Praying Longer? Praying Better!

Often our focus is on praying longer.  When we read the prayers that Paul wrote in the New Testament, we are reminded that God also wants us to pray better.  One of my favorite books on Paul's prayers is "Spiritual Reformation" by D.A. Carson.  Books like this one keep me encouraged, challenged and praying biblically.  As Carson writes in his book, there are many great problems in the world and many urgent needs.  "But there is a sense in which these urgent needs are merely symptomatic of a far more serious lack.  The one thing we most urgently need in Western Christiandom is a deeper knowledge of God.  We need to know God better."  As Carson continues, "one of the foundational steps in knowing God, and one of the basic demonstrations that we do know God, is prayer-spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer."  Dr. Carson's book has challenged me not merely to pray more but to pray more biblically.  This book has served to remind me that prayer is not the end goal, but deeper knowledge of God is the grand goal of life and ministry.

Pray can be a formula for getting what we want from God, yet Carson's book helps us ground my prayers in the biblical text, asking for a deeper knowledge of God, asking God for grace to become more loving, asking God for an eternal perspective in putting the gospel first.

I highly commend this book for use in small groups.  I have gone through this book with church staffs, small groups and individuals and have never come away disappointed in learning new lessons in how God wants our prayer lives to reflect his character and purposes.