Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

Our study of the Word of God is without question our greatest source of intimacy with God.  It is through that experience we hear God begin a conversation that we call prayer.  In his book, “Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God,”  Timothy Keller undertakes an exhaustive examination of prayer and how we are to approach our conversation with God in a way that will move us closer to Him and open our eyes to a new kind of relationship with Him.

Keller digs deep into the reasons why we pray as well as why we may be neglecting this part of our journey with Christ.  He breaks down prayer into its component parts and extrapolates knowledge about prayer from many different sources including St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.  This is by far the most comprehensive study of prayer I have ever read.  Keller touches on every aspect of prayer and ends his work with several examples of exactly how to pray, when to pray, and where to pray.

For many believers prayer seems to be a rather one sided conversation.  Keller makes the important point that the Word of God is sufficient to fill in the other side of the conversation if it is studied in a disciplined way.  Indeed, many of the answers to our prayers are found therein.  In addition, it’s also important to note that many prayers that seemingly go unanswered are simply answered with a response that is in line with God’s plan rather than our plan.  Regardless of your position on prayer, this book is well worth the read.  Keller does an outstanding job looking at prayer from all angles and will challenge all of your preconceived notions with a detailed discussion of every relevant point of view.  Keller’s work takes the mystery out of prayer and clearly demonstrates its practical application.

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