When I became a Christian as a teenager, praying felt new and awkward… like a junior higher trying to dance with a girl at his first dance. Am I praying right? Am I using the right words? Did I ask hard enough? How come God’s not doing the whole “poof” here’s your answered prayer like a genie from a lamp.
Just like all the areas in our relationship with God, it just takes time and maturity before we experience a normalization of the things that help us grow spiritually, including prayer
- What is prayer?
- Why pray?
- How to pray?
- Where to pray?
- What hinders prayer?
These are some of the questions addressed this week in our series (Week 2 in Living New, pages 19-35)
For CVC, we want to be a praying church, not just a church that prays. We want prayer to be normal, natural, instinctive – for prayer to be a first response not a last resort.
The reality is, if you love God, you’ll love prayer. Prayer is where we experience great dependence and intimacy with the One True God who made all things.
Here are a few recommended reads from our staff and elders you may want to check out as you grow in your desire to grow deeper in prayer.
1. Hunger for God; Fasting and Prayer by John Piper
2. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions by Arthur Bennett
3. E.M. Bounds on Prayer by E.M. Bounds
4. Prayer; Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller
5. Experiencing Prayer with Jesus by Henry and Norman Blackaby
6. Andrew Murray on Prayer by Andrew Murray
7. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
8. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes by Dallas Willard
9. The Practice of the Presence of God In Modern English by Brother Lawrence
10. Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney
