You can pray

by Tim Chester

If you're easily distracted when praying, you're not alone. In fact, if you struggle to pray in the first place, that's not unusual either. Tim Chester tells us how we can be great pray-ers. And he admits that that's a really bold claim.

'The secret of great praying has nothing to do with human effort or skill,' he explains. 'Lots of people would like to think that it does because they want to make prayer an achievement.' But the secret of great praying is ... Knowing three things about God:

+That God the Father loves to hear us pray +That God the Son makes every prayer pleasing to God +That God the Holy Spirit helps us as we pray

Tim looks at: why prayer is easy (how we pray), why prayer is difficult (why we pray) and the arguments and priorities of prayer (what we pray). Prayer is a child asking her father for help. And that's not beyond any one of us.

Genres: Christian Living, Prayer, Christian, Theology, Religion

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2014

About the author

Dr Tim Chester is involved in The Crowded House, a church planting initiative in Sheffield, UK. He was previously Research & Policy Director for Tearfund UK, and has been published widely on prayer, mission, social issues and theology. He is married to Helen and has two daughters.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

One great way to help people adopt a new behavior is to make it as simple as possible and to provide a reason why they should adopt the behavior. This book does both well. Chester provides a simple definition of prayer, one that makes it easy to implement. He then goes on to remove burdens of prayer that weigh us down, such as the length of prayers. As for the why, this is more implied that clearly stated, but he stresses a benefit to prayer is that we get to participate with God in the outworking of the kingdom. In addressing the struggle to pray, he minces no words in pointing out we typically make time for things we want to do and if we aren't praying, it's because, deep down, we just don't want to do it. Finally, he uses the Lord's prayer to provide a simple template for prayer.

[Sharon Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when good theology is applied well and gives a doable way forward

[Justin Orman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent short book on prayer. I especially liked the opening chapters and the three reasons we can pray confidently. Highly recommended.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

With so many prayer books out there and methods on prayer you may ask what makes this one worth my time and investment. Instead of coming up with a new method and lists of what to do, it leads you to the reason for prayer. What prayer is and what it is not. Prayer is worship and a gift in participating in the divine mission to defeat Satan and rescue the lost. Many times prayer becomes something we achieve instead of being what is designed to be …a child depending on the Father.
The focus of this study is the work of Christ and the relationship between the trinity in prayer. God the Father loves to hear us pray-God the Son makes every prayer pleasing to God-God the Holy Spirit helps us as we pray. Prayer is the embodiment or outworking of the gospel. (Kindle loc. 411) We do not grow in prayer but something new and better, but by understanding the gospel better. The better we understand, the more our prayers will be aligned with God’s will. Prayer with the trinity is an invitation to share in the pleasure of the triune God, the delight of the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Prayer can also be difficult and many times we do not understand the difficulties we face. Do we know what drive us? Where our desires lie? Do we think prayer is worth it?

The one insight I received in this is a better understanding of the sovereignty of God and prayer. The question of my part and God’s sovereignty, this is something I have always struggled with. I have to say this is one of the best books on prayer that I have read.
A special thank you P & R Publishing , and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I learned so much and the author did a great job not putting a lot of unnecessary guilt upon the reader. Prayer is a part of our relationship with God and recognizes our need for God's sovereignty in our lives. "God is glorified when we ask for things, because we're treating him as the generous, capable Father that he is."

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book. Terrible Formatting

The Kindle formatting for this book is terrible. Sentence breaks; paragraphs not lining up are just a couple of the problems.
That said, the contents of this book. Chester emphasizes that Christians already know how to pray. They don't need techniques; they have the Spirit, and that's more than enough.

[Rachel Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tremendously encouraging book on prayer. It takes the intimidation out of prayer and shows you how to pray scripture. I'm very thankful for how it broke down prayer into a conversation with a merciful, sovereign God and felt my own prayer time warming with the new mindset it encourages.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book on prayer both theologically and practically. I loved the verses to pray through at the end of every chapter. A great resource to continue to use and refer back to!

[Bob Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting topic and I learned a lot. If you're a Christian, don't make prayer so hard. Chester says it's like a child asking his father for help. Well done!

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on prayer! If you are a Christian, and you struggle with prayer (who doesn't?!), this book will encourage you and help you think differently about it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Chester does it again - every time I read a book from him, I find myself convicted and encouraged. I have read a good number of books on prayer and really didn't expect much new from this one. Boy was I wrong. With great clarity, the author explains first why we can pray and how we should pray. The last few chapters are focused on the Lord's Prayer as a model for our prayers as Christians. Again, I didn't expect many new ideas, but found myself highlighting sections on almost every page.

I definitely am thinking about going through this book with some of the girls I mentor and would heavily consider using it in my curriculum. If you are reading the reviews wondering whether you should read this, don't delay and pick it up. You won't regret it.

Thanks to NetGalley and P & R Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[John Keble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really straight forward book on the thorny issue of prayer and our prayer life. Found the book very challenging and stimulating in equal measure. Recommend passing on the book to someone else.

[Sally Ogilvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best on prayer that I have read.

[Chris Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very simple book on prayer and now one of my favorites on the subject.

[Matt Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on prayer.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last chapter is especially good.