text to fit his narrow definition.
November 21, 2021
In "Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer", J. Gary Millar accomplishes what he promises, giving a thorough look at what the Bible says about prayer.
Millar focuses on what he considers the first mention of prayer, when people began to call on the name of the Lord. He then goes through each book of Scripture to see how that theme is developed. He uses the Hebrew book order as he works his way through Scripture, focusing on how each Biblical author contributes to the picture of prayer. The author then adds an afterword, analyzing how the contemporary church is doing (or not doing) as far as prayer and making suggestions.
I'll admit that I'm more used to books written for a theologically conservative audience. Millar frequently mentions various discussions on authorship, and more often than not, he points out that the debates have no affect on his thesis.
His approach can be tiring to read, and Millar's writing style helps keep you focused.
This book is the thirty-eighth volume in the collection New Studies in Biblical Theology. This is the first one I've read of this collection, but it is not going to be the last.
Millar focuses on what he considers the first mention of prayer, when people began to call on the name of the Lord. He then goes through each book of Scripture to see how that theme is developed. He uses the Hebrew book order as he works his way through Scripture, focusing on how each Biblical author contributes to the picture of prayer. The author then adds an afterword, analyzing how the contemporary church is doing (or not doing) as far as prayer and making suggestions.
I'll admit that I'm more used to books written for a theologically conservative audience. Millar frequently mentions various discussions on authorship, and more often than not, he points out that the debates have no affect on his thesis.
His approach can be tiring to read, and Millar's writing style helps keep you focused.
This book is the thirty-eighth volume in the collection New Studies in Biblical Theology. This is the first one I've read of this collection, but it is not going to be the last.
March 22, 2024
The Bible models prayer as “calling on the name of the Lord�, which is asking God to follow through with His promises. We tune into what He is doing in the world and what He has promised, and we ask Him to make good on those promises and fulfill His plans and purposes in our lives, families, communities, and world. The author drove this point home so much that it almost became annoying, but he was simply showing how this idea is present throughout the entire Bible. The afterward was my favorite part of the book because he finally got practical and gave excellent reasons why Christians today don’t pray.
May 9, 2025
While I appreciate his thoroughness of the biblical material, I think the boundaries on what can be considered prayer are arbitrary. Whether this is done simply because he feels there needs to be some boundary, or it best fits its thesis, I do not know. Either way, I think it limits prayer on the one hand while leaving us with a dry purpose of what prayer is on the other. The "a-ha" moment for me reading this book though, was his analysis of the phrase "calling on the name of the Lord" and its prevalence in scripture. His definition of this term and how it is used in scripture is correct, in my opinion, but he takes that to cover all of what prayer can ever be.
January 14, 2021
A unique and challenging book in which Gary Millar takes us through all the prayers in all the genres of the Bible - in the law, the prophets, the wisdom, the gospels, the letters, and the apocalypse. It's good to read it with another friend to discuss it. He says prayer or "calling on the name of the Lord" is asking God "to deliver on what he has already promised" - as Calvin expressed it, 'through the gospel our hearts are trained to call on God's name'. "I have come to the conclusion that the great majority of professing Christians do not pray at all." (JC Ryle)
February 14, 2023
Gary Millar defines prayer in the title of his book, Calling on the Name of the Lord. In this biblical theology, Millar specifically ties prayer asking to God to be faithful to keep his covenant promises. This means that while requests are personalized and varied, they center on God’s mission and are made by people who are in covenant with him. Hence, it is calling on the name of Yahweh, not simply “God� (and he demonstrates how Jesus is also prayed to, and thus God). Such biblical ideas about prayer shift our standard focus on our comfort here to “Your kingdom come�, what God has done for us in the gospel, and what he has promised still to do.
Like most biblical theologies, it gets a bit tedious and repetitive. I also wished that Millar had spent more time defining his boundaries in his methodology. I am mostly convinced, but want more interaction with opposing viewpoints.
Edited: I keep thinking about this book, because it really felt like something was missing from this book. He mentions getting to praise and lament later, but doesn't really. At one point he even notes that praise is a response to answered prayer rather than a part of prayer itself (page 68). And while he touches on the covenant aspect of prayer, the book is very lacking on the presence/communion aspect of prayer (I say this as someone who is Reformed and often finds this overemphasized, but it was pretty much completely absent from Millar's book). Early on he says "prayer begins in the Bible" as calling on the name of the Lord to keep his covenant promises, but in the biblical theology that follows, there isn't much development of that idea except to add Christology. His methodology section is far too short and while he discusses why he doesn't consider face-to-face interaction with God prayer, he doesn't discuss why he leaves out what most of us consider standard aspects of prayer (adoration, praise, confession). It often feels a bit circular, as if he restricted his terminology too soon and thus almost all of his survey of Scriptures is just to say "yup, here, too, prayer is calling on the name of the Lord to keep his covenant."
I also disagree with him some on his views on Job, but that isn't central to the book.
Like most biblical theologies, it gets a bit tedious and repetitive. I also wished that Millar had spent more time defining his boundaries in his methodology. I am mostly convinced, but want more interaction with opposing viewpoints.
Edited: I keep thinking about this book, because it really felt like something was missing from this book. He mentions getting to praise and lament later, but doesn't really. At one point he even notes that praise is a response to answered prayer rather than a part of prayer itself (page 68). And while he touches on the covenant aspect of prayer, the book is very lacking on the presence/communion aspect of prayer (I say this as someone who is Reformed and often finds this overemphasized, but it was pretty much completely absent from Millar's book). Early on he says "prayer begins in the Bible" as calling on the name of the Lord to keep his covenant promises, but in the biblical theology that follows, there isn't much development of that idea except to add Christology. His methodology section is far too short and while he discusses why he doesn't consider face-to-face interaction with God prayer, he doesn't discuss why he leaves out what most of us consider standard aspects of prayer (adoration, praise, confession). It often feels a bit circular, as if he restricted his terminology too soon and thus almost all of his survey of Scriptures is just to say "yup, here, too, prayer is calling on the name of the Lord to keep his covenant."
I also disagree with him some on his views on Job, but that isn't central to the book.
February 17, 2024
The big idea of this book is incredibly inspiring. The way the big idea is traced through the whole bible is very helpful. At times I thought the book was slightly repetitive in hammering home the big idea. At other times I thought some of the interpretation was slightly narrow (especially on passages in the New Testament, such as James 5). But overall, this is a must read book on prayer. The connection between prayer & the promises of God and prayer & the progress of the gospel will refresh corporate and personal prayer alike.
April 1, 2023
This was at times hard to read, but was definitely a thorough analysis and discussion of the Bible’s dealing of prayer from Genesis to Revelation. The Afterword is spectacular; in it Millar provides a diagnosis of the evangelical church’s impoverished practice of prayer, and contributes several encouragements for us to better live into the Bible’s calling to be a prayerful people, “calling on the name of God to do what he has promised in the Lord Jesus Christ� (229).
July 28, 2024
Best book on prayer that I've ever read in my life, but it is far from traditional. This book basically goes through nearly every instance of prayer in the Bible to answer what prayer actually IS. I am someone who is confused and skeptical when it comes to how I have understood prayer and how it "works," but this book clears up a lot of that. It removes the traditions, the acronyms, the obligations, and the touchy-feely, and it gets down to what the Bible says prayer is. I needed this so badly.
June 26, 2023
Overall an interesting book. I think that Millar does have some interesting points on covenant focused prayer. However, it felt very one note. Not that the note was wrong but it seemed as though there was much that was to be discovered but passed over to reiterate the thesis. Normally I like focused books but to me this book went to the extreme.
February 24, 2024
There is a lot I appreciated here and Millar did cause me to observe prayer in new and different ways throughout scripture. It’s worth a read for sure. But overall I felt like he was shoe-horning his thesis a bit to the point of neglecting some aspects of prayer we see in the Bible that I think are important to consider. Millar might be a bit heady to a fault on this one.
December 8, 2020
One of the two or three best books on prayer I have ever read. This one is a paradigm-shifter in regards to the Bible’s teaching on prayer.
June 22, 2021
Very helpful
Encouraging and useful book in thinking through how to pray and what to pray for. Lots of highlighted sections for me.
Encouraging and useful book in thinking through how to pray and what to pray for. Lots of highlighted sections for me.
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April 2, 2023Ok
Millar has some good thoughts and I've never read a book laying out a biblical theology of prayer before. But it was a bit repetitive at times.
Millar has some good thoughts and I've never read a book laying out a biblical theology of prayer before. But it was a bit repetitive at times.
November 11, 2024
A challenging and well-researched book but I just can’t get behind Millar’s oversimplification that prayer is simply “calling on the name of the Lord� to fulfill the promises He has already made.
December 28, 2019
Great book! Wanted a theology of prayer and this book had it! Recommended
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