Prayer Is Invading the Impossible: A Book Review

Overview and Approach

Building on Matthew 19:26 — "With God all things are possible" — Jack W. Hayford argues in Prayer Is Invading the Impossible that the power of prayer can overcome any obstacle a Christian might face. The title employs deliberately forceful diction: many Christians associate prayer with surrender, mercy, and humility rather than with the militarism the verb "invade" implies. Hayford, however, is an impassioned evangelical writer who never wavers from his central stance that prayer does indeed invade — that is, take over from — what was previously deemed impossible. This understanding of prayer as active and conquering rather than passive and receptive is the defining thread of the entire book.

Style, Audience, and Structure

Originally published in the late 1970s and re-released in 2002, Prayer Is Invading the Impossible can be considered a minor classic in its field. The book is written for a lay audience rather than for clergy. Accordingly, the language, tone, and style are informal throughout. Direct scriptural references are not as numerous as some readers might prefer; instead, Hayford relies heavily on anecdotes and allegories — an approach that can itself be viewed as a homage to the parabolic tradition of scripture.

Divided into three parts, the book addresses how to pray, why to pray, and how prayer defines one's relationship with God. Hayford fully acknowledges and owns the violent connotations embedded in his title. Chapter headings such as "The Violence of Life" and "The Violence of Love" make this explicit. Just as Jesus's teachings served to disrupt the status quo of the Pharisees, so too does Hayford's approach to prayer seek to dismantle whatever no longer serves spiritual growth.

A Controversial Opening and Its Weaknesses

The book's violent imagery of invasion is, however, matched with some statements about conservative social norms that are less than convincing. Hayford opens with the following lines: "Her eyes were flooded with fear and shame. Society had adopted the word 'gay' to define her condition, but nothing could be further from the lightheartedness the word used to describe." Yet the author never addresses how prayer would function in this fictitious woman's experience, nor does he demonstrate how faith might lead him toward greater tolerance and understanding. The passage reads as an assertion of homophobic belief unsupported by scripture and disconnected from the book's stated purpose of showing how prayer can transform lives.

This is one of the book's notable weaknesses: Hayford occasionally states a moral position without grounding it in the scriptural or prayerful framework he elsewhere champions. A reader who looks to the book for guidance on how prayer produces spiritual growth and Christlike virtue will find this opening section frustrating rather than edifying.

Part One: Invading the Impossible

Weaknesses aside, Prayer Is Invading the Impossible has a great deal to offer the reader. The first section opens with an explanation of the title itself. In the chapter "Invading the Impossible," Hayford describes prayer as a piercing force that removes unwanted obstacles and replaces them with the power of God. He argues that anyone with sincere Christian belief and genuine faith in Christ can achieve the goals of prayer. Those goals may include personal fulfillment, but ultimately prayer is about drawing closer to Christ.

Faced with difficult life circumstances — illness, cancer, grief — Christians can too easily lose faith. Hayford presents prayer as the primary vehicle by which believers can re-establish and re-affirm their relationship with God. Prayer, he contends, can turn bad situations into good ones, cutting through lies, fear, and any other impediment that stands between the believer and God.

Conclusion: The Value of Militant Faith

When gentle, soft, and meek approaches no longer prove effective in helping restore God's Kingdom on earth, Hayford argues that a stronger approach is necessary. His book teaches the value of spiritual valiance, underscoring what he sees as the more militaristic dimension of Christ's gospel — a dimension he believes is firmly embedded in scripture. Christ's example, in Hayford's reading, was not that of a passive resistor, even though Jesus employed peaceful and nonviolent means to accomplish spiritual ends.

The militaristic nature of prayer that Hayford describes is rooted, he insists, in the Bible. Prayer creates the mental and emotional state by which Christians can work toward Christ's vision for the world. Hayford offers numerous examples intended to show readers how to become, in his memorable phrase, one of God's great Christian soldiers. The time is ripe, the author concludes, for major and powerful change. As anti-Christian sentiment threatens to darken the world, prayer remains the only means by which Christians can truly invade the impossible and reclaim the Kingdom of God.