Prayer is a challenge for me – it always has been, and I think it always will be. As I’ve tried to grow and work on my prayer life, I’ve been greatly helped by the wisdom found in the following books.

1. Prayer, by Tim Keller (321 pages). Keller was a great help to many through his preaching and writing. His book on prayer is no exception. Keller covers a lot of ground in writing about prayer. Most basically, he defines prayer as “personal, communicative response to the knowledge of God.” (p. 45)
2. Pray Big, by Alister Begg (101 pages). Begg seems to have taken on the role of the pastor’s pastor. His preaching and writing is clear, biblical, and practical. This book focuses on Paul’s prayers for the church in Ephesus, prayers found in the book of Ephesians, prayers that we can imitate.
3. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down, by Albert Mohler (180 pages). This short book deals with the Lord’s Prayer as found in Matthew 6, a model prayer for beleivers. Mohler notes that the Lord’s Prayer “takes less than twenty seconds to read aloud, but it takes a lifetimes to learn.” (p. xvii)
4. The Lord’s Prayer, by Kevin DeYoung (128 pages). Kevin DeYoung has written several helpful, clear, doctrinally sound books. His book on the Lord’s Prayer is a walk through the Lord’s Prayer that explains the structure and parts of Jesus’ model prayer. This book will help you pray rightly.
5. Praying with Paul, by D.A. Carson (215 pages). Carson is one of my favorite authors, and his book Praying with Paul is my all-time favorite book on prayer. In the book, Carson examines Paul’s prayers for his churches, and he explains how these inspired prayers can teach us how to pray today.

• Pray Better, by Landon Coleman (207 pages). I don’t list my own book to put myself into the company of the above authors. I do list my own book because my study of Bible prayers convicted me about the way I prayed. By learning from prayers in the Bible, my prayer life was strengthened.