There are hundreds of books on prayer, and much of the advice they contain is likely to be the same. So what distinguishes these books? Call it a kind of wisdom, a sense that here's someone who knows something of God's heart. A good example can be found in this fine book by the Quaker writer and teacher Richard Foster. The author of the bestselling Celebration of Discipline explores various aspects of prayer, which he defines in one place as "the human response to the perpetual outpouring of love by which God lays siege to every soul." Beginning with the simplest forms of prayer--what he calls "ordinary people bringing ... ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father"--he then explores the deeper places where prayer becomes not simply petition but a way of life. He writes of prayer of adoration and rest, sacramental prayer, meditation, and contemplation, and in the final section of the book moves outward into ministry, where prayer meets the needs of the world. In each chapter Foster defines, describes, and gives helpful examples. Above all he writes with grace--in both the artistic and spiritual senses. --Doug Thorpe


From Library Journal
Foster, Quaker theologian and best-selling author, provides an excellent and comprehensive survey of 21 forms of Christian prayer. He groups the sections around three movements (inward, upward, and outward) which address three human needs (transformation, intimacy, and ministry). Foster presents the best thinking of various church traditions to help the reader feel drawn to prayer and to a restored and deeper relationship with oneself, God, and others. This is one of the best, most comprehensive, yet accessible introductions to prayer that this reviewer has seen. Highly recommended for all libraries.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
The author of THE CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE offers selected chapters of his 1994 book, this time read by a professional. The writing is packed with cultural and historical references that sound pasted together, at least in this recording. The result is a work that makes sense to the mind but largely falls short of engaging the heart and soul. Listeners can decide whether it's the writing or the reading, especially if they've heard the author or Tom Parker narrate audio productions of Foster's other books. Somewhere in this writing there is wisdom and inspiration, but in this audio you have to wade through what sounds like intellectual overachievement to get to it. T.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


John Ortberg, author of "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat"
This book is a rare gift... both a guide to prayer and an answer to one.


Tony Campolo, Professor of Sociology, Eastern University
This book has helped me immensely in my struggles for spiritual vitality and depth.


Robert Webber, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary
...takes the mystery out of prayer and returns it to the ordinary rhythms of life


Rev. John Loren Sandford and Rev. Paula A. Sandford, Co-Founders of Elijah House, Inc.
Magnificent! ... carried us into communion with Christians of every century and denomination.


Luci Shaw, author of God In the Dark
"Once again, in penetrating deep, Richard Foster has shown the way for others to enter and experience prayer at a profound heart-level--not just a place of emotion and sentiment, but a focus point where the human spirit is transformed and enjoys a new oneness with God. This is life-changing reading!"


Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Canada, and author of Answering God
A master teaching on the Master Subject.


Lewis B. Smedes, author of Forgive and Forget
"This wonderful book about prayer could only come from a person whom God has made powerful through prayer. It is a great gift. It taught me and encouraged me to accept God's invitation to me, too, to walk with him on the path of prayer. Richard Foster does not tell us how to acquire things through prayer: he tells us how God will help us discover him through prayer. And in getting to know him become more like him. For multitudes, this book will be the Lord's answer for our day to the ancient plea: 'Lord teach us to pray.'"


Book Description
Best-selling author Richard J. Foster offers a warm, compelling, and sensitive primer on prayer, helping us to understand, experience, and practice it in its many forms-from the simple prayer of beginning again to unceasing prayer. He clarifies the prayer process, answers common misconceptions, and shows the way into prayers of contemplation, healing, blessing, forgiveness, and rest. Coming to prayer is like coming home, Foster says. "Nothing feels more right, more like what we are created to be and to do. Yet at the same time we are confronted with great mysteries. Who hasn't struggled with the puzzle of unanswered prayer? Who hasn't wondered how a finite person can commune with the infinite Creator of the universe? Who hasn't questioned whether prayer isn't merely psychological manipulation after all? We do our best, of course, to answer these knotty questions but when all is said and done, there is a sense in which these mysteries remain unanswered and unanswerable . . . At such times we must learn to become comfortable with the mystery." Foster shows how prayer can move us inward into personal transformation, upward toward intimacy with God, and outward to minister to others. He leads us beyond questions to a deeper understanding and practice of prayer, bringing us closer to God, to ourselves, and to our community.


From the Inside Flap
"The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives--altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it."--Richard J. Foster, from Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home. Bestselling author Richard J. Foster offers a warm, compelling, and sensitive primer on prayer, helping us to understand, experience, and practice it in its many forms--from the simple prayer of beginning again to unceasing prayer. He clarifies the prayer process, answers common misconceptions, and shows the way into prayers of contemplation, healing, blessing, forgiveness, and rest. Coming to prayer is like coming home, Foster says. "Nothing feels more right, more like what we are created to be and to do. Yet at the same time we are confronted with great mysteries. Who hasn't struggled with the puzzle of unanswered prayer? Who hasn't wondered how a finite person can commune with the infinite Creator of the universe? Who hasn't questioned whether prayer isn't merely psychological manipulation after all? We do our best, of course, to answer these knotty questions but when all is said and done, there is a sense in which these mysteries remain unanswered and unanswerable... At such times we must learn to become comfortable with the mystery." Foster shows how prayer can move us inward into personal transformation, upward toward intimacy with God, and outward to minister to others. He leads us beyond questions to a deeper understanding and practice of prayer, bringing us closer to God, to ourselves, and to our community.


About the Author
Richard J. Foster is the author of several bestselling books, including Celebration of Discipline and Streams of Living of Water. He is the founder of Renovaré an infrachurch movement committed to the renewal of the Church in all her multifaceted expressions, and a general editor of the forthcoming Renovaré Spiritual Formation Study Bible.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Best-selling author Richard J. Foster offers a warm, compelling, and sensitive primer on prayer, helping us to understand, experience, and practice it in its many forms - from the simple prayer of beginning again to unceasing prayer. He clarifies the prayer process, answers common misconceptions, and shows the way into prayers of contemplation, healing, blessing, forgiveness, and rest. Coming to prayer is like coming home, Foster says. "Nothing feels more right, more like what we are created to be and to do. Yet at the same time we are confronted with great mysteries. Who hasn't struggled with the puzzle of unanswered prayer? Who hasn't wondered how a finite person can commune with the infinite Creator of the universe? Who hasn't questioned whether prayer isn't merely psychological manipulation after all? We do our best, of course, to answer these knotty questions but when all is said and done, there is a sense in which these mysteries remain unanswered and unanswerable....At such times we must learn to become comfortable with the mystery." Foster shows how prayer can move us inward into personal transformation, upward toward intimacy with God, and outward to minister to others. He leads us beyond questions to a deeper understanding and practice of prayer, bringing us closer to God, to ourselves, and to our community.

FROM THE CRITICS

Luci Shaw

Once again, in penetrating deep, Richard Foster has shown the way for others to enter and experience prayer at a profound heart-level—not just a place of emotion and sentiment, but a focus point where the human spirit is transformed and enjoys a new oneness with God. This is life-changing reading!

Lewis B. Smedes

This wonderful book about prayer could only come from a person whom God has made powerful through prayer. It is a great gift. It taught me and encouraged me to accept God's invitation to me, too, to walk with him upon the path of prayer . . . .

Eugene H. Peterson

Richard Foster takes us into the huge forest of prayer and names each tree, points out what is distinctive in each bush and flower. After a few hours in his company, the profusion of detail that at first overwhelmed and bewildered us now delights us, pulling us deeper into the forest . . . .

Library Journal