Whenever You Pray: Following Jesus' Teachings on Prayer

by Gregory Brown

How should we pray? In Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7), where he teaches about the citizens of his kingdom and their character, he spends considerable time on prayer. The clear implication is that Christ expects his followers to be devoted to prayer. They won’t pray like hypocrites—with vain, heartless petitions that seek to manipulate God and impress others (Matt 6:5). They will pray because they are consumed with his name, kingdom, will, and people (Matt 6:9-13). Unfortunately, many followers of Christ struggle with prayer. For example, after being taught about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, the disciples later approached Christ, asking him to teach them how to pray again (Lk 11:1-4). This means they still struggled with praying and being disciplined in it. This is often true for us. In Whenever You Pray, we revisit Christ’s instructions on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:5-18), so we can learn how to pray properly, overcome our struggles with it, and build God’s earthly kingdom through it. Lord, teach and empower us to pray. In your name, we pray. Amen.

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 19, 2018

About the author

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Reviews

[Debbie Chatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thoughtful and comprehensive study guide to prayer that could be used either as a teaching guide or for personal study. The book begins by an overview on prayer and its importance in the Christians life and then Uses the framework of the Lords prayer to explore the elements of prayer. The author thoroughly expands on each element explaining both its meaning and its significance using a method of question and answer. In each chapter, there is a big question to get the reader/hearer to begin pondering the topic. This is followed by an interpretive question that begins to peel back the onion and get into the meat of the matter. Then towards the end of the chapter, there is an application question to help the reader/hearer apply that which was learned.

So this is very well written and presented in such a way that it works for either individual or collective learning. One of the other things I like is that there is a conclusion section in each chapter which would lend well to separate lessons for each chapter and also ensures the reader/hearer walks away with the key point for that section.

My favorite quote from the book is ‘praying is more about intimacy with God and conforming our heart to his will than receiving our requests. My favorite part was the review of the names of God.

Recommend this book to any learner or teacher.

[Indika Guruge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gregory browns step by step advice is simple to understand yet powerful.

Author teaches step by step guidelines on how to pray.
The clear implication is that Christ expects his followers to be devoted to prayer. They won’t pray like hypocrites—with vain, heartless petitions that seek to manipulate God and impress others (Matt 6: 5). They will pray because they are consumed with God: his name, kingdom, will, and people (Matt 6: 9-13).

I took the authors advice and practised his methods and how it affected my faith in Christ was got clear evertime I used his advice.

The clear implication is that Christ expects his followers to be devoted to prayer. They won’t pray like hypocrites—with vain, heartless petitions that seek to manipulate God and impress others (Matt 6: 5). They will pray because they are consumed with God: his name, kingdom, will, and people (Matt 6: 9-13).

When we come into God’s presence, we must recognize him as our heavenly Father.

Gregory browns step by step advice is simple to understand yet powerful.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

A very great devotional to read / study. Each chapter broken down si makes it easy to study and come to the conclusion. Nice for any study group or individuals