yancey in belfast

Last night in Belfast Philip Yancey delivered a lecture on prayer. It was part of a tour promoting his latest book, Prayer: Does it make any difference? Yancey’s lecture was fantastic. I could have listened to him talk all night and I honestly don’t think I’d have noticed. He spoke for just under an hour but it felt like ten minutes. He is a wonderful communicator, using stories and imagery (and comedy!) to great effect to convey his thoughts and insights. (Who does that remind me of? hehe) I brought Amanda with me and she, too, really enjoyed the evening.

All in all a great night but I wish I’d brought a notebook and pen because I’ve forgotten a lot of the points that Yancey made. (Not through any fault of his, but down to my tiredness.) I did notice that he stayed away from the questions he raises in his book (obviously because he’d rather we went out and bought the book) but he did cite examples like the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, the Berlin Wall coming down, an ongoing prison ministry in Africa as proof of the power of prayer.

Something Yancey said also hit home quite starkley. Relating to my previous post, prayer is a means of connection to our Heavenly Father. He said much more than that but the exact way he said it has left my memory, all that remains is the idea and concept of what he was conveying… but I can’t articulate it right now.

I’m looking forward to reading his book.