A Guide to Prayer

Author
Category

Weight 0.31 kg
Dimensions 19.6 × 13.3 × 1.9 cm
ISBN 9781848719491
topic

Prayer

format

Book

Original Pub Date

1715

Banner Pub Date

Dec 1, 2001

Binding

Cloth-bound, eBook (ePub & Kindle), Cloth-bound & eBook (ePub & Kindle)

page-count

192

scripture

Whole Bible

Book Description

To Isaac Watts, prayer was more than a duty required in the worship of God. It was ‘the conversation which God allows us to maintain with himself above, while we are here below…in which the soul of a saint often gets near to God, experiences great delight and, as it were, dwells with his heavenly Father for a short time before he comes to heaven.’

But Watts knew that most Christians need help in the use of this great privilege, so that our prayers should be both acceptable to God and ‘a delightful and profitable exercise to our own souls and to those that join with us’.

In this helpful and practical guide, Watts deals in turn with the nature of prayer, prayer viewed as a gift which can be developed, prayer as dependent on the fruits of divine grace, and the assistance of the Spirit of God in prayer. In his final chapter he brings forward several arguments to persuade all Christians to develop and use ‘this holy skill of conversation with God’.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

Preface 1
Introduction 8
CHAPTER 1: THE NATURE OF PRAYER 10
Invocation 10
Adoration 11
Confession 13
Petition 16
Pleading 20
Profession, or Self-Dedication 26
Thanksgiving 29
Blessing 32
Amen, or the Conclusion 33
CHAPTER 2: THE GIFT OF PRAYER 34
What the Gift of Prayer Is 34
Forms of Prayer, Free or Conceived Prayer, and Praying Extempore 36
The Content of Prayer 49
The Method of Prayer 62
Expression in Prayer 68
The Voice in Prayer 86
Gesture in Prayer 92
General Directions on the Gift of Prayer 102
CHAPTER 3: THE GRACE OF PRAYER 109
The Grace of Prayer, and How It Differs from the Gift 109
General Graces of Prayer 113
Graces that Belong to Particular Parts of Prayer 115
Directions to Attain the Grace of Prayer 119
CHAPTER 4: THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER 124
Proofs of the Assistance of the Spirit of God in Prayer 125
How the Spirit Assists Us in Prayer 134
Cautions about the Influences of the Spirit 147
Directions to Obtain and Keep the Spirit of Prayer 157
CHAPTER 5: PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTS TO LEARN TO PRAY 167

1 testimonial for A Guide to Prayer

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  1. matteob

    I would thoroughly recommend this book. I don’t think Brother Watts intended for this book to be followed mechanically but it offers a very helpful guide if you are struggling with prayer and are going through a period of spiritual depression. It is not a heavy read: the style is simple and engaging. The book is also presented as a handsome and strong small format hardback so should last a lifetime.

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