Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy With God - Timothy Keller

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2014.
Audiobook published by Penguin Audio, 2014.
Narrated by Sean Pratt.

Usually when I finish an audiobook I remove it from my phone, in order to create space for the next one. 

...Yeah, my phone is a little old. I'm trying to not replace it for as long as I can...

With this book on prayer, I'm holding off. I have considered a number of times simply starting it again and re-listening to it, because of how inspiring and insightful it has been. Keller is a good author - I already knew this - but Prayer is a really good book. 

Keller admits at the outset that he was not good at prayer, and that this book arose from his desire to have a deeper prayer-life himself. In sensing my own stirring to pray, I relate to how he felt, and also find myself being challenged and stirred along with him throughout the journey of this book.

In different sections, Keller looks at the history of prayer, prayer in other faiths, some of the great theological works on prayer (by the authors Augustine, Luther and Calvin) and then outlines what he suggests a typical 'session' of prayer could look like. All of this is soaked in scripture, and really stirs the reader - or at least, it stirred me!

Aside from all the basics, Keller also makes a number of deeper statements about prayer and faith in general that are both thought-provoking and encouraging. An example of this is when he states that, because of the greatness of the sacrifice of Jesus, God's justice is absolutely satisfied. That means that when we come to God in prayer and repentance, we don't need to worry that He might not forgive us. It would be unjust for God not to forgive us now, because the sacrificial blood of Jesus has achieved such a great work of forgiveness.

As is usual for me, it is hard to point to specific quotes in a theological work that I have listened to rather than read, but listening to Prayer was a great experience. The narrator does a great job at adding in emotion and nuance, and adds to the message. And, as I already mentioned, I may listen to it again to let these words wash over me once more, and hopefully take hold better than on the first lap. 

I also might hunt out a physical copy.

Completed 4 March 2025.

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