PREFACE
We should always begin with the basics, the fundamentals.
Writers take the letters of the alphabet, combine them into words and the words into sentences and paragraphs, and produce what we call “literature”—essays, poetry, learned dissertations, news stories, jokes, and advertising.
Painters take dabs of color from their palettes and put them in the right places on their canvases, and we call it “art.”
Composers take the notes of the musical scale, arrange them into chords and the chords into melodies, and give us overtures, ballads, hymns, and advertising jingles.
The same principle applies to our praying. Just as a baby cries for his or her parents, the new believer cannot help but cry out, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). Nevertheless, as babies grow into childhood and beyond, they learn that there’s a fascinating yet complicated communications system among humans, and little by little they speak words and build sentences. The same holds true for believers.
If we want to keep maturing in the Christian life, we must be serious about developing our prayer life. To do this, we must know and respond to the basic elements of prayer. Some of these elements are found in the familiar Lord’s Prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9–13. My goal in this book is to explain and apply these elements so that you may become excited about praying and mature in your personal prayer ministry.
Martin Luther said that “the ancients ably defined prayer an Ascensus mentis ad Deum, a climbing up of the heart unto God.”1 I trust that the Lord will use this book to encourage you to climb higher spiritually and experience a more satisfying and effective prayer life.
“Not to want to pray, then, is the sin behind sin,” wrote P. T. Forsyth, “and it ends in not being able to pray.”2
What a tragic judgment!