You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to read this book

Dr. David Levy is a neurosurgeon, one of the best in the country. He’s also a Christian, so when he senses a leading from God to start praying with his patients, he’s faced with a question: Does offering to pray for them blur the professional line separating doctors and patients?

What happens next is a journey that changes Levy’s and his patients’ lives.

“Gray Matter: a neurosurgeon discovers the power of prayer … one patient at a time” is a journey worth taking with Levy and co-writer Joel Kilpatrick.

It’s a moving story of one man’s obedience to God in tough situations and the sometimes unexpected results. It’s also a testimony of one man’s faith and how he incorporates it into his work. The man just happens to be a neurosurgeon, literally holding people’s lives in his hands, but the commitment he makes to allow God access to his professional life is inspiring and relevant for any workplace.

What the book is not is a 100 percent “success” story for every patient with whom Levy prays, forcing Levy — and other believers — to ask the question, “If God doesn’t answer the way I expect, does that mean He doesn’t care?”

If you’ve ever wrestled with questions of “why,” Dr. Levy takes you through that struggle.

If you’ve ever wondered if prayer changes circumstances and people, Levy takes you there, too.

I found this book fascinating on two levels: in the information he provides about how the brain works and the complications of his job as a neurosurgeon, and in his commitment to prayer in a field where, as Levy acknowledges, matters of faith are relegated to chaplains, not doctors.

Levy is honest about his shortcomings, his doubts and the path that brought him to the decision to pray with patients. I also appreciated his explanations of the cases and the tumors he worked on, even though I was sometimes bogged down by medical and anatomical terms I haven’t heard since I took a medical biology class in high school. But Levy doesn’t linger on the technical terms, writing in a way that draws readers in instead of alienating them.

After reading this book, two things are clear to me: I never want to have brain surgery, and God is in control.

To preview the first chapter of “Gray Matter,” click here.

“Gray Matter” is one of Tyndale’s Summer Reading Program books. To sign up for the program, where you can earn free books by reading books, click here.