Prayer

Disciplines of Devotion

by Courtney Reissig, Winfree Brisley (Editor)

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

80 pages, Paperback

Published February 17, 2026

About the author

Courtney Reissig is a wife, mother, and writer. She has written for numerous Christian publications including the Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and the Her.meneutics blog. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with her husband, Daniel, and their three sons.

Reviews

[BookLoverAmanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: Prayer by Courtney Reissig
4.5 Stars
Blog Post: https://bookloveramanda.blogspot.com/...

What a beautiful devotional book. Jam packed in under 55 pages, Courtney brings us so many beautiful reminders of prayer. I am in a hard season right now and this brought me comfort in the hardship. She reminds us that "prayer is the avenue to bring our many burdens before the only one who can provide true relief" and that "peace is waiting for us on the other side" of it. So many times I don't know what to even say to God. So many times I think I have to have it all together before I come to Him. But I don't. He sees me in the EXACT moment I need Him. He's always wanting that relationship. He wants us to give Him our burdens. He wants to give us REST in Him. Courtney's book says "When we turn to God in our need, we see outside our own circumstances to a God who holds all things together (Heb 1:3)." May I never forget just how good He is. May I always shift my focus to His faithfulness on the hard days. May I not focus on my circumstances but focus on His goodness and His glory. May I never think of God as a genie in a bottle granting requests....but as perfect, in infinite wisdom, knowing what's best for me in His will for my life. May I grow in patience and perseverance in any season of waiting, because He loves me and has a plan and purpose so good for my life.

This book reminded me of those things and I highly recommend it. I purchased the many other books in this - the Disciplines of Devotion series - and I can't wait to dive in to them.

Thank you Crossway for providing a gifted complimentary copy of this book to honestly read and review. All thoughts are my own.

[Taliah Kendrick]

Honestly, I overthink so much when it comes to prayer and the books I read on the topic can be overwhelming. I really appreciated how Courtney explains prayer and gives practical tips. I would recommend this to anyone!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short booklet was a great guide to the discipline of prayer. It was very practical with ideas you can start implementing right away. I really liked her ideas for praying through the Psalms and setting a timer for how long you want to pray and slowly increasing it.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prayer by Courtney Reissig, is part of the The Gospel Coalition’s Disciplines of Devotion series. These are short devotions for women. Prayer focuses on what prayer is, the blessings of praying, how to pray the Scripture, to be purposeful in prayer, and praying with others.

While the book is small and takes less than an hour to read, it is meaty and biblically focused. Each chapter ends with reflection questions to take ponder on or use in a discussion with others.

Couple highlights:

Praying God’s help to pray may sound odd, but it’s a prayer we can offer with confidence. God doesn’t give any command that He doesn’t also give the necessary grace to live out. He will help us pray. In fact, he already has in His Word.
Prayer is a spiritual discipline. Like a muscle, prayer must be trained.
Because we will never fully mine the depths of Scripture, we will never run out of things to say to God when His own Words guide us.

The end of the book provides additional recommend resources to read on prayer. Which means I will be adding more books to my to read list!

This is the perfect book to give someone or yourself. I look forward to reading addition books in this series.




Many thanks to Crossway for providing this book for review! Opinions are 100% my own! I did receive the product in exchange for this review and post.

[Boyce McClain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prayer-in my opinion is the most powerful thing in a Christian’s life.
Prayer is more than asking for things. It’s primary reason is to praise God.

Personally I’ve discovered that praising God always comes first. Personal prayers about needs, people, etc. follow.

Often we make prayer too difficult and formal. Prayer is simply talking to God. He is our father and like our earthly father he wants to hear from us, share our triumphs and sorrows, answer questions and help us.

In author Courtney Reissig’s and Crossway’s Prayer book good solid advice and insight explain, how to pray, what to pray for, the blessings of prayer, to pray for things specifically and purposely, how to pray for others and most importantly of all how to wait for God, thank him and refer to the scripture about prayer.

It’s a small, softbound book with lots of important insights and information contained in its pages.

Like prayer it is short, to the point and provides answers.

Philippians 4:6 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

[Audrey Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prayer, Sabbath Rest, and Fasting.

These 3 beautiful little booklets are a perfect introduction, refresher, or reference guide to the spiritual disciplines (disciplines of devotion). Each one of these are a short, single-sitting read, but accompanied by reflection questions to journal, pray through or discuss with a friend or small group to increase the impact.

I really enjoyed each of these practical tools and look forward the next 3 in the series— Bible Study, Evangelism, and Worship!

[Emma James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this booklet in a giveaway, not exactly knowing what to expect. I enjoyed it and it helped encourage me in my prayer life. Even though a lot of it were things I already knew, it was helpful to hear them again and be encouraged to pray. I like how she points out that it is a lot more helpful to have a set time of day to pray than not to pray at all, if that's what it takes to get you to pray.

[Lianna Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This booklet offers inspiration for getting started with prayer and dwells largely on the practicalities of the discipline. Those looking for a meditation on the riches and beauty of communing with God may want to look elsewhere. Those seeking the basic beginnings may find this a gentle push in the right direction.

[Rachel Ekberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent small resource for discipleship since the brevity of the book lends itself well to maybe a month of focused discussion. Basic but i really like the discussion questions. I like this series so far, fasting one was better though.

[Chrissy T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a neat VERY SHORT read that is super helpful for someone looking for a way to teach someone how to "begin" or "refresh" their prayer life. I think it is a good tool for a mentor to read along with someone they may be discipling. It has some good basic ideas to freshen prayer.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this booklet on prayer to be very helpful. It is concise and to the point. Each chapter includes a few discussion questions. The chapters are What is Prayer?, What Are the Blessings of Prayer?, Pray Scripture, Pray Purposefully, and Pray with Others. I am looking forward to reading the other booklets in this series.