• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • Commenting Policy
  • Reading Lists
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Scholar’s Compass Booklet
    • View Recent Posts
  • Connect
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Science Corner / Book Review/Discussion / Book Review: Kneeling with Giants

Book Review: Kneeling with Giants

March 4, 2014 by Bob Trube 1 Comment

Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers by Gary Neal Hansen. InterVarsity Press, 2012.

As a young Christian, I thought there was one way to pray. I learned the ACTS acronym (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and thought this was THE way. Only later did I discover that even within scripture, people prayed in widely different ways.

In Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers, Gary Neal Hansen[1] chooses ten saints and their recommended ways of praying to expose us to the breadth of ways God’s people have prayed. We have Benedictine liturgy, Luther’s teaching on praying the Lord’s prayer, the anonymous pilgrim’s Jesus prayer, Calvin’s use of the Psalms, the Ignatian prayer of the senses and more! I was most surprised with his inclusion of Agnes Sanford’s model of healing prayer, which he admits can be controversial. In each of the chapters, and in an appendix at the conclusion, he gives practical instruction for each prayer model with the encouragement to practice these for a period, recognizing that some will be helpful, and some may not connect. Yet he thinks all are helpful to some and some that may not be our “prayer language” now may serve us at a later time.

The e-book version (which I did not read) comes with a supplement of readings for each of the “giants”.

Editor’s question for the reader: With tomorrow being Ash Wednesday and beginning this year’s practice of Lent, are there unique practices of prayer which guide you through Lent as part of the people of God? OR do you find as a friend expressed to me the other day, “Lenten practice and prayer woven throughout the year”?


Notes

  1. Gary Neal Hansen (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is associate professor of church history and the chair of the history and theology division at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. He has written numerous articles and papers for academic journals and conferences. Hansen and his wife live in Iowa with their young son. — Biography from the InterVarsity Press author page.  ↩

About the author:

Bob Trube
Website | Posts

Bob Trube is Associate Director of Faculty Ministry and Director of the Emerging Scholars Network. He blogs on books regularly at bobonbooks.com. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with Marilyn and enjoys reading, gardening, choral singing, and plein air painting.

  • Bob Trube
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/bob_trube/
    Academic Freedom and the Freedom of the Christian Academic
  • Bob Trube
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/bob_trube/
    Writers Wanted!
  • Bob Trube
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/bob_trube/
    Top ESN Posts of 2021
  • Bob Trube
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/bob_trube/
    Beginning Well With the Four Loves

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion, Christ and the Academy Tagged With: Gary Neal Hansen, intervarsity press, Kneeling with Giants, Prayer, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gary Neal Hansen says

    March 5, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    Thank you, Bob, for reviewing my book on your blog!

    I’m thrilled to have the book in the hands of people on IVCF staff. I hope it reaches IVCF students as well. One prayer I brought to the process when IVP signed the book was that it would help equip a generation of disciples with tools and habits to draw close to God — closer than they dare imagine, close enough to make their lives more like Jesus, and close enough to be strengthened to participate in God’s work in the world.

    I hope you don’t mind if I listen in on the conversation here. You are always welcome over at my blog as well GaryNealHansen dot com.

    (In answer to your question, I’m trying to engage in a more serious lectio divine than I usually do this Lent.)

    Blessings,

    Gary

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Scholar’s Compass Booklet

Scholar's Compass Booklet

Click here to get your copy

Top Posts

  • 5 Practical Ways to Avoid Cultural Domination and Neo-Colonialism in Western Missions
  • Faith and Reason, Part 3: Aquinas
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • A Prayer for Those Finishing a Semester
  • Christian Views of Creation

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

About Us

The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) is a national network within InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries which supports those on the academic pathway as they work out how their academic vocation serves God and others. We encourage and equip undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty as they navigate each stage of their academic vocation and transition to the next step in or beyond the academy.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Confession
  • Temptation: The Little Lie
  • Science Corner: Finding the Proteins of Theseus

Article Categories

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us
Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Copyright © 2023 - InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA ®. All rights reserved.

InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.