Looking for a prayer book? I’ve selected some of the best and most practical books on prayer to read, including Tim Keller’s new book on prayer. I’ve tried to describe the gist of the approach of each book, so you can decide which is most helpful for you. Also I’ve given an  example of the key teachings, so even if you don’t read the book, you’ll get something to think about just from the review.

Prayer Key to Revival – Cho – 1987

“Prayer Key to Revival” is a real classic prayer book and I still refer to it. It’s special because it was born out of a period of suffering in South Korea and out of revival. Yonggi Cho has seen the power of prayer in his own life, in the building of the largest church in the world and in the transformation of his nation.Three things stand out.

Firstly, he gives an overview of his personal prayer life and how he manages to pray so much despite being a hugely busy Pastor.

Secondly, he gives a number of personal illustrations that greatly illuminate a teaching point. For example when he asked God for a bicycle as a young man and didn’t receive an answer. He asked the Lord why and He replied that there are many types of bicycle and that He wanted him to be more specific.

Thirdly, he describes the structure of prayer in South Korea, from family devotions, to daily early morning prayer meetings to retreats at prayer mountains. We in the West can learn greatly from this.

Don’t just stand there, pray something! – Ronald Dunn

Ronald Dunn is a great teacher but he also has a passion for prayer. So he manages to make the mechanics and challenges of praying very accessible and readable but yet with the insights of a practitioner. After three months of preaching on prayer, his church put it all into practice.

He especially focuses on intercessory prayer and how to see answers. His reach is broad including how to pray for the lost, how to abide in Christ, fasting and praying and what happens when God doesn’t answer!

You will finish “Don’t just stand there, pray something!” stirred and encouraged that you too can be a prayer warrior and that prayer really is the best thing we can do as believers.

Praying with Paul: a call to a Spiritual Reformation – Don Carson

In “Praying with Paul: a call to a Spiritual Reformation“, Carson approaches praying by focusing on the prayers of the Apostle Paul recorded in his letters. He shows us how we can learn from Paul’s prayers and specifically from Paul’s priorities in praying which greatly challenge the way we pray in the West. This book is about going deep into the Scriptures and transforming our praying through the example of Paul.

It’s the best book on praying Scriptural prayers I have read. Carson describes swimmer Florence Chadwick’s failed attempted English Channel crossing, all because she lost sight of the shore. Carson urges us to get hold of God’s amazing vision and goals for our lives, the Church and the world, so that we will persevere in prayer and see these eternal realities come about. It leads to powerful praying.

It’s a book that you will want to keep re-reading until you have grasped fully Paul’s priorities in your own prayer life.

Rees Howells Intercessor –Norman Grubb

There are few lives that inspire us so much in prayer as Rees Howells. In “Rees Howells Intercessor“, Grubb walks us through Howell’s life and how the Holy Spirit taught him to pray starting with a drunkard, Will Battery,  and then towards the end of his life interceding for the destinies of nations during the Second World War.

The genius of Grubb is to teach us about prayer through the life of Howells. Grubb explains a number of key principles seen in the life of Howells.

Firstly, that he was never to ask God to answer a prayer through others, or to help provide for someone, if God could answer it through him first!

Secondly, how to gain the position of faith in prayer to see a breakthrough, through the process of identification, sacrifice and  authority. This book is full of other spiritual lessons, but these key principles of intercession are at the core of the book.

Other interesting aspects of Howell’s life include seeing revival in Africa and starting “The Bible College of Wales”  which is still going today.

Prayer – Tim Keller

Tim Keller’s “Prayer” is one of the newest books on prayer. For those of you that love Reformed Theology, Keller delves into the writings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards and others, as well as looking at Scripture afresh. He comes out with some real gems from these giants of the faith.

His main focus is praying and experiencing God through the Scriptures. He makes some practical suggestions on how to do this, including different patterns for daily prayer, both short and long. The changes he made to his own life in the light of his studies are instructive. He went through the Psalms afresh, summarising each one and then began to pray through them many times a year. He also used a meditation as a way of transitioning from reading his Bible and then praying. Finally he prayed both morning and evening and with more expectation.

His only admission is on the ways of praying and experiencing God that don’t involve praying through the Scriptures, of which many of the Reformed giants also had deep experience of.

Books on revival

For 5 of the most powerful books on revival see other blog.