Prayer is an essential part of the Christian journey. Through our salvation experience and Christ’s sacrifice we have a personal connection with God that makes Christianity so much more powerful than a simple set of rules inside of an old book. While the communication line between us and God is always open, we may not feel confident in how we should pray. Following the outline of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 is a great start, but there’s much to be learned when it comes to prayer. In conjunction with our study of the Bible, there are many popular Christian books on prayer that can help us to push our prayer lives to the maximum. Here are some of the most popular Christian books on prayer available today.
Priscilla Shirer is one of the best known female Christian authors out there, having developed a number of successful Bible studies and written several books. One of Shirer’s most celebrated works is “Fervent.” The book details a step-by-step outline for using prayer to combat attacks from Satan and our own sinful nature. Since we know that our enemy uses personalized attacks to bring us down, tempt us with sin, and stop what God is doing in our lives, it only makes sense for us to build a strategy that will thwart his attempts.
Continuing the theme of creating a fighting strategy in our prayers, “The Battle Plan for Prayer” by the Kendrick brothers is a tie-in with the “War Room” film they created. Before you write it off as some sort of cheaply made source of extra income for the film, you should know that the book has some pretty stellar reviews online. Just like you would expect an army to train its soldiers, “The Battle Plan for Prayer” takes inventory of the skills you need, the training you should undertake, and the strategies you should follow in order to make your prayers more effective.
Popular Christian books on prayer, much like other bestsellers, often lead to several spin-off books that further break down how their subject matter can affect a specific group. Since prayer is an issue that every believer can relate with, Stormie Omartian’s series (“The Power of a Praying Wife”) is a real winner. Each book focuses on how an individual can pray for those around them, from spiritual matters to meeting physical needs. For those of us who have difficulty getting specific with our prayers, these books allow you to offer more thought out requests to God.
There’s no denying that Mark Batterson’s “The Circle Maker” is one of the most popular Christian books on prayer in recent history. A call to a fuller life of prayer, “The Circle Maker” tells us how we can approach God with a consistency and depth that allows us to pray like never before. If you are tired of a casual prayer life that feels unsatisfying, this is a great book that outlines how you can pray like never before.
There are plenty of inspiring examples of prayer in Scripture. So many, in fact, that someone like Jabez could easily be passed up. Coming from a short excerpt of the Bible in 1 Chronicles 4, “The Prayer of Jabez” dissects one man’s crying out to God in an attempt to understand how we can experience victory in our lives today. The book is only about 100 pages, so if you are looking to read several popular Christian books on prayer or just need something quick, this might be the one to check out.
Not only does the Bible offer characters from whom we can glean inspiration, but we can actually pray the words on the page back to God. There are dozens of powerful prayers like that of Jabez, psalms, and prayers of blessing our loved ones that we can pray directly to God. “Praying God’s Word” by Beth Moore has a lot to say when it comes to battling spiritual strongholds. Whatever pain, sinful habit, or questions you are struggling with, Moore’s book is an excellent resource for you to learn how to fight back with prayer.
Have you ever participated in a group prayer where you felt completely overwhelmed by how much better everyone else sounded compared to you? You may not have the speaking ability of Billy Graham or the theological knowledge of John Piper, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept having a weak prayer life. In “Before Amen,” Max Lucado reminds us that prayer is simply an honest conversation between you and God. We can approach him regardless of how vast our vocabulary is or what profession we hold.
The other popular Christian books on prayer on our list are standalone works, but E.M. Bounds’ contribution to the subject is typically a series of short books that are brought together in one collection called “E.M. Bounds on Prayer.” This group of writings is one of the best works on prayer in American history. Bounds was a preacher in the 19th century who focused on prayer in his church, holding meetings that would go on for hours on end.
At this point Timothy Keller has written a book on just about every Christian topic imaginable, so of course he has something good to say about prayer. Keller looks through Scripture for different methods of prayer and ways in which we can grow in the subject. “Prayer” is full of great advice and Biblical viewpoints on how we should approach prayer each and every day. Like other recommendations on this list, the book delivers strategies and insight that will get you closer to a fulfilling prayer life.
Sometimes we view prayer as more of a daily obligation than actual communication with God. What would the Christian journey be like if we instead took advantage of our unbreakable link with the Lord and stayed in contact with Him throughout the day? In “A Praying Life,” Paul E. Miller wants to transform our conversations with God into something that feels warm and inviting rather than cold and awkward. We should look forward to our time with the Lord and use it as a source for refreshment in both the good times and bad.
We do everything we can to maximize our time throughout the day: make phone calls while we’re driving, tell our Amazon Echo to play some music, use the pre-ordering feature at the grocery store so that we never have to get out of the car, and so on. Sadly, we also do this with aspects of our faith. With all that is going on in the world, how can we not make time to pray? Bill Hybels’ book outlines why we must prioritize prayer and what can happen when we do.
One of the great ironies of the Christian life is that we often walk around defeated when we have the greatest power in the universe on our side. If you’ve ever felt like your prayers were falling on deaf ears or that God was silent in your life, you should consider a book like “Moving Mountains” by John Eldredge. The author focuses on improving your prayer life, both in strategy and content. It’s an interesting read for those who want to explore the topic of prayer.
These popular Christian books on prayer are a wonderful study for those who want to dig deeper on the subject. We also encourage you to look through Scripture and explore theologians from the past whose wisdom has far outlasted their physical ministry.
Christian books that make an impact on believers today are among the many things we love to celebrate at the K-LOVE Fan Awards. This annual celebration brings together some of the biggest names in Christian entertainment for the ultimate fan experience. Find out how you can attend by clicking on the link below.
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