Recent Reads - The Pray-ers

This post contains affiliate links. 

The Pray-ers, Book One: Troubles by Mark S. Mirza - I received this new novel that teaches about prayer in a story setting for review through the Homeschool Review Crew. The following is an excerpt of my full review, which appeared on my Homeschool Coffee Break blog. Read it here: Book Review: The Pray-ers.

In The Pray-ers, readers are introduced to three main characters living in different eras of history. Although living in different centuries, their stories form a set of parallels, as each is a prayer warrior facing difficult circumstances of their own. Although the trials experienced by each character are different, they are related in that they are learning similar lessons about prayer and faith, and the battles "behind the scenes" in the spiritual realm are very much the same. A brief overview of the intertwined storylines: In the first century, Epaphras acts as mentor to his nephew Thales and teaches him about prayer, faith, and obedience; in the nineteenth century, Brother Alexander Rich is an itinerant preacher in Georgia; and in the current era, Dr. Dale is a track coach, and the leader of a thriving men's prayer ministry, and has his own difficult circumstances to face.

I do wish that an editor had taken a heavier hand in polishing the final manuscript. There were a great many places where misplaced quotation marks and missing commas hampered readability; and there were other minor problems throughout that I would expect a thorough editor to correct. I found the dialogue was often choppy and unrealistic to my way of thinking, and that characters in the earlier historic settings used modern-day colloquialisms that wouldn't have been in use during their time. (Granted, the first century characters wouldn't have been speaking English at all, would they? All the same, simple terms like "okay" or referring to children as "kids" are a bit out of place in the conversations of first or nineteenth century folk.) 

The idea of presenting Biblical teaching and principles of prayer within a novel setting is a great one; and I found many aspects of the fictional stories and the teaching on prayer to be timely and insightful. It was instructive to see how characters prayed the Scriptures, and a good reminder that the spiritual realm is very real, even though we seldom see with our eyes the evil schemes the enemy uses against us or the spiritual warfare going on around us. The author does state in the Preface that the primary purpose of the book is to teach rather than to entertain, and I think this is important to keep in mind.

From Book Review: The Pray-ers on Homeschool Coffee Break.

©2008-2016 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/