Plans for Your Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness is not a traditional political memoir, but rather it is a recounting of his “spiritual journey” as it intersected with his time as prime minister. This includes the role his faith played during crises like the Covid pandemic, during major decisions such as the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact, and amid political challenges like his accession to the prime ministership at the expense of Malcolm Turnbull. It is a unique blend of the prayer and scriptures that influenced him as prime minister as well as the retelling of selective key moments of his four years as the country’s leader from 2018 to 2022.

“Most politicians write books about what they’ve done, this story is about what I believe God has done for me,” says Morrison.

There he is in photos and on television, Scott Morrison, our Prime Minister, in an open-neck shirt, right arm high in the sky, palm forward, eyes closed, swaying in song and prayer, at the Horizon Pentecostal church that he and his family have attended since they moved into Sutherland Shire on Sydney’s southern beaches.

It is a striking image, one we’ve not seen before. Prime ministers at prayer are normally solemn, not to say po-faced, in the front pew of an Anglican or sometimes Catholic cathedral, at the funeral of a fellow politician, or at Christmas or Easter, well dressed in a suit and tie. We rarely see them in their own regular worship. Very few of our nation’s leaders would admit to the following: “There is also repentance I must come to terms with – things I have said, things I could have said better … and some policy decisions I regret.

The terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka remind us that Christianity is the most heavily persecuted religion in the world. The persecution of Christians doesn’t gain the attention it should in mainstream Western media because that media is still in thrall to the idea that Christianity represents a powerful establishment, whereas in most places it is likelier to represent a marginalised people.

It is also the case that Christianity, though in decline in the West, is on fire with new growth and conversions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

It would be absurd to suggest Christians in Australia face active persecution, but there is an increasing atmosphere of hostility and contempt for Christianity. Yet Morrison, as a frank and open Pentecostal Christian, the first in the world to lead a major developed democracy, may be doing something to change that, at least incrementally, at the margin. Let us do what we can to publicize his book and even purchase copies for selective distribution.