Who in the world is Rosalind Rinker?" I admit to asking when I read Christianity Today's list of the most influential books in 50 years of evangelicalism. CT managing editor Mark Galli defended the selection of Rinker's 1959 book Prayer: Conversing with God as number one on that list, admitting that other CT staffers had a fit when they learned of his choice.

I'd never heard of Rinker or her book, but I resonated with Galli when he blogged about how most evangelicals think of prayer as informal conversation, yet 50 years ago this was virtually unheard of. Rinker's book was a prime catalyst for popularizing informal, conversational prayer.

In two decades of youth ministry, I've heard a lot of conversational prayers to Father Weejus. You know, "Father Weejus ask that you'd be here tonight, and Weejus hope you'll really bless our time." I've heard a lot of unnecessary "justs" and "reallys" over the years, and inappropriate uses of the subjunctive mood ("We pray you would move your people and ...