Author says political and social hurts can be resolved by beinguniquely subversive

– Folks say they pray for all sorts of reasons, to get well, to receive
help for a problem or to help another's well being, but a new book says
it is really more than that, a personally subversive act that just
might make it easier to understand one another.

Now subversive we might believe as associated with some country where
people of faith have to hide their allegiance to religion, as folks had
to do during the height of the Russian communist government.

Prayer, some people think, is only the communion Christians make with a
deity, but it is much more than that as well.  It is universal in its
forms.  It can also serve as a reminder of where folks owe their ultimate allegiance.

A new book, Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer
by Dr. Robert D. Cornwall and published by Energion Publications opens
the door to discussion of prayer as a unique experience in learning
about relationships. This is the second in the Areopagus Series by
Energion Publications with editors, Dr. David Alan Black and Dr. Allan
R. Bevere.
"Prayer changes things." It’s a common saying, and too often Christian
discussion of prayer deals only with how we can change other things and
other people through prayer, " the authors tell us.

They go on to say, "But what if prayer is much more that we imagine?
What if it is also the means of correcting our relationship to the
Creator and at the same time of changing our relationships with one
another? Perhaps prayer can ultimately help transform our theology, what
we believe about God, into character and action.

Dr. Robert Cornwall takes us to the Lord's Prayer, a short and simple
prayer that is well-known and often recited. But in each of its major
petitions, he finds deep meaning that challenges us to think and to
change. In fact, this prayer of Jesus brings us to the ultimate question
of just where we should place our ultimate allegiance

In a time of
political divisions and world crisis, this thesis can be absorbed in
many ways, and those who may not use the Lord's Prayer as an example of
supplication might find in it the simple beauty and understanding of how
relationship with others can be.  For knowing God through prayer, the
author underlines, helps us understand how we should behave with each

other.