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Prayer: Communing with God in Everything--Collected Insights from A. W. Tozer
"Some churches now advertise courses on how to pray. How ridiculous! That is like giving a course on how to fall in love." —A. W. Tozer
Tozer understood prayer as few do: as a way of life. Now readers can share that same grand vision.
Prayer combines the best of Tozer on prayer into one volume. Tozer was captured by the great wonder of God, and he regarded prayer as the primary means of coming into His presence. But if our everyday life is filled with the barrenness of busyness and there is no serious urgency to pray, we forfeit the wonder of being conformed to the image of Christ and knowing our God more intimately—the true Christian life.
Prayer is doable. God is accessible. And Tozer provides the wisdom and encouragement to help us encounter Him daily. With commentary and reflection questions provided by compiler W.L. Seaver, Prayer takes our understanding of prayer to new depths and helps us have a life that prays.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2016
330 people are currently reading
1227 people want to read
About the author
A.W. Tozer
665 books2,114 followersAiden Wilson Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer, and editor. After coming to Christ at the age of seventeen, Tozer found his way into the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination where he served for over forty years. In 1950, he was appointed by the denomination's General Council to be the editor of "The Alliance Witness" (now "Alliance Life").
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 6, 2019
No honest Christian would claim that he prays enough. This book has been incredibly helpful in driving me back to my knees in prayer. Tozer has convicting, helpful, and practical advice in this short exhortation. May we never lose sight of this most important practice. Highly recommend.
June 21, 2024
“Every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be.”
More of a devotional style book than read through, but it is loaded with challenging insights and refreshing truth
More of a devotional style book than read through, but it is loaded with challenging insights and refreshing truth
February 27, 2016
I was super-excited to get a chance to review A.W. Tozer's "new" book on prayer. (Can I just say I'm so thankful that new Tozer books continue to be released. Tozer may have died fifty years ago, but he's still ever-relevant, in my opinion.) This book gathers together Tozer's thoughts on prayer. Chapters come from his sermons, articles, or books. The first section--containing twenty-two chapters--is called "Tozer's Writings," and the second section--containing six chapters--is called "Tozer's Sermons." The first section, if I recall correctly, the readings are perhaps a bit shorter, but, contain bonus material. Summaries are provided for what you've just read in that chapter, and Tozer's ideas are discussed and explored further. These chapters also include discussion questions. The second section, the readings are definitely longer. These chapters all come from sermons, not books published before or after his death.
Chapters include:
The Whole Life Must Pray
The Sacrament of Living, part one and two
To Be Right, We Must Think Right
Prayer: No Substitute for Obedience
The Importance of Prayer in God's Eternal Work
Born after Midnight
Praying Without Condition
The Power of Silence
Dangers in Unanswered Prayer
What Profit In Prayer?
Three Ways To Get What We Want
Prayer Changes People and Things
On Wrestling in Prayer
Praying Till We Pray
God's Selfhood and Prayer
Truth has Two Wings
Honesty in Prayer
Measuring Spirituality by Public Prayers
The Best Things Come Hard
A Word to the Men about the Women
Does God Always Answer Prayer?
Prepare by Prayer, part one and two
Believing Prayer
In Everything by Prayer, part one, two, and three
I would recommend this book for several reasons. One, I love A.W. Tozer. I do. I love him for his zeal, his passion, his stubborn clinging to the Bible as the undeniable WORD OF GOD. To read Tozer is to meet a man who loved God with mighty zeal. Tozer didn't seem to care about being popular or being well-liked. He cared about speaking the truth--as he saw it--and for Tozer, the source of truth was without a doubt, the Bible. Tozer was upset by things he saw: in the church, in society--and he spoke out about it. He clung to hope, however, that men and women could and would be transformed by the power of God, that godliness and holiness was always possible because our God is a big God, and his promises are true. Two, in addition to having a special appreciation for Tozer, I enjoy reading books on prayer. I think prayer remains a tricky subject being both simple and complex. I think believers will always need another book on prayer. And this one is worth reading. It has plenty of thought-provoking ideas in it. You may love or hate Tozer, but, you can't deny he makes you THINK.
Chapters include:
The Whole Life Must Pray
The Sacrament of Living, part one and two
To Be Right, We Must Think Right
Prayer: No Substitute for Obedience
The Importance of Prayer in God's Eternal Work
Born after Midnight
Praying Without Condition
The Power of Silence
Dangers in Unanswered Prayer
What Profit In Prayer?
Three Ways To Get What We Want
Prayer Changes People and Things
On Wrestling in Prayer
Praying Till We Pray
God's Selfhood and Prayer
Truth has Two Wings
Honesty in Prayer
Measuring Spirituality by Public Prayers
The Best Things Come Hard
A Word to the Men about the Women
Does God Always Answer Prayer?
Prepare by Prayer, part one and two
Believing Prayer
In Everything by Prayer, part one, two, and three
I would recommend this book for several reasons. One, I love A.W. Tozer. I do. I love him for his zeal, his passion, his stubborn clinging to the Bible as the undeniable WORD OF GOD. To read Tozer is to meet a man who loved God with mighty zeal. Tozer didn't seem to care about being popular or being well-liked. He cared about speaking the truth--as he saw it--and for Tozer, the source of truth was without a doubt, the Bible. Tozer was upset by things he saw: in the church, in society--and he spoke out about it. He clung to hope, however, that men and women could and would be transformed by the power of God, that godliness and holiness was always possible because our God is a big God, and his promises are true. Two, in addition to having a special appreciation for Tozer, I enjoy reading books on prayer. I think prayer remains a tricky subject being both simple and complex. I think believers will always need another book on prayer. And this one is worth reading. It has plenty of thought-provoking ideas in it. You may love or hate Tozer, but, you can't deny he makes you THINK.
February 16, 2024
Prayer: Communing With God in Everything — collected insights from A.W. Tozer — Rating how helpful I found the book and how much I learned: 9/10
Prayer by A. W. Tozer is a collection of excerpts from his writings and sermons. Each chapter contains a portion of his own words and then a section for further reflection. I listened to the audiobook available on Audible Plus.
I found many interesting insights in this book. I have been a Christian for many years and yet I found something new to learn about prayer.
I half expected Tozer to be stuffy and old-fashioned, but his writing felt fresh and contemporary.
Some topics I appreciated the most — thought prayers, sacramental everyday life, what do you think about when you are free to think about anything you want, pray and obey, how we take our busyness into our prayer times, don’t pray in your own strength, pray until you are able to pray, being honest with God, praying anticipatory prayers not just reactionary ones.
I appreciated Tozer’s honesty about the struggles we have with prayer. He seems to have experience with the Holy Spirit as well as a knowledge of the Bible.
Prayer by A. W. Tozer is a collection of excerpts from his writings and sermons. Each chapter contains a portion of his own words and then a section for further reflection. I listened to the audiobook available on Audible Plus.
I found many interesting insights in this book. I have been a Christian for many years and yet I found something new to learn about prayer.
I half expected Tozer to be stuffy and old-fashioned, but his writing felt fresh and contemporary.
Some topics I appreciated the most — thought prayers, sacramental everyday life, what do you think about when you are free to think about anything you want, pray and obey, how we take our busyness into our prayer times, don’t pray in your own strength, pray until you are able to pray, being honest with God, praying anticipatory prayers not just reactionary ones.
I appreciated Tozer’s honesty about the struggles we have with prayer. He seems to have experience with the Holy Spirit as well as a knowledge of the Bible.
February 2, 2020
I'd recommend this book to anyone who is looking for short devotionals centering upon the topic of prayer. Questions are included at the end of each section, so this would also be a great book to use for a group study. Overall, I appreciated the insights from Tozer regarding the topic of prayer and found his readings very worthwhile. Some of the selections included, however, seemed to merely nod at the book's theme while in actuality addressing another topic. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing for me, but I was a little puzzled at times at the inclusion of such texts that ventured away from the idea of prayer (which Seaver, the compiler, acknowledges and addresses in some of his included commentaries). I didn't realize either that this book consists of snippets from Tozer's collected works with added thoughts from Seaver rather than just a work written exclusively by Tozer. Again, it's not that I disliked the commentaries, but it just wasn't something I was expecting. Four stars overall.
November 30, 2021
An amazing book that I think all Christians should read. It has challenged me in my prayer life so much. I’ve been encouraged, convicted and inspired. I’ll definitely be returning to it soon.
April 5, 2023
3.5 ⭐️Definitely a great read, but different than most. More of an excerpt style with questions. Great concepts & quotes, but doesn’t read like a regular book.
LOVED THIS THOUGH: “Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Him your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and from others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, and troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject, for it is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words for there is nothing to be held back. Neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart. Without consideration, they simply say just what they think.... Blessed are those who attain such familiar, unreserved communication with God.”
LOVED THIS THOUGH: “Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Him your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and from others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, and troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject, for it is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words for there is nothing to be held back. Neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart. Without consideration, they simply say just what they think.... Blessed are those who attain such familiar, unreserved communication with God.”
October 14, 2023
I thought this was a full book by Tozer, but turned out to be a collection of his writings on prayer with a breakdown by W. L. Seaver at the end of each chapter. It was full of wisdom and helpful insights, but I had an awful time paying attention, although I'm pretty sure that was my problem and not a fault of the authors. Overall would recommend, and I'd like to read some actual books by Tozer at some point.
June 20, 2020
Excellent book to reflect on my own strengths and weaknesses.
February 23, 2018
Prayer by A.W. Tozer (Compiled by W.L. Seaver)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
____________________________________________________________
Story Notes
W. L. humbly asks students of the Word to come along on a journey with him through the sermons of A.W. Tozer on Prayer.
Prayer. The most simple and most complex concept of the Christian faith journey can either be seen as a duty or a privilege. It can be rote or it can be an all-out desperately earnest desire to seek what God would will. And while it will never change the mind of God as He is perfect in His purposes, it will help us move our minds and prayers closer to that which God would have for us to ask. These are some of the main concepts that are being taught in this wonderful book. W. L. Seaver takes you on a 28 day, in-depth walk through many of Tozer’s sermons on prayer to help show how powerful and important the prayer life of a Christian can be. There is also commentary and reflection portions that follow each section to help guide you towards greater and more meaningful prayer times. I, myself, was reminded and challenged each day by the concepts presented. It’s a bit crazy to think that we have total access to the God of the universe and yet we choose to ignore Him and be busy about the things of the world! We could instead be earnestly seeking after Him to find out what amazing things He is going to do next and humbly ask to be a part of those amazing things. I first challenged to make prayer a lifestyle rather than confine it to certain times during the day. How wonderful it is to talk to God throughout the day about what is happening at that moment, good or bad. It changes how you will approach more concentrated prayer-times, when you delve down into what is happening in your life and in that of your loved ones. And then I was to be challenged by the idea that God wants me to ask with humble courage to move me beyond the simple “God help me to…” prayers into “God, I can’t possibly do this, but I know you can do it in and through me if You would will it.” And further to “God, I thank you for breaking me so you can mold me to look more like You. Continue to bend or break me as necessary so I can cease to be what people see and You will be seen instead.” These prayers are not easy for me, nor are they going to bring me comfortable times, but they will bring me closer to my Father and that is worth all the unease and discomfort I will go through. My last and hardest challenge came when faced with difficulties that come for my family and friends. God has been working on me through this book to pray intently and often for those in my life who are facing hard times and it is not easy to ask God to allow those difficult things which will grow them. Not that you do not also ask for a measure of peace and grace to go along with those painful times but be sure you are not asking for that which God will not allow – non-change in the life of one who desires to be more like Him. One other important facet that Tozer presents is the idea of “Unanswered Prayer”. I liked his take on this immensely as it reminded me that sometimes God does NOT answer prayer because the prayer is a useless request. Praying for God to do something against His very nature or will is never going to be answered as He cannot in faithfulness do so. And the prayers of those who are not seeking after Him will also go unanswered as these people are only seeking to help themselves in this second with no thought for future times. God wants to answer prayers but He cannot answer if that prayer is not earnest and in-line with what He purposes. How can I possibly know if I’m praying a prayer that God will answer? you may ask. He tells you in His word that those who are in Him and living according to His word will know how and for what to ask so that they will find answers (1 John 3:21-22, John 15:7). There are many more concepts to be learned in this study and I encourage all believers who want to know God better and learn how to earnestly pray to take on this study and see how your understanding of prayer changes. Don’t misunderstand me, the only way in which your prayer life will truly improve is if you begin to pray, regardless of whether you do this study or not. Making a point of actively praying through your day will help your prayer “muscles” get stronger and allow you to grow closer to God. God longs for His children to come to Him with everything, all their hurts, desires and celebrations, just as any loving father does. We just have to be both bold enough and humble enough to reach out to Him in everything. There is no one who can comfort, heal, bless and shower joy over you as completely and richly as your ABBA Father. I hope that others will be challenged as much as I have been by this study. It is certainly one that I will recommend highly and share with friends and family. And I look forward to finding more studies like this one soon as I continue on my journey towards being more like God.
I received this book free of charge from Moody Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation from Moody Publishers for this review.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
____________________________________________________________
Story Notes
W. L. humbly asks students of the Word to come along on a journey with him through the sermons of A.W. Tozer on Prayer.
Prayer. The most simple and most complex concept of the Christian faith journey can either be seen as a duty or a privilege. It can be rote or it can be an all-out desperately earnest desire to seek what God would will. And while it will never change the mind of God as He is perfect in His purposes, it will help us move our minds and prayers closer to that which God would have for us to ask. These are some of the main concepts that are being taught in this wonderful book. W. L. Seaver takes you on a 28 day, in-depth walk through many of Tozer’s sermons on prayer to help show how powerful and important the prayer life of a Christian can be. There is also commentary and reflection portions that follow each section to help guide you towards greater and more meaningful prayer times. I, myself, was reminded and challenged each day by the concepts presented. It’s a bit crazy to think that we have total access to the God of the universe and yet we choose to ignore Him and be busy about the things of the world! We could instead be earnestly seeking after Him to find out what amazing things He is going to do next and humbly ask to be a part of those amazing things. I first challenged to make prayer a lifestyle rather than confine it to certain times during the day. How wonderful it is to talk to God throughout the day about what is happening at that moment, good or bad. It changes how you will approach more concentrated prayer-times, when you delve down into what is happening in your life and in that of your loved ones. And then I was to be challenged by the idea that God wants me to ask with humble courage to move me beyond the simple “God help me to…” prayers into “God, I can’t possibly do this, but I know you can do it in and through me if You would will it.” And further to “God, I thank you for breaking me so you can mold me to look more like You. Continue to bend or break me as necessary so I can cease to be what people see and You will be seen instead.” These prayers are not easy for me, nor are they going to bring me comfortable times, but they will bring me closer to my Father and that is worth all the unease and discomfort I will go through. My last and hardest challenge came when faced with difficulties that come for my family and friends. God has been working on me through this book to pray intently and often for those in my life who are facing hard times and it is not easy to ask God to allow those difficult things which will grow them. Not that you do not also ask for a measure of peace and grace to go along with those painful times but be sure you are not asking for that which God will not allow – non-change in the life of one who desires to be more like Him. One other important facet that Tozer presents is the idea of “Unanswered Prayer”. I liked his take on this immensely as it reminded me that sometimes God does NOT answer prayer because the prayer is a useless request. Praying for God to do something against His very nature or will is never going to be answered as He cannot in faithfulness do so. And the prayers of those who are not seeking after Him will also go unanswered as these people are only seeking to help themselves in this second with no thought for future times. God wants to answer prayers but He cannot answer if that prayer is not earnest and in-line with what He purposes. How can I possibly know if I’m praying a prayer that God will answer? you may ask. He tells you in His word that those who are in Him and living according to His word will know how and for what to ask so that they will find answers (1 John 3:21-22, John 15:7). There are many more concepts to be learned in this study and I encourage all believers who want to know God better and learn how to earnestly pray to take on this study and see how your understanding of prayer changes. Don’t misunderstand me, the only way in which your prayer life will truly improve is if you begin to pray, regardless of whether you do this study or not. Making a point of actively praying through your day will help your prayer “muscles” get stronger and allow you to grow closer to God. God longs for His children to come to Him with everything, all their hurts, desires and celebrations, just as any loving father does. We just have to be both bold enough and humble enough to reach out to Him in everything. There is no one who can comfort, heal, bless and shower joy over you as completely and richly as your ABBA Father. I hope that others will be challenged as much as I have been by this study. It is certainly one that I will recommend highly and share with friends and family. And I look forward to finding more studies like this one soon as I continue on my journey towards being more like God.
I received this book free of charge from Moody Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation from Moody Publishers for this review.
June 21, 2024
I’m not entirely sure what to say about this book that will do it justice, because there’s a lot to process and I truly don’t feel like what I say will be enough.
If you are looking for a way to challenge yourself in the area of prayer, if you find that you’re struggling with prayer and need to look at it a little differently, if you find that you just really need a bit of a shake up…read this book.
This book has challenged so many things I have learned about prayer. It has opened my eyes to what I may be doing that has caused my prayer life to be weak, and what I can do to strengthen it. I am so thankful that I read it, and that it came right as things are about to get harder. Going to need to rely on the Lord so much, and a strong prayer life will only benefit me.
I will definitely be coming back to this book in the future.
If you are looking for a way to challenge yourself in the area of prayer, if you find that you’re struggling with prayer and need to look at it a little differently, if you find that you just really need a bit of a shake up…read this book.
This book has challenged so many things I have learned about prayer. It has opened my eyes to what I may be doing that has caused my prayer life to be weak, and what I can do to strengthen it. I am so thankful that I read it, and that it came right as things are about to get harder. Going to need to rely on the Lord so much, and a strong prayer life will only benefit me.
I will definitely be coming back to this book in the future.
August 26, 2023
Tozer stresses the importance of prayer in the Christian life. He gives his insight on how to properly pray with honesty and conviction. At the end of each chapter there are questions for the reader to reflect upon. I thought Tozer is articulate and clear in his messages, and it shows that he has tons of knowledge and wisdom on the topic.
January 8, 2026
I read one chapter of this a day before bed, and it was a great resource to use before my nightly prayer. It’s a collection of Tozer’s comments on the topic, and it changed my attitude towards prayer. The chapters are 5-6 pages each, so it’s very easy to read this way. A few chapters are a little lackluster, but there were a lot of good insights overall. I enjoyed it a lot!
May 3, 2024
Wow, what a great, practical book on prayer and how to come before God. I have so many things underlined and written down to chew on for years to come. What a well put together book!
May 2, 2022
This is the third book of Tozer's that I've read, after "The Knowledge of the Holy" and "Pursuit of God," and I would rate it four stars. I doubt I'd reread it (5 stars.) I prefer Andrew Murray or S. D. Gordon or Kay Arthur on prayer.
This book was a collection of snippets of Tozer's writings on prayer, usually a couple of pages long. W. L. Seaver wrote discussion questions after each excerpt and I enjoyed them as much as I did Tozer's writings.
I loved the quote:
“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Hi your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He ay heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how your self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and from others… Bless are those who attain such familiar, unreserved communication with God.” Francois Fenelon in “Spiritual Letters”
And I loved the homework on it to talk to God about these things, one or two a day, to get us talking, really talking, to God. In fact, I think that may have been the best part about the whole book.
I've had a thought on Abraham's prayers for Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. Did he quit praying too soon?
I found the compilation of verses on turning backs towards God (and then God turning His back on the people) in Jeremiah troubling, inspiring, and warning, all at once.
I found Julian of Norwich's prayers, adding, "And this I ask without any condition," that is, no matter what it cost, also very convicting and challenging.
I liked the analogy of truth being like a bird with two wings, that we should balance scripture with scripture because a one-winged bird doesn't fly very well.
I liked the baseball analogy, and will describe it to my softball player. Satan is like a pitcher that tries all kinds of unpredictable pitches so we never know where and how the temptation will appear.
I can be like a Moses, in that I can sometimes get results quickly [in hitting the rock], but not God's way and suffer for it. Or I can be like a Joshua, who depended too much on appearances of those claiming to be from afar. Or David, who didn't pray before taking a census. In fact, the point was that none of them prayed first; they just rushed headlong into things.
Repeatedly in this book, throughout these excerpts, Tozer indicates that God does not say "no" to prayers, but when He doesn't answer a prayer in the affirmative, it's our fault for not praying in enough faith or for not living sinlessly enough.
I know a couple who prayed in faith. In fact, the wife said that God had always granted her requests before. They knew of no repeated, consuming sin. And yet, their child died. There seems to be another such couple a friend of mine knows in her church, who is also facing the immanent loss of their child under similar faith-scenarios. It seems cruel to me to say that they didn't have enough faith or that some secret sin of theirs caused this. It makes me think of Job, who was so good-hearted that God bragged on him to Satan - and yet Job suffered.
Tozer had a good point that when we don't get what we pray for, people often don't investigate themselves enough to see if the fault lies there. But there's also Jesus in Gethsemane, asking for the Father not to send Him to the cross if there's any other way, or Paul with his thorn. I think that God sometimes does tell us, "no," even if Tozer preached so hard against that thought. That doesn't excuse any misbehavior on our part, and it doesn't excuse a lack of introspection to determine if there's any sin in the way. [Although certainly there is forgiveness if we ask for it!] I heard it said once that when we pray, God gives us what we would have asked for if we'd known better. And I like that answer better. Or S. D. Gordon's thought that while God didn't answer Paul about removing the thorn by removing it, He did answer the man - that while God doesn't always do what we want, He still meets our soul's needs.
Or this Charles Spurgeon quote: "Still remember that prayer is always to be offered in submission to God's will. When we say that God hears prayer, we do not mean that He always gives us literally what we ask for. However, we do mean this: that He gives us what is best for us, and that if He does not give us the mercy we ask for in silver, He bestows it upon us in gold. If He does not take away the thorn in the flesh, yet He says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee' (2 Cor. 12:9), which amounts to the same in the end." – Charles Spurgeon in “The Golden Key of Prayer”
But since Tozer blamed the praying people when prayers aren't answered, he also blamed them for the resulting lack of faith when they don't see God answering their imperfect prayers. Weeeeelll, be that as it may - and we are culpable for the state of our faith - I think part of the blame is in the false prosperity (or health and wealth) doctrine that God always gives us what we ask for and plenty of it. I find that to be a disillusioning thing to believe, when eventually it fails. I would not, however, classify Tozer as a prosperity gospel preacher because he's quick to add the part about asking whether something's in God's will, and blaming the person praying if it's not.
It annoyed me a little bit that Tozer called us "omnipotent" - or all-powerful - when we pray. He actually did that twice, and in the second such excerpt, he explained what he meant a little better. He meant that we were omnipotent "for a little while" because God is omnipotent on our behalf.
But first of all, we are not omnipotent since we are not in control, something he readily admitted in his first mentioning of our "omnipotence," and true omnipotence wouldn't wane, either.
Secondly, I don't want to be omnipotent, even if I really, really want things to go my way sometimes. No, I'd rather have an all-powerful God Who knows what He's doing and Who is acting out of love. The idea of me being all-powerful is a frightening one. That reminded me of the movie "Bruce Almighty" where God allows Bruce to take over His job and he ends up bungling it.
God wields His omnipotence perfectly with honor, justice, compassion, and wisdom - and mercy. I wouldn't want all that subjected to my whims of the moment or even my inability to see beyond the moment's hurt.
Despite his words, I don't really think that Tozer thinks that we are omnipotent when we pray, because he also said, "God will not change His eternal purposes on the word of a man. We do not pray in order to persuade God to change His mind... What the praying man does is to bring his will into line with the will of God so God can do what He all along has been willing to do." - in "The Price of Neglect"
I would say that when Tozer said we are omnipotent when we pray, he really meant that prayer is powerful. And prayer is only powerful, not because we are praying, but because it is God Who answers.
In "The Price of Neglect" quote above, I'd also answer that God can do whatever He wants, whether or not our will is aligned with His - because He's omnipotent - but that quite often He chooses to work with us rather than without us.
To be fair to Tozer, another couple of Tozer quotes that show a better understanding of God's Omnipotence from a different source ["The Knowledge of the Holy"] are:
"This word ["Almighty"] occurs fifty-six times in our English Bible and is never used of anyone but God. He alone is almighty."
"Prayer is not in itself meritorious. It lays God under no obligation nor puts Him in debt to any. He hears prayer because He is good, and for no other reason."
My husband wanted me to note that since this book, "Prayer," is excerpts of other books, these snippets may not give the full thought on a given topic, that it might be unintentionally misleading as to the whole. I felt like since they were generally several pages long, probably the excerpts at least had the gist of it, although there may be missing nuances or context.
In this book, "Prayer," Tozer threw me through a loop for awhile with his quote from Jeremiah 20:7 where Jeremiah said "O Lord, You deceived me and I was deceived." Tozer just quoted it to show that we can be honest before God, and even call Him a liar when we feel Him to be [even though, in actuality, He isn't.] I must've read that verse before, but somehow I didn't remember it.
So that sent me scurrying off to read that verse in the context of the chapter or more and to read different translations of the verse and various commentaries on it as to why Jeremiah was calling God a liar - and asking my husband what he thought about the verse. And the rest of the verse was even worse.
Some translators translated the word "persuaded" rather than "deceived." Some commentators said that Jeremiah felt deceived because he thought he'd be prophesying against other nations, but not his own. Other commentators said that Jeremiah's own nation was calling him deceived, and he were speaking hypothetically - "Well, if I'm deceived, then God Himself is the One Who deceived me!" I'd say any and all of these are possibilities.
But I suppose that also we must remember that two-winged bird, and that although Jeremiah may have called God a liar, we know that He isn't one. "It is impossible for God to lie." - Hebrews 6:18 and "Let God be true and every man a liar." - Romans 3:4
Okay, that was a rabbit trail, and rabbit trails aside, that was not why Tozer mentioned the verse. He was merely commenting that we can be honest before God, and should be. There are other rabbit trails involving that passage as well that get even darker.
I do agree that answered prayers can draw people to Jesus. They can make people consider the role of the supernatural in our world. It doesn't seem to me like that would be good for the sole basis of belief, though. Would they only believe for what they can get out of God? Or in the answered prayers as proof of His existence? That seemed a little dangerous to me because He does not always give what we want, although He always does justly.
Some of this book was insightful, but much of it felt pedantic to me. I still prefer Andrew Murray, Charles Spurgeon, S. D. Gordon, etc.
Favorite quotes:
“Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience.” – A. W. Tozer in “Of God and Men”
“Nowhere else in the whole field of religious thought and activity is courage so necessary as in prayer.” – A.W. Tozer in “We Travel an Appointed Way”
“Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Set of the Sail”
“The peace of heart does not come from denying that there is trouble, but comes from rolling your trouble on God.” – A. W. Tozer in “Prayer”
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer …” – Philippians 4:6. A. W. Tozer said, “In everything by money, in everything by social prestige in everything by publicity, in everything by committee, in everything by business methods, in everything by education, and lastly in everything by compromise. All of these replacement options are found wanting in the eyes of God, yet Christians continue to regress to them. Of these eight options, not one pleases God, and each of them adds to the stress and anxiety of life.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Tozer Pulpit” I thought that was a funny quote, but a good description of what people do.
“No matter how many manifestations sin may have, remember that the liquid essence in a bottle is always self.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Attributes of God,” vol. 2
“The act of committal to Christ in salvation releases the believing man from the penalty of sin, but it does not release him from the obligation to obey the words of Christ. Rather it brings him under the joyous necessity to obey.” – A. W. Tozer in “Of God and Men”
“God is not a glorified Santa Claus, who gives us everything we want, then fades out, and lets us run our own way. He gives, but in giving, He gives us Himself, too. And the best gift God ever gives us is Himself. He gives answers to prayer, but after we’ve used up the answer or don’t need it anymore, we still have God.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Attributes of God,” vol. 2
"Give thanks to God for those delays and what you learned in them." - Seaver, the compiler, in the discussion questions. I think this is a good challenge, which is why I'm putting it in my favorite quotes. I don't think I'm there yet. I have seen some good in waiting for answered prayers, but the waiting is so terrible, I think, for the most part, that I will just have to trust that it is there.
"Can you remember some specific times or events where your joy was robbed by worry?" - Seaver. I suppose I'd answer this with a deer-in-the-headlights look. The house is on fire! And You seriously want me to notice these flowers? Well, no, I can't spend every waking moment on the fires of this life, and there are others working, too. And One other. Gratitude involves becoming still enough to notice that not everything rests on us. But did you see the size of that monster? I can't tear my eyes away from it long enough to savor or even notice anything else. And so then I know there is work to be done within. Priorities rearranged. Respect given. Awareness anew of Who God is and just what He is capable of.
"Now this is what I want to emphasize and lay on your conscience that you practice anticipatory prayers because battles are lost before they are fought."
"Temptation can't hurt you if you have anticipated it by prayer, but temptation will certain fell you if you have not."
This book was a collection of snippets of Tozer's writings on prayer, usually a couple of pages long. W. L. Seaver wrote discussion questions after each excerpt and I enjoyed them as much as I did Tozer's writings.
I loved the quote:
“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Hi your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He ay heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how your self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and from others… Bless are those who attain such familiar, unreserved communication with God.” Francois Fenelon in “Spiritual Letters”
And I loved the homework on it to talk to God about these things, one or two a day, to get us talking, really talking, to God. In fact, I think that may have been the best part about the whole book.
I've had a thought on Abraham's prayers for Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. Did he quit praying too soon?
I found the compilation of verses on turning backs towards God (and then God turning His back on the people) in Jeremiah troubling, inspiring, and warning, all at once.
I found Julian of Norwich's prayers, adding, "And this I ask without any condition," that is, no matter what it cost, also very convicting and challenging.
I liked the analogy of truth being like a bird with two wings, that we should balance scripture with scripture because a one-winged bird doesn't fly very well.
I liked the baseball analogy, and will describe it to my softball player. Satan is like a pitcher that tries all kinds of unpredictable pitches so we never know where and how the temptation will appear.
I can be like a Moses, in that I can sometimes get results quickly [in hitting the rock], but not God's way and suffer for it. Or I can be like a Joshua, who depended too much on appearances of those claiming to be from afar. Or David, who didn't pray before taking a census. In fact, the point was that none of them prayed first; they just rushed headlong into things.
Repeatedly in this book, throughout these excerpts, Tozer indicates that God does not say "no" to prayers, but when He doesn't answer a prayer in the affirmative, it's our fault for not praying in enough faith or for not living sinlessly enough.
I know a couple who prayed in faith. In fact, the wife said that God had always granted her requests before. They knew of no repeated, consuming sin. And yet, their child died. There seems to be another such couple a friend of mine knows in her church, who is also facing the immanent loss of their child under similar faith-scenarios. It seems cruel to me to say that they didn't have enough faith or that some secret sin of theirs caused this. It makes me think of Job, who was so good-hearted that God bragged on him to Satan - and yet Job suffered.
Tozer had a good point that when we don't get what we pray for, people often don't investigate themselves enough to see if the fault lies there. But there's also Jesus in Gethsemane, asking for the Father not to send Him to the cross if there's any other way, or Paul with his thorn. I think that God sometimes does tell us, "no," even if Tozer preached so hard against that thought. That doesn't excuse any misbehavior on our part, and it doesn't excuse a lack of introspection to determine if there's any sin in the way. [Although certainly there is forgiveness if we ask for it!] I heard it said once that when we pray, God gives us what we would have asked for if we'd known better. And I like that answer better. Or S. D. Gordon's thought that while God didn't answer Paul about removing the thorn by removing it, He did answer the man - that while God doesn't always do what we want, He still meets our soul's needs.
Or this Charles Spurgeon quote: "Still remember that prayer is always to be offered in submission to God's will. When we say that God hears prayer, we do not mean that He always gives us literally what we ask for. However, we do mean this: that He gives us what is best for us, and that if He does not give us the mercy we ask for in silver, He bestows it upon us in gold. If He does not take away the thorn in the flesh, yet He says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee' (2 Cor. 12:9), which amounts to the same in the end." – Charles Spurgeon in “The Golden Key of Prayer”
But since Tozer blamed the praying people when prayers aren't answered, he also blamed them for the resulting lack of faith when they don't see God answering their imperfect prayers. Weeeeelll, be that as it may - and we are culpable for the state of our faith - I think part of the blame is in the false prosperity (or health and wealth) doctrine that God always gives us what we ask for and plenty of it. I find that to be a disillusioning thing to believe, when eventually it fails. I would not, however, classify Tozer as a prosperity gospel preacher because he's quick to add the part about asking whether something's in God's will, and blaming the person praying if it's not.
It annoyed me a little bit that Tozer called us "omnipotent" - or all-powerful - when we pray. He actually did that twice, and in the second such excerpt, he explained what he meant a little better. He meant that we were omnipotent "for a little while" because God is omnipotent on our behalf.
But first of all, we are not omnipotent since we are not in control, something he readily admitted in his first mentioning of our "omnipotence," and true omnipotence wouldn't wane, either.
Secondly, I don't want to be omnipotent, even if I really, really want things to go my way sometimes. No, I'd rather have an all-powerful God Who knows what He's doing and Who is acting out of love. The idea of me being all-powerful is a frightening one. That reminded me of the movie "Bruce Almighty" where God allows Bruce to take over His job and he ends up bungling it.
God wields His omnipotence perfectly with honor, justice, compassion, and wisdom - and mercy. I wouldn't want all that subjected to my whims of the moment or even my inability to see beyond the moment's hurt.
Despite his words, I don't really think that Tozer thinks that we are omnipotent when we pray, because he also said, "God will not change His eternal purposes on the word of a man. We do not pray in order to persuade God to change His mind... What the praying man does is to bring his will into line with the will of God so God can do what He all along has been willing to do." - in "The Price of Neglect"
I would say that when Tozer said we are omnipotent when we pray, he really meant that prayer is powerful. And prayer is only powerful, not because we are praying, but because it is God Who answers.
In "The Price of Neglect" quote above, I'd also answer that God can do whatever He wants, whether or not our will is aligned with His - because He's omnipotent - but that quite often He chooses to work with us rather than without us.
To be fair to Tozer, another couple of Tozer quotes that show a better understanding of God's Omnipotence from a different source ["The Knowledge of the Holy"] are:
"This word ["Almighty"] occurs fifty-six times in our English Bible and is never used of anyone but God. He alone is almighty."
"Prayer is not in itself meritorious. It lays God under no obligation nor puts Him in debt to any. He hears prayer because He is good, and for no other reason."
My husband wanted me to note that since this book, "Prayer," is excerpts of other books, these snippets may not give the full thought on a given topic, that it might be unintentionally misleading as to the whole. I felt like since they were generally several pages long, probably the excerpts at least had the gist of it, although there may be missing nuances or context.
In this book, "Prayer," Tozer threw me through a loop for awhile with his quote from Jeremiah 20:7 where Jeremiah said "O Lord, You deceived me and I was deceived." Tozer just quoted it to show that we can be honest before God, and even call Him a liar when we feel Him to be [even though, in actuality, He isn't.] I must've read that verse before, but somehow I didn't remember it.
So that sent me scurrying off to read that verse in the context of the chapter or more and to read different translations of the verse and various commentaries on it as to why Jeremiah was calling God a liar - and asking my husband what he thought about the verse. And the rest of the verse was even worse.
Some translators translated the word "persuaded" rather than "deceived." Some commentators said that Jeremiah felt deceived because he thought he'd be prophesying against other nations, but not his own. Other commentators said that Jeremiah's own nation was calling him deceived, and he were speaking hypothetically - "Well, if I'm deceived, then God Himself is the One Who deceived me!" I'd say any and all of these are possibilities.
But I suppose that also we must remember that two-winged bird, and that although Jeremiah may have called God a liar, we know that He isn't one. "It is impossible for God to lie." - Hebrews 6:18 and "Let God be true and every man a liar." - Romans 3:4
Okay, that was a rabbit trail, and rabbit trails aside, that was not why Tozer mentioned the verse. He was merely commenting that we can be honest before God, and should be. There are other rabbit trails involving that passage as well that get even darker.
I do agree that answered prayers can draw people to Jesus. They can make people consider the role of the supernatural in our world. It doesn't seem to me like that would be good for the sole basis of belief, though. Would they only believe for what they can get out of God? Or in the answered prayers as proof of His existence? That seemed a little dangerous to me because He does not always give what we want, although He always does justly.
Some of this book was insightful, but much of it felt pedantic to me. I still prefer Andrew Murray, Charles Spurgeon, S. D. Gordon, etc.
Favorite quotes:
“Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience.” – A. W. Tozer in “Of God and Men”
“Nowhere else in the whole field of religious thought and activity is courage so necessary as in prayer.” – A.W. Tozer in “We Travel an Appointed Way”
“Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Set of the Sail”
“The peace of heart does not come from denying that there is trouble, but comes from rolling your trouble on God.” – A. W. Tozer in “Prayer”
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer …” – Philippians 4:6. A. W. Tozer said, “In everything by money, in everything by social prestige in everything by publicity, in everything by committee, in everything by business methods, in everything by education, and lastly in everything by compromise. All of these replacement options are found wanting in the eyes of God, yet Christians continue to regress to them. Of these eight options, not one pleases God, and each of them adds to the stress and anxiety of life.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Tozer Pulpit” I thought that was a funny quote, but a good description of what people do.
“No matter how many manifestations sin may have, remember that the liquid essence in a bottle is always self.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Attributes of God,” vol. 2
“The act of committal to Christ in salvation releases the believing man from the penalty of sin, but it does not release him from the obligation to obey the words of Christ. Rather it brings him under the joyous necessity to obey.” – A. W. Tozer in “Of God and Men”
“God is not a glorified Santa Claus, who gives us everything we want, then fades out, and lets us run our own way. He gives, but in giving, He gives us Himself, too. And the best gift God ever gives us is Himself. He gives answers to prayer, but after we’ve used up the answer or don’t need it anymore, we still have God.” – A. W. Tozer in “The Attributes of God,” vol. 2
"Give thanks to God for those delays and what you learned in them." - Seaver, the compiler, in the discussion questions. I think this is a good challenge, which is why I'm putting it in my favorite quotes. I don't think I'm there yet. I have seen some good in waiting for answered prayers, but the waiting is so terrible, I think, for the most part, that I will just have to trust that it is there.
"Can you remember some specific times or events where your joy was robbed by worry?" - Seaver. I suppose I'd answer this with a deer-in-the-headlights look. The house is on fire! And You seriously want me to notice these flowers? Well, no, I can't spend every waking moment on the fires of this life, and there are others working, too. And One other. Gratitude involves becoming still enough to notice that not everything rests on us. But did you see the size of that monster? I can't tear my eyes away from it long enough to savor or even notice anything else. And so then I know there is work to be done within. Priorities rearranged. Respect given. Awareness anew of Who God is and just what He is capable of.
"Now this is what I want to emphasize and lay on your conscience that you practice anticipatory prayers because battles are lost before they are fought."
"Temptation can't hurt you if you have anticipated it by prayer, but temptation will certain fell you if you have not."
March 1, 2025
This book was so good! A little convicting lol, but I really enjoyed it. He speaks some hard-hitting truths about Christians and how we approach prayer. I also really enjoyed the commentary by W.L. Seaver and the Reflect & Apply sections.
April 11, 2022
I would actually rate this book as 4.5. It is a book of important Tozer insights on prayer followed by exploration, reflection and applications. I loved the format and Tozer, as always draws me nearer to the Lord. The book is a challenge for any believer to dig deeper into prayer.
November 6, 2024
Good scatter shot of Tozer's teachings on prayer. Key is telling someone to pray is "like telling someone to fall in love." Prayer is loving communion with God. We do it to be in relationship with him.
May 28, 2019
A group of women I'm a part of was reading this book together, one chapter a week. I quickly fell behind and ended up reading 1-3 chapters here and there to eventually finish it in my own time.
I don't think reading books that have been complied of Tozer's writings are for me. I tried to read another one awhile back and didn't finish it and I didn't really enjoy this one either. Over the years I just find myself more and more at odds with Tozer's theology and I found it frustrating to read snippets of his writing about prayer without their full context (not that the full context would have helped in some situations, but it's a better overall picture).
The book is designed to be a type of devotional with 28 short chapters that could be read every day for about a month. Each chapter has a short excerpt from one of Tozer's books or sermons and then the compiler comments briefly on it and provides study/application questions. I didn't think the comments enhanced the material. Sometimes they seemed to contradict Tozer's point, sometimes there were full of quotes from what we just read and mostly they were just pretty blah. They felt like some random person's thoughts on what Tozer had written and they weren't very theologically profound or sound. I didn't do (or even read) most of the study questions as I also found them to be pretty un-inspiring and it wasn't my intention to use this as as a study tool. Honestly, there just wasn't enough substance to really warrant in depth study in my opinion. The material is basically just random excerpts that more or less have something to do with prayer.
I did find a few chapters/thoughts helpful like the idea that "we pray only as well as we live," that we should "pray until we pray" (not just go through the motions to check it off our list), that truth has "two wings" (we must look at all of Scripture to maintain balance, not just prooftext single verses that only give one side), and that we must be honest with God when we pray (even when our honesty reveals our sinful attitudes).
I had to make myself finish this book and, even then, I kind of felt like it was not a good use of my time. There's a lot that I appreciate about Tozer, but there's also a lot that he has written that I do not agree with. This book is getting donated and I'm hesitant even to do that because I just didn't find it helpful on many levels. I'm willing to concede that if I had read one chapter at a time and did the questions (either on paper or in a group), it probably would have been somewhat more beneficial, but even then I still wouldn't have agreed with a good amount of the theology in the writings. It's a miss for me.
I don't think reading books that have been complied of Tozer's writings are for me. I tried to read another one awhile back and didn't finish it and I didn't really enjoy this one either. Over the years I just find myself more and more at odds with Tozer's theology and I found it frustrating to read snippets of his writing about prayer without their full context (not that the full context would have helped in some situations, but it's a better overall picture).
The book is designed to be a type of devotional with 28 short chapters that could be read every day for about a month. Each chapter has a short excerpt from one of Tozer's books or sermons and then the compiler comments briefly on it and provides study/application questions. I didn't think the comments enhanced the material. Sometimes they seemed to contradict Tozer's point, sometimes there were full of quotes from what we just read and mostly they were just pretty blah. They felt like some random person's thoughts on what Tozer had written and they weren't very theologically profound or sound. I didn't do (or even read) most of the study questions as I also found them to be pretty un-inspiring and it wasn't my intention to use this as as a study tool. Honestly, there just wasn't enough substance to really warrant in depth study in my opinion. The material is basically just random excerpts that more or less have something to do with prayer.
I did find a few chapters/thoughts helpful like the idea that "we pray only as well as we live," that we should "pray until we pray" (not just go through the motions to check it off our list), that truth has "two wings" (we must look at all of Scripture to maintain balance, not just prooftext single verses that only give one side), and that we must be honest with God when we pray (even when our honesty reveals our sinful attitudes).
I had to make myself finish this book and, even then, I kind of felt like it was not a good use of my time. There's a lot that I appreciate about Tozer, but there's also a lot that he has written that I do not agree with. This book is getting donated and I'm hesitant even to do that because I just didn't find it helpful on many levels. I'm willing to concede that if I had read one chapter at a time and did the questions (either on paper or in a group), it probably would have been somewhat more beneficial, but even then I still wouldn't have agreed with a good amount of the theology in the writings. It's a miss for me.
May 17, 2016
This book combines sermons and book excerpts by A W. Tozer along with commentary and reflection questions provided by compiler W.L. Seaver. I can't even begin to tell you how much I benefited from this book. It is set up so that you can use it as 28 day devotional if you like. For the most part, That is how I used it.
If you've every read a book by Tozer before, you know how inspirational they can be. I actually learned a few things from this book, and it definitely encouraged me to have a richer prayer life. I am so grateful to the compiler that he thought of pulling together all this information and putting it in one book. I am hoping to find more books like this.
Thank you Moody Publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.
If you've every read a book by Tozer before, you know how inspirational they can be. I actually learned a few things from this book, and it definitely encouraged me to have a richer prayer life. I am so grateful to the compiler that he thought of pulling together all this information and putting it in one book. I am hoping to find more books like this.
Thank you Moody Publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.
September 26, 2023
For My Own Future Notes:
Page 12 - “Some of the churches now advertise courses on how to pray. How ridiculous! That is like giving a course on how to fall in love. When the Holy Spirit comes He takes the things of God and translates them into language our hearts can understand. Even if we do not know the will of God, the Holy Spirit does know, and He prays ‘with groanings which cannot be uttered’.”
Page 23 - “One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas – the sacred and the secular.”
Page 35 - “The ‘laymen’ need never think of his humbler task as being inferior to that of his minister. Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called, and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”
Page 39 - “What we think about when we are free to think about whatever we will – that is what we are or will soon become.”
Page 48 - “Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience. The sovereign Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied by obedience. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble.”
Page 49 - “If we would have God’s blessing upon us, we must begin to obey. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience. God will not accept praying in lieu of obeying. We only deceive ourselves when we try to make the substitution.”
Page 60 - “It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be.”
“It has been the experience of countless seekers after God that when their desires became a pain, they were suddenly and wonderfully filled. The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness.”
Page 67 - “Julian of Norwich at the beginning of her wonderful Christian life addressed a prayer to her Savior and then added the wise words, ‘And this I ask without any condition.’”
Page 69 - “Helplessness united with faith produces prayer. Without faith our helplessness would be only a vain cry of distress in the night.”
Page 73-74 - “Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush. Almost every book on prayer deals with the ‘get’ element mainly. How to get things we want from God occupies most of the space. Now, we gladly admit that we may ask for and receive specific gifts and benefits in answer to prayer, but we must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.”
Page 74 - “The heart seldom gets hot while the mouth is open. A closed mouth before God and a silent heart are indispensable for the reception of certain kinds of truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened.”
Page 89 - “According to the Bible, we have because we ask, or we have not because we ask not. It does not take much wisdom to discover our next move. Is it not to pray, and pray again and again till the answer comes? God waits to be invited to display His power in behalf of His people. The world situation is such that nothing less than God can straighten it out. Let us not fail the world and disappoint God by failing to pray.”
Page 94 - “Every desire should be brought to the test of God’s will. If the desire is out of the will of God. It should be instantly dismissed as unworthy of us. To continue to long for something that is plainly out of the will of God for us is to prove how unreal our consecration actually is.”
“If however, the desired object is legitimate and innocent, then there are three possible ways by which it may be obtained: one is to work for it, another is to pray for it, and a third is to work and pray for it.”
Page 115 - “D.A. Carson notes that…’Christians should pray long enough and honestly enough at a single session, to get past the feelings of formalism and unreality that attends not a little praying. We are especially prone to such feelings when we pray for only a few minutes, rushing to be done with a mere duty. To enter the spirit of prayer, we must stick to it for a while. If we ‘pray until we pray’, eventually we come to delight in God’s presence, to rest in His love, to cherish His will. Even in dark or agonized praying, we somehow know we are doing business with God. In short, we discover a little of what Jude means when he exhorts his readers to ‘pray in the Holy Spirit’ (Jude 20) – which presumably means it is treacherously possible to pray not in the Spirit.’”
Page 148 - “Even worse was that the Pharisees boasted in the works of the flesh, but the tax collector displayed his faith in his prayer. The Pharisee had much knowledge of the law but no experience in doing it, just like many today who enjoy knowing God’s will rather than doing it.”
“The depths of a man’s spirituality may be known quite accurately by the quality of his public prayers.”
Page 152 - “Almost anything associated with the ministry may be learned with an average amount of intelligent application. It is not hard to preach or manage church affairs or pay a social call; weddings and funerals may be conducted smoothly with a little help from Emily Post and the Minister’s Manual. Sermon making can be learned as easily as shoemaking – introduction, conclusion and all. And so with the whole work of the ministry as it is carried on in the average church today.
But prayer – that is another matter. There Mrs. Post is helpless and the Minister’s Manual can offer no assistance. There the lonely man of God must wrestle it out alone, sometimes in fastings and tears and weariness untold. There every man must be an original, for true prayer cannot be imitated nor can it be learned from someone else. Everyone must pray as if he alone could pray, and his approach must be individual and independent; independent, that is, of everyone but the Holy Spirit.”
“Thomas a Kempis says that the man of God ought to be more at home in his prayer chamber than before the public.”
Page 152-153 - “The man who is really at home in the presence of God will find himself caught in a kind of inward contradiction. He is likely to feel his responsibility so keenly that he would rather do almost anything than face an audience; and yet the pressure upon his spirit may be so great that wild horses could not drag him away from his pulpit.”
“No man should stand before an audience who has not first stood before God. Many hours of communion should precede one hour in the pulpit. The prayer chamber should be more familiar than the public platform. Prayer should be continuous, preaching but intermittent.”
“It is significant that the schools teach everything about preaching except the important part, praying. For this weakness the schools are not to be blamed, for the reason that prayer cannot be taught; it can only be done.”
“Praying itself must be the work of the individual. That it is one religious work which gets done with the least enthusiasm cannot be but one of the tragedies of our times.”
Page 159 - “Let us watch that we do not slide imperceptibly to a state where the women do the praying and the men run the churches. Men who do not pray have no right to direct church affairs. We believe the leadership of men within the spiritual community of the saints, but that leadership should be won by spiritual worth.”
Page 166 - “When we go to God with a request that He modify the existing situation for us, that is, that He answer prayer, there are two conditions that we must meet: (1) We must pray in the will of God. (2) We must be on what old-fashioned Christians often call ‘praying ground’: that is, we must be living lives pleasing to God.”
“It is futile to beg God to act contrary to His revealed purposes. To pray with confidence the petitioner must be certain that his request falls within the broad will of God for His people.”
“The second condition is also vitally important. God has not placed Himself under obligation to honor the requests of worldly, carnal, or disobedient Christians. He hears and answers the prayers only of those who walk in His way.”
Page 195 - “Christ gave those disciples then – and to disciples today – these words as a sort of a little diamond set in this great ring: ‘Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation for the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.’ I want you to know that this prayer that Jesus made that night in the garden was an anticipatory prayer. That is, He prayed in anticipation of something that He knew was coming in the will of God, and He got ready for it. Now this is what I want to emphasize and lay upon your conscience that you practice anticipatory prayer because battles are lost before they are fought.”
Page 207 - “’Watch and pray,’ said Jesus, and He practiced it and won because He did practice it. He caught the spinning world that sin had thrown out of gear, caught them in the web of His own love and redeemed them with the shedding of His own blood. He did it, I say, because He readied Himself for that awful event and that glorious event by prayer the night before, and by prayer in the mountains at other times and by prayer down the years through His boyhood. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Remember that without it you cannot win, and with it you cannot lose, granted, of course, that it’s true prayer and not saying of words; granted your life is in harmony with your prayer. If you pray, you cannot lose, and if you fail to pray, you cannot win.”
Page 214 - “For instance, reason could not tell us that Jesus Christ should be born of the Virgin Mary, but faith knows He was. Reason cannot prove that Jesus took upon Him the form of a man and died under the sins of the world, but faith knows He did. Reason cannot prove that the third day He rose from the dead, but faith knows that He did. Thus, reason doesn’t know these things, but faith does: faith is an organ of knowledge.”
Page 12 - “Some of the churches now advertise courses on how to pray. How ridiculous! That is like giving a course on how to fall in love. When the Holy Spirit comes He takes the things of God and translates them into language our hearts can understand. Even if we do not know the will of God, the Holy Spirit does know, and He prays ‘with groanings which cannot be uttered’.”
Page 23 - “One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas – the sacred and the secular.”
Page 35 - “The ‘laymen’ need never think of his humbler task as being inferior to that of his minister. Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called, and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”
Page 39 - “What we think about when we are free to think about whatever we will – that is what we are or will soon become.”
Page 48 - “Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience. The sovereign Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied by obedience. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble.”
Page 49 - “If we would have God’s blessing upon us, we must begin to obey. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience. God will not accept praying in lieu of obeying. We only deceive ourselves when we try to make the substitution.”
Page 60 - “It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be.”
“It has been the experience of countless seekers after God that when their desires became a pain, they were suddenly and wonderfully filled. The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness.”
Page 67 - “Julian of Norwich at the beginning of her wonderful Christian life addressed a prayer to her Savior and then added the wise words, ‘And this I ask without any condition.’”
Page 69 - “Helplessness united with faith produces prayer. Without faith our helplessness would be only a vain cry of distress in the night.”
Page 73-74 - “Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush. Almost every book on prayer deals with the ‘get’ element mainly. How to get things we want from God occupies most of the space. Now, we gladly admit that we may ask for and receive specific gifts and benefits in answer to prayer, but we must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.”
Page 74 - “The heart seldom gets hot while the mouth is open. A closed mouth before God and a silent heart are indispensable for the reception of certain kinds of truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened.”
Page 89 - “According to the Bible, we have because we ask, or we have not because we ask not. It does not take much wisdom to discover our next move. Is it not to pray, and pray again and again till the answer comes? God waits to be invited to display His power in behalf of His people. The world situation is such that nothing less than God can straighten it out. Let us not fail the world and disappoint God by failing to pray.”
Page 94 - “Every desire should be brought to the test of God’s will. If the desire is out of the will of God. It should be instantly dismissed as unworthy of us. To continue to long for something that is plainly out of the will of God for us is to prove how unreal our consecration actually is.”
“If however, the desired object is legitimate and innocent, then there are three possible ways by which it may be obtained: one is to work for it, another is to pray for it, and a third is to work and pray for it.”
Page 115 - “D.A. Carson notes that…’Christians should pray long enough and honestly enough at a single session, to get past the feelings of formalism and unreality that attends not a little praying. We are especially prone to such feelings when we pray for only a few minutes, rushing to be done with a mere duty. To enter the spirit of prayer, we must stick to it for a while. If we ‘pray until we pray’, eventually we come to delight in God’s presence, to rest in His love, to cherish His will. Even in dark or agonized praying, we somehow know we are doing business with God. In short, we discover a little of what Jude means when he exhorts his readers to ‘pray in the Holy Spirit’ (Jude 20) – which presumably means it is treacherously possible to pray not in the Spirit.’”
Page 148 - “Even worse was that the Pharisees boasted in the works of the flesh, but the tax collector displayed his faith in his prayer. The Pharisee had much knowledge of the law but no experience in doing it, just like many today who enjoy knowing God’s will rather than doing it.”
“The depths of a man’s spirituality may be known quite accurately by the quality of his public prayers.”
Page 152 - “Almost anything associated with the ministry may be learned with an average amount of intelligent application. It is not hard to preach or manage church affairs or pay a social call; weddings and funerals may be conducted smoothly with a little help from Emily Post and the Minister’s Manual. Sermon making can be learned as easily as shoemaking – introduction, conclusion and all. And so with the whole work of the ministry as it is carried on in the average church today.
But prayer – that is another matter. There Mrs. Post is helpless and the Minister’s Manual can offer no assistance. There the lonely man of God must wrestle it out alone, sometimes in fastings and tears and weariness untold. There every man must be an original, for true prayer cannot be imitated nor can it be learned from someone else. Everyone must pray as if he alone could pray, and his approach must be individual and independent; independent, that is, of everyone but the Holy Spirit.”
“Thomas a Kempis says that the man of God ought to be more at home in his prayer chamber than before the public.”
Page 152-153 - “The man who is really at home in the presence of God will find himself caught in a kind of inward contradiction. He is likely to feel his responsibility so keenly that he would rather do almost anything than face an audience; and yet the pressure upon his spirit may be so great that wild horses could not drag him away from his pulpit.”
“No man should stand before an audience who has not first stood before God. Many hours of communion should precede one hour in the pulpit. The prayer chamber should be more familiar than the public platform. Prayer should be continuous, preaching but intermittent.”
“It is significant that the schools teach everything about preaching except the important part, praying. For this weakness the schools are not to be blamed, for the reason that prayer cannot be taught; it can only be done.”
“Praying itself must be the work of the individual. That it is one religious work which gets done with the least enthusiasm cannot be but one of the tragedies of our times.”
Page 159 - “Let us watch that we do not slide imperceptibly to a state where the women do the praying and the men run the churches. Men who do not pray have no right to direct church affairs. We believe the leadership of men within the spiritual community of the saints, but that leadership should be won by spiritual worth.”
Page 166 - “When we go to God with a request that He modify the existing situation for us, that is, that He answer prayer, there are two conditions that we must meet: (1) We must pray in the will of God. (2) We must be on what old-fashioned Christians often call ‘praying ground’: that is, we must be living lives pleasing to God.”
“It is futile to beg God to act contrary to His revealed purposes. To pray with confidence the petitioner must be certain that his request falls within the broad will of God for His people.”
“The second condition is also vitally important. God has not placed Himself under obligation to honor the requests of worldly, carnal, or disobedient Christians. He hears and answers the prayers only of those who walk in His way.”
Page 195 - “Christ gave those disciples then – and to disciples today – these words as a sort of a little diamond set in this great ring: ‘Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation for the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.’ I want you to know that this prayer that Jesus made that night in the garden was an anticipatory prayer. That is, He prayed in anticipation of something that He knew was coming in the will of God, and He got ready for it. Now this is what I want to emphasize and lay upon your conscience that you practice anticipatory prayer because battles are lost before they are fought.”
Page 207 - “’Watch and pray,’ said Jesus, and He practiced it and won because He did practice it. He caught the spinning world that sin had thrown out of gear, caught them in the web of His own love and redeemed them with the shedding of His own blood. He did it, I say, because He readied Himself for that awful event and that glorious event by prayer the night before, and by prayer in the mountains at other times and by prayer down the years through His boyhood. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Remember that without it you cannot win, and with it you cannot lose, granted, of course, that it’s true prayer and not saying of words; granted your life is in harmony with your prayer. If you pray, you cannot lose, and if you fail to pray, you cannot win.”
Page 214 - “For instance, reason could not tell us that Jesus Christ should be born of the Virgin Mary, but faith knows He was. Reason cannot prove that Jesus took upon Him the form of a man and died under the sins of the world, but faith knows He did. Reason cannot prove that the third day He rose from the dead, but faith knows that He did. Thus, reason doesn’t know these things, but faith does: faith is an organ of knowledge.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2024
This book is phenomenal and has led me to think about prayer from an entirely different perspective. My biggest takeaway from this book was trying to write my prayers rather than in my thoughts. This has been truly helpful because Tozer speaks on frustration of not being able to have a clear mind while talking to God. This book has truly improved my prayer life.
Summary:
A.W. Tozer’s book “Prayer: Communing with God in Everything” focuses on the essence and transformative power of prayer.
1. Intimacy with God: Tozer emphasizes that prayer is not merely about asking for things but about cultivating a deep, personal relationship with God. It is a way to experience His presence and align ourselves with His will.
2. God-Centered Prayer: True prayer focuses on God’s glory, not our own desires. Tozer calls for a shift from self-centered prayers to seeking God’s kingdom and His purposes.
3. Faith and Trust: Effective prayer requires faith in God’s character and trust in His perfect timing. Tozer highlights that doubt can hinder our communion with God.
4. Consistency in Prayer: Prayer should be a consistent part of a believer’s life, not a sporadic or last-resort activity. It reflects a life lived in continual dependence on God.
5. Prayer as Worship: Tozer views prayer as an act of worship, where we approach God in reverence, adoration, and thanksgiving, recognizing His holiness and majesty.
6. The Role of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit aids believers in prayer, guiding them and interceding when they don’t know what to say.
The book encourages Christians to prioritize prayer, seeing it not as a duty but as a privilege and a vital means of deepening their relationship with God.
Summary:
A.W. Tozer’s book “Prayer: Communing with God in Everything” focuses on the essence and transformative power of prayer.
1. Intimacy with God: Tozer emphasizes that prayer is not merely about asking for things but about cultivating a deep, personal relationship with God. It is a way to experience His presence and align ourselves with His will.
2. God-Centered Prayer: True prayer focuses on God’s glory, not our own desires. Tozer calls for a shift from self-centered prayers to seeking God’s kingdom and His purposes.
3. Faith and Trust: Effective prayer requires faith in God’s character and trust in His perfect timing. Tozer highlights that doubt can hinder our communion with God.
4. Consistency in Prayer: Prayer should be a consistent part of a believer’s life, not a sporadic or last-resort activity. It reflects a life lived in continual dependence on God.
5. Prayer as Worship: Tozer views prayer as an act of worship, where we approach God in reverence, adoration, and thanksgiving, recognizing His holiness and majesty.
6. The Role of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit aids believers in prayer, guiding them and interceding when they don’t know what to say.
The book encourages Christians to prioritize prayer, seeing it not as a duty but as a privilege and a vital means of deepening their relationship with God.
July 15, 2017
I've said it before and I'll say it again - A. W. Tozer's writings are the best. Like. For real. I'm absolutely thrilled with all the reprints Moody has been releasing over the last few years. Great content and beautiful cover art. Prayer tackles some issues that churches are dealing with today in that specific realm. Lately things have been kind of tough. The last two years especially. Sometimes I just didn't know what to do, and, truth be told, I didn't do what I should have done - pray. This is a great little book and timely too as we see everything that's going on around the world and in our personal lives. It's tumultuous times. Now more than ever prayer is needed. And sometimes our pride gets in the way. Maybe you're like me and need to just delve into a book like this. At first I was like, people need to read about prayer? But then the more I read the more I realized every Christian needs to read this book. It's an absolute fabulous read and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
DISCLAIMER: In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” we would like to note that we received a hard copy of “Prayer” provided by the publishers, Moody, in exchange for our honest review.
DISCLAIMER: In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” we would like to note that we received a hard copy of “Prayer” provided by the publishers, Moody, in exchange for our honest review.
May 7, 2023
Rather than comment on the writing quality of Seaver, and I think he would prefer I focus your attention on Tozer than on him, I want to commend the practice of engaging with what you read.
This is what Seaver did: “I read what Tozer wrote and I thought of Abraham. Let me collect my thoughts and write them down.”
These written thoughts of his will not win Seaver any literary prizes. Perhaps he might win one in a Christian Cat-Lovers Convention. But I think the important point is he engages and shows us you don’t have to be fancy to digest on what you read.
How many of us can write a bestseller or a classic? But all of us can read and engage with what we read. Your reflections on your reading will probably not get you published. But if sharing your thoughts fires you up, then post it in social media, start a blog, or try your hand at a Christian book review podcast.
I see in this book, a man who has gained much on prayer from Tozer and wants to introduce these good things to new readers or even those who know Tozer but have never seen his writings on prayer compiled together like this.
Tozer was a plain-speaking man. I don’t know whether Tozer liked cats but if he did, that would be an extra bonus that a cat-loving, plain-speaking man got the chance to write a book on Tozer and prayer.
Full 2,300 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
This is what Seaver did: “I read what Tozer wrote and I thought of Abraham. Let me collect my thoughts and write them down.”
These written thoughts of his will not win Seaver any literary prizes. Perhaps he might win one in a Christian Cat-Lovers Convention. But I think the important point is he engages and shows us you don’t have to be fancy to digest on what you read.
How many of us can write a bestseller or a classic? But all of us can read and engage with what we read. Your reflections on your reading will probably not get you published. But if sharing your thoughts fires you up, then post it in social media, start a blog, or try your hand at a Christian book review podcast.
I see in this book, a man who has gained much on prayer from Tozer and wants to introduce these good things to new readers or even those who know Tozer but have never seen his writings on prayer compiled together like this.
Tozer was a plain-speaking man. I don’t know whether Tozer liked cats but if he did, that would be an extra bonus that a cat-loving, plain-speaking man got the chance to write a book on Tozer and prayer.
Full 2,300 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
March 24, 2020
6/10
Prayer is not a fire escape, it’s a way of life. Its not an exit, it’s the path.
This is a collection of many passages from Tozer that relate to prayer, they are sewed together and reanimated to create some collective whole. The result is disparate wisdom divorced from its original context. The words still contain power, as its difficult to read even a short passage of Tozer without effect, but the constant sermonizing on the part of the editor becomes to much after the first few pages. Read Tozer, specifically the Pursuit of God or Knowledge of the Holy, and give this one a pass.
God does not accept prayer over obedience, both must be given together. Right prayer without obedience is worthless. This is why we can pray for revival and see none, because our obedience does not fall in line with our prayer.
There is no divide between the sacred and the secular, for Christ, every act was sacred, so should it be for us.
Pray without condition. Allow him to use you however He chooses, trust Him.
It is not what a man does that makes it holy, it is why he does it. Purpose is everything. If we “do it all for the glory of God”, then it is all glorious.
“No man is fit to speak who has not first listened.”
“Pray until you really pray.”
“Prayer cannot be taught, it can only be done.” The best we can do is exhort towards prayer.
Prayer is not a fire escape, it’s a way of life. Its not an exit, it’s the path.
This is a collection of many passages from Tozer that relate to prayer, they are sewed together and reanimated to create some collective whole. The result is disparate wisdom divorced from its original context. The words still contain power, as its difficult to read even a short passage of Tozer without effect, but the constant sermonizing on the part of the editor becomes to much after the first few pages. Read Tozer, specifically the Pursuit of God or Knowledge of the Holy, and give this one a pass.
God does not accept prayer over obedience, both must be given together. Right prayer without obedience is worthless. This is why we can pray for revival and see none, because our obedience does not fall in line with our prayer.
There is no divide between the sacred and the secular, for Christ, every act was sacred, so should it be for us.
Pray without condition. Allow him to use you however He chooses, trust Him.
It is not what a man does that makes it holy, it is why he does it. Purpose is everything. If we “do it all for the glory of God”, then it is all glorious.
“No man is fit to speak who has not first listened.”
“Pray until you really pray.”
“Prayer cannot be taught, it can only be done.” The best we can do is exhort towards prayer.
December 3, 2021
There’s much to glean from Tozer’s sermons, and this book does a good job compiling his messages about prayer. The book is broken up in segments and would be best used as a devotional.
This book didn’t help in the way I expected. I started listening to this expecting I’ll get all sorts of sound bite prayer tips from a well respected pastor. While he does get practical at times, one quote that stood out was:
“True prayer cannot be imitated nor can it be learned from someone else.”
But isn’t that just the most practical bit of wisdom on prayer? How often do we try to do just that?
Maybe while we take away some tips from others, we should also focus more on learning from the Spirit, letting God teach us. That doesn’t sound practical at all from a tangible standpoint, but I think our hearts need to be shaped first by a yearning for the presence of the Spirit in our lives, then we don’t need to search so much for human guidance as much as we need to actively explore ways to be fully present with the Spirit.
We do need people to look up to for spiritual guidance, but what I’m working out in my own life is the balance of learning from seeing and learning from doing. I’m a far way from it, but happy to be on that journey.
This book didn’t help in the way I expected. I started listening to this expecting I’ll get all sorts of sound bite prayer tips from a well respected pastor. While he does get practical at times, one quote that stood out was:
“True prayer cannot be imitated nor can it be learned from someone else.”
But isn’t that just the most practical bit of wisdom on prayer? How often do we try to do just that?
Maybe while we take away some tips from others, we should also focus more on learning from the Spirit, letting God teach us. That doesn’t sound practical at all from a tangible standpoint, but I think our hearts need to be shaped first by a yearning for the presence of the Spirit in our lives, then we don’t need to search so much for human guidance as much as we need to actively explore ways to be fully present with the Spirit.
We do need people to look up to for spiritual guidance, but what I’m working out in my own life is the balance of learning from seeing and learning from doing. I’m a far way from it, but happy to be on that journey.
May 3, 2022
Convicting and altogether redeeming, salve to a wretched and burdened soul. Tozer is refreshingly simplifying one of the most mysterious and challenging themes to the tensions between a human's spiritual vs carnal nature (in anyone) who chooses to walk life on earth by faith in God Almighty. The risk in this book is the unforgiving tone of Tozer essays in propelling you to come to the light of the ways you conduct life either as obedience /belief vs disobedience/unbelief: Tozer is unapologetic in forcing you to come to the crossroad and resolve between the two. He is not wishywashy about God's ultimate expectation of us; His holiness and its separateness from our palate for earthly designs. It's a tough read, especially, in the practical 'Think through' reflections but if you persevere on the hike up, you will come to see and taste the goodness of God as you ascend to the summit with more clarity, though much later in the book. The reflections are a promise that in 6months to a year anyone who desires intimacy with God and maturity in prayer, will start to see results 💚😇, this book is marvelous and great for ' get real & introspective' daily meditation!
May 15, 2023
This book is worth the read. Given that it is a compilation of excerpts from Tozer’s works paired with commentary and discussion questions, I believe there is at least one chapter that the Spirit will use to lead the reader to reflect on their prayer life. Hopefully to the result of being fueled to pray more earnestly, expectantly, honestly, courageously, humbly, and selflessly!!
“A spiritual journey awaits us as God reshapes our petitions, molds us more into the image of his Son, and brings closure to the matter prayed about in such a way that His holiness, His mercy, His love, and His glory are ever magnified. If our everyday lives are filled with the barrenness of busyness and no serious urgency to pray, then we miss the wonderful journey of being conformed to the image of Christ and knowing our God more intimately”.
Favorite Chapters:
- The Whole Life Must Pray
- To Be Right, We Must Think Right
- Born After Midnight
- Praying Without Condition
- Dangers in Unanswered Prayer
- Praying Till We Pray
- Honesty in Prayer
- Vague Praying and Expectation
- Prepare by Prayer
“A spiritual journey awaits us as God reshapes our petitions, molds us more into the image of his Son, and brings closure to the matter prayed about in such a way that His holiness, His mercy, His love, and His glory are ever magnified. If our everyday lives are filled with the barrenness of busyness and no serious urgency to pray, then we miss the wonderful journey of being conformed to the image of Christ and knowing our God more intimately”.
Favorite Chapters:
- The Whole Life Must Pray
- To Be Right, We Must Think Right
- Born After Midnight
- Praying Without Condition
- Dangers in Unanswered Prayer
- Praying Till We Pray
- Honesty in Prayer
- Vague Praying and Expectation
- Prepare by Prayer
February 22, 2024
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