How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People [9781529374926]

Everyone prays.
But no one finds it easy.
We all need a little help.

Pete Greig has been teaching on prayer - and leading a non-stop prayer movement - for twenty years. Now, for the first time, he puts his life's work into a response to the question everybody ultimately asks: how do I pray?

This down-to-earth introduction to life's greatest adventure will guide you deeper in your relationship with God, helping you to become more centred and still, clearer in discerning God's voice, more able to make sense of your disappointments and more expectant for miraculous breakthroughs too. It's full of honest, hard-won wisdom interspersed with real-life stories - some humorous, others moving - to equip and inspire your prayer life. Journeying through the Lord's Prayer, and accompanied by online videos from The Prayer Course, which has been used by more than a million people, it unpacks nine essential aspects of prayer: stillness, adoration, petition, intercession, perseverance, contemplation, listening, confession and spiritual authority.

From one of today's most visionary communicators, for those who've been praying for years as well as those who want to pray but don't know where to begin, How to Pray is the simple, life-changing guide you've been waiting for.

PREACH REVIEW:

How to pray is a practical, accessible book that would be an encouragement to anyone who has questions about prayer or is seeking to grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Greig uses the helpful acronym P-R-A-Y (Pause-Rejoice-Ask-Yield) and the template of the Lord’s prayer to explore different aspects of prayer, including why we pray, being still before God, worship and adoration, petition, intercession, contemplation, listening to God, confession and reconciliation and spiritual warfare.

What makes this book stand out above all other books I have read on prayer is that Greig talks about his own struggles with prayer in a way that the reader can identify with. He acknowledges difficulties and stumbling blocks to prayer and acknowledges that we are all wired differently. This is a book that embraces different Christian disciplines of worship and prayer. A chapter on unanswered prayer is refreshingly honest and scripturally sound.

Greig refers to Scripture throughout and takes a close look at Jesus’ model of prayer and how he was constantly in prayer with the Father.

There’s definitely something for everyone in this book – perhaps the challenge to pause and make time to sit at the feet of Jesus, or to draw inspiration from figures from history that Greig presents as case studies at the end of each chapter. For me, surprisingly, it was a reminder to keep asking God about the ‘smaller things’ and that our approach to prayer (and therefore to our Heavenly Father) can be indicative of the way that we think God views us.

Above all, the key message is that prayer is relational. Because Greig writes in such an honest and practical way about prayer, it encourages the reader to act! I certainly noticed a difference in my approach to prayer after reading this book. If you would welcome a boost to your prayer life (who wouldn’t?) then this book is a must-read.

How to pray can also be read in conjunction with The Prayer Course (www.prayercourse.org).

Preach magazine book review by Vicki Cook

AUTHOR: Pete Greig is a writer, church-planter and bewildered co-founder of the 24-7 movement. He heads up Emmaus Rd in Guildford with his wife Sammy, serves as Vice-President for the NGO Tearfund and was part of the senior leadership team at HTB in London for seven years. Pete's publications include Red Moon Rising, God on Mute, The Prayer Course and Dirty Glory. He loves art galleries, live music and knocking down walls. Pete tweets regularly @petegreig