Missed the sermons on prayer? Check them out here: https://alivewesleyan.com/moving-beyond-motions-4/ and https://alivewesleyan.com/moving-beyond-motions-5/
Looking to learn more about prayer?
The best place to start is Timothy Keller’s excellent study, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (2016). Keller is one of the twenty-first century’s greatest theologians and thinkers whose work is accessible to a wide, general audience. He has written frequently and often about many Scriptural topics, but is most known for his defense of the faith and his book on preaching. In Prayer, he takes readers on a journey through the ways different cultures pray and how, including a history of “prayer” as practiced by different religions. Then, a theology of prayer answers many questions related to why we pray and what it means when prayers aren’t answered. The book closes with thoughts and pastoral counsel about how to implement prayer practices into your daily life.
Twentieth-century pastor A. W. Tozer (1893-1963) consistently called for the Western Church to come back to Christ and experience revival and renewal through a commitment to truth and relationship with a personal God. He is most known for his classic The Knowledge of the Holy where he writes about God’s characteristics and how they transform our faith. Some of Tozer’s teachings and sermons on prayer are collected in Prayer: Communing with God in Everything (2016). This book is ideal for those looking for something to read during their morning Scripture time. There are short thoughts and teachings from Tozer about the ways prayer can move us into deeper relationship with Christ.
Philip Yancey is a Christian author and former editor of Christianity Today, a Christian magazine that brings the Christian faith to engage with American culture and politics. His writing often as a tinge of “doubt.” He writes as a way to combat the serious doubts and questions that he has regarding faith. His book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? is filled with questions that he seeks to answer based on Scripture from both Old and New Testaments. His writing is filled with stories that makes him easy to understand for those that don’t connect with Keller’s “heady-ness.” Yancey also maintains a blog where smaller samples of his writing and thoughts can be found.
“Honorable” Mentions:
Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney--Whitney is a practical author who gives readers lots of “action steps” in his writing. His books about praying through the Bible is especially helpful for those who are struggling with the words of prayer. Whitney takes readers on a journey through how the words of the Bible--the very words of God--can be givan “back” to Him as prayers.
How to Pray: Reflections and Essays by C. S. Lewis--the beloved author of the Chronicales of Narnia was also one of the twentieth centuries greatest Christian thinkers and promoters. This book collects some of Lewis’s essays, articles, thoughts, and teachings on prayer together in one volume.
