PRAYER: EXPERIENCING AWE AND INTIMACY WITH GOD, by Timothy Keller

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

Author Notes

Timothy Keller is the founder and senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He is the author of many best selling titles on apologetics, evangelism, pastoral ministry, and spirituality.

Brief Summary
Keller seeks to fill a gap in Christian publishing on the theology and practice of prayer from a gospel-centered perspective. Keller attempts to do all three in this volume. In five sections, Keller moves from a theology of prayer, a description of prayer, the components of prayer, to practical guidance in forming the discipline of prayer.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part One:  Desiring Prayer
            1.  The Necessity of Prayer
            2.  The Greatness of Prayer
Part Two:  Understanding Prayer
            3.  What is Prayer?
            4.  Conversing with God
            5.  Encountering God
Part Three:  Learning Prayer
            6.  Letters on Prayer
            7.  Rules for Prayer
            8.  The Prayer of Prayers
            9.  The Touchstone of Prayer
Part Four:  Deepening Prayer
            10.  As Conversation: Meditating on His Word
            11.  As Encounter: Seeking His Face
Part Five:  Doing Prayer
            12.  Awe: Praising His Glory
            13.  Intimacy: Finding His Grace
            14.  Struggle: Asking His Help
            15.  Practice: Daily Prayer
Appendix:  Some Other Patterns for Daily Prayer

Summary

Chapter 1
The Necessity of Prayer

Keller’s personal quest to expand and deepen his prayer life began with a series of crises in his personal life in the early 2000s. When both he and his wife Kathy were diagnosed with some serious medical problems, as a couple they realized they must make a serious effort at disciplined, daily prayer. Since then, they have never failed to pray together everyday.

As Keller began thinking about prayer, he realized that he was not alone in his struggles with how to pray and how to stay motivated in prayer. Drawing on the private diaries of Flannery O’Connor, Keller found someone facing the same difficulties but who also pointed a path ahead. Instead of just ….

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