Telford Work's Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Living through the Lord's Prayer, is not a book on how to pray; rather this book presents the Lord's Prayer as a way of inhabiting the world. Work speaks of the Lord's Prayer as a kind of lens with which we view life. Each chapter deals with troubling issues concerning matters such as terrorism, politics or the economy and asks how these issues might be viewed differently if explored from the perspective of the Lord's Prayer. This reframing of the problem often leaves the reader with a sense of hope and wonder.
In his second essay, for example, Work attends to the problem of a society which is dismissive of God. This dismissiveness is not limited to those outside the church; Work acknowledges that the church too often resembles Job's friends in our ignorance (p. 28). ‘It sometimes makes me envy agnostics’, he explains, ‘If God does not bother to counter the flood of bigotry, indifference, and distortion, why should I?’ (p. 31). Work then takes into account the idea of God hallowing God's name and raises the challenge for Christians to pursue holiness for the sake of the mission of the church. Work does not dismiss earlier concerns nor does he provide pat answers. Rather, he ends the chapter with a provocative challenge for the reader to ponder what it means to live out the Lord's Prayer given the aforementioned concerns.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg is broken into two sections meant to mirror the flow of the Lord's Prayer. Just as the Lord's Prayer ‘moves us from kingdom, heaven, and earth to meals, neighbors and temptation’ (p. 113), Work's book takes us on a similar journey.
The epilogue, which Work calls his ‘Amen’, consists of three sermons which are the fruit of his study on the Lord's Prayer. In many books, such practical reflections often seem forced or tacked on. In Work's case, however, there are clear connections between his essays and the content of his sermons. In fact, his sermon on Jonah is so provocative and refreshing that it alone may be worth the price of the book.
Some readers may be put off by the lack of tidy endings or neat answers, but Work asserts that this form befits the nature of prayer. ‘Prayer is never finished’, Work explains, ‘There can be no last word because a prayer is only one moment in an eternal conversation’ (p. xix). While I appreciate its open-ended character, my primary criticism is that some chapters end with the opening question still weighing heavier than the hope that is offered at the conclusion.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg is a refreshing read. Though the content and ideas are deep and academic, its style is conversational, making this both a thought-provoking and delightful read. Work is upfront about his writing from a North American perspective, as is evidenced by his frequent references to North American politics or happenings, although Work regularly goes out of his way to attempt to include a larger, albeit Western, audience. While openly writing from an Evangelical perspective, Work successfully caters to a wide range of readers as he explicitly offers examples from differing perspectives.
Work himself warns his readers in his introduction that the book is awkward, messy and jarring. I would clarify that it is jarring not in the sense of dissonant but in the sense of startling. It grabs one's attention over and over again. ‘“Messy, jarring, unsatisfying” – what a book review that would be’ (p. xxiv) Work confesses, ‘Yet isn't it how prayer works? Doesn't it describe the lives of the prophets, apostles, and disciples?’ (p. xxiv). Work catches the spirit of these lives and weaves it into this unique book, making Ain't Too Proud to Beg a fresh and welcome read.
