R. Albert Mohler, Jr. Explores ‘The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down’ in New Book

By Timothy Yap Feb 02, 2018 12:04 AM EST

The Lord's Prayer is one that many know and recite, but do not fully understand. In his new book, The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down (Thomas Nelson, ISBN 9780718090937), Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Seminary, dissects each line of this model prayer to share rich theological truths about the character of God and His desire to have relationship with His creation.

After the deadliest U.S. mass shooting in Las Vegas, a roaring debate over offering "thoughts and prayers" erupted. In The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down, on sale January 23, Mohler unpacks how our culture has misunderstood prayer, which may be the bases for why offering these sentiments invokes such emotions.

"In such devastating circumstances, prayer has a role. While prayer is not an act of therapy, nor is it a bargaining chip, it does offer an intimate communication with the one true and living God," he writes. "Prayer can be radical and can turn the world upside down, especially when modeled after the prayer Jesus taught us to pray."

The need for an active and disciplined prayer life is vital to a relationship with Christ. And, the Lord's Prayer gives Christians guidance on how and what to pray. In The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down, Mohler takes readers through the shortest prayer in the Bible, line by line, revealing what prayer is and what prayer is not by closely examining forgiveness, spiritual warfare, earthly and heavenly kingdoms, the Great Commission and temptation.

"The Lord's Prayer does not teach us the artifice or the mechanics of prayer," said Mohler. "Instead, the Lord Jesus rearranges our theology and breaks open faulty misconceptions about the character of God and our deepest needs in this world."

Prayer is a part of almost every world religion, yet there is no prayer that matches the radical and powerful nature of the Lord's Prayer.