A Reader’s Guide to Derek Prince

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 TIMOTHY 2:15

Derek Prince wrote dozens of books, and a great deal of his teaching also exists as recorded messages and radio broadcasts, many of them later edited into print. His writings remain under copyright and are published by the ministry he founded and by other publishers; none of them is in the Ochorus library. What follows is a short guide for further reading, arranged for usefulness rather than chronology. Readers are warmly encouraged to obtain these works from their rightful publishers.

Begin here

The Divine Exchange. A short book, and the best single doorway into his thought. It sets out the exchange at the cross described in chapter five of this volume, and it is the book to give a new believer or a discouraged one.

Faith to Live By. His fullest treatment of faith, and the source of much of chapter six. Clear, orderly and practical, with the distinction between faith and hope that runs through all his teaching.

For systematic study

The Foundation Series, on Hebrews 6:1–2, first issued as a set of booklets and later gathered into a single volume, published under titles including Foundations for Christian Living. The work that made his name in the charismatic renewal, and the material behind chapters three and four here. Read it with an open Bible; its method is as valuable as its conclusions. Readers from traditions that baptise infants, or that do not hold a distinct baptism in the Spirit, will want to weigh those sections with care.

On prayer

Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting, first published in 1973. Probably his most important book, and the one most likely to change the way a reader prays. Take its summons wholeheartedly; hold its readings of particular historical events more loosely.

On healing the heart and the home

God’s Remedy for Rejection. Short, gentle and widely helpful. The source of chapter twelve.

Husbands and Fathers. Addressed to men, on the father as priest, prophet and king in his home. Read it alongside Ephesians 5:21–33 and Matthew 20:25–28, and with chapter thirteen of this volume in mind.

Approach with care

Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose. Its central message — that Christ bore the curse at the cross — is gloriously true. Its teaching on generational curses and its lists of symptoms should be weighed against Ezekiel 18 and John 9:1–3, as chapter nine suggests. Do not read it if it makes you afraid.

They Shall Expel Demons. His mature statement on deliverance ministry, and a standard text of that movement. Many sincere Christians reject its central claim that believers can need deliverance from evil spirits. Read it, if at all, with the cautions of chapter ten, in fellowship with wise and accountable believers, and never as a substitute for medical or pastoral care.

His writings on Israel and prophecy should be read alongside a careful presentation of the other view held by many Bible-believing Christians, as chapter eleven suggests.

About Derek Prince

Appointment in Jerusalem, the story of Lydia Prince’s call to the Holy Land and of the children she took in, told with Derek Prince. It is the best account of the Jerusalem years and of the family he married into.

Stephen Mansfield, Derek Prince: A Biography, is a full-length account of his life by an admirer. For the Shepherding Movement, S. David Moore, The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology, is a scholarly history that treats Prince’s part in it, and his withdrawal, with care. Reading more than one account is wise; no single one is disinterested. The Ochorus author page carries a shorter biography.

Three counsels for reading him

Read him with the Bible open. That is what he asked of everyone who heard him, and his whole method invites it. Check every verse.

Read him for the burden rather than the scheme. Where he presses a framework beyond what Scripture plainly states, take the pastoral concern and leave the scaffolding.

And read him in fellowship. His hardest lesson was that no teacher should stand alone and unaccountable. Neither should any reader. Talk about what you read with wise believers, and let the church help you weigh it.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21