Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Books Today on Prayer
Review: There are a myriad of books available today on prayer. Many of those books are shallow theologically and draw little if any from the rich heritage of the Church. Foster's volume combines a knowledge of church history's classic devotional writers with a freshness appealing to the 21st century.Foster describes various forms of prayer, dividing them into three general categories: inward-focused prayer provides us with personal transformation, upward-focused prayer offers us intimacy with God, outward-focused prayer places us in the ministries that God would have us fill. Don't let the title fool you. This volume is NOT just another book on what some persons may call "prayer lite." Foster presents a solid work that is grounded in the theology as well as the history of the Church. I recommend this book highly to all persons desiring a serious treatment of prayer.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply challenging and rewarding book on prayer.
Review: There are a myriad of books on the subject of prayer. Many are guides to prayer, also called "how-to" books on prayer. Others are compilations of prayers in scripture (such as the prayers of Jesus or the prayers of David). Many Christian readers may have one or more of these on their bookshelves. However, when one reads PRAYER: FINDING THE HEART'S TRUE HOME, there is an immediately discernable difference present within it's pages. As you move through the book you can sense a depth of wisdom and intimacy with God present in author's life. The book is so profound that is is difficult to read more a few pages in one sitting. This isn't to say that all of the concepts taught within are difficult, although a few are. Rather, it is that the depth and meaningfulness of the pages are so intense that it takes the thoughful reader much time to digest, wrestle with, and assimilate the beautiful wisdom within them. A highly recommended and deeply challenging help and inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply challenging and rewarding book on prayer.
Review: There are a myriad of books on the subject of prayer. Many are guides to prayer, also called "how-to" books on prayer. Others are compilations of prayers in scripture (such as the prayers of Jesus or the prayers of David). Many Christian readers may have one or more of these on their bookshelves. However, when one reads PRAYER: FINDING THE HEART'S TRUE HOME, there is an immediately discernable difference present within it's pages. As you move through the book you can sense a depth of wisdom and intimacy with God present in author's life. The book is so profound that is is difficult to read more a few pages in one sitting. This isn't to say that all of the concepts taught within are difficult, although a few are. Rather, it is that the depth and meaningfulness of the pages are so intense that it takes the thoughful reader much time to digest, wrestle with, and assimilate the beautiful wisdom within them. A highly recommended and deeply challenging help and inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: My only review
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to, and survey of, the practice and experience of prayer for Christians. Richard Foster draws from many different traditions and experiences and distills them into this very fine and accessible work. It's very practical, unpretentious and inspiring. Foster helps us examine the many facets of prayer grouped according to three intentions on personal transformation, intimacy with God and ministry to others. Among its 21 chapters you may find aspects of prayer that are very familiar to you (maybe you had never thought of them as prayer before) along with encouragement to focus and deepen your efforts in those areas. Other types of prayer may be completely foreign to you but offer an invitation to explore. For those who want to take prayer more seriously this book is a very good place to begin. It is not an introduction in the sense of being superficial or shallow. It treats each aspect of prayer in enough depth to get the willing reader well on his or her way to a more effective and vital life of prayer. But it also shows us prayer as a vast, life long and life changing endeavor and points to the work of others who have explored the various disciplines of prayer more deeply. This books is essential reading.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Guide to a Life of Prayer
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to, and survey of, the practice and experience of prayer for Christians. Richard Foster draws from many different traditions and experiences and distills them into this very fine and accessible work. It's very practical, unpretentious and inspiring. Foster helps us examine the many facets of prayer grouped according to three intentions on personal transformation, intimacy with God and ministry to others. Among its 21 chapters you may find aspects of prayer that are very familiar to you (maybe you had never thought of them as prayer before) along with encouragement to focus and deepen your efforts in those areas. Other types of prayer may be completely foreign to you but offer an invitation to explore. For those who want to take prayer more seriously this book is a very good place to begin. It is not an introduction in the sense of being superficial or shallow. It treats each aspect of prayer in enough depth to get the willing reader well on his or her way to a more effective and vital life of prayer. But it also shows us prayer as a vast, life long and life changing endeavor and points to the work of others who have explored the various disciplines of prayer more deeply. This books is essential reading.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing work by a spiritual master
Review: This book is both profound in its wisdom and very practical. It is like an instruction manual for many kinds of prayer by a man who has spent a lifetime researching through study and practice. I thought the same author's Celebration of Discipline, his most famous work, to be excellent, but that book does not have the spiritual depth that this book does. Of course the emphasis of this Prayer book is different, but Foster seems to have grown in his spiritual life by the time he wrote this book. I consider it to be one of the most profound spiritual works I have ever read, near my #1 selection of all time, The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Foster's Best
Review: This book is not Foster's best work. I was expecting a linear discription of biblical prayer and all I got was tablescraps. Instead of a holistic summary of prayer, Foster split prayer up into various different types of prayer. If you want a book on how many different types of prayer there are, this book is for you. If you want something with substance, do not pick this up.
Rating:
Summary: Foster makes prayer less of a mystery
Review: This book presents prayer as a multifaceted jewel that is a wonder to behold no matter how you hold it up to the light. Foster examines and describes very simply every aspect of prayer imaginable. This is absolutely THE BEST book I have ever read on the subject. It is a wonderful read. A book to be read, re-read and re-re-read until it becomes part of the fabric of your life.
Rating:
Summary: Foster does it again!
Review: This is an amazing book on prayer. Foster has an incredible way of blending scholarship, a call to discipline, and tons of grace into his writing. This book is a gift to believers and seekers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to go deeper in their prayer life. It is rich with insights. I have used it as the basis for a prayer class and the participants enjoyed it so much, they've requested we study it again.
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