Book Review: How to Pray

I rarely record or review the reading I do in my daily devotions each morning. However, this year, I'm supplementing my normal routine with extra pages each day in some books on prayer. So now I'm going back to the two books I read at the start of the year (a chapter or a few pages a day). The first one I tackled was R. A. Torrey's How to Pray. This is a standard classic on prayer. Since it was my book, I underlined some key points to remember.

In writing of the power of prayer, a power we often neglect, Torrey says, "By prayer, the bitterest enemies of the gospel have become its most valiant defenders, the most wicked the truest sons of God, and the most contemptible women the purest saints.... How little we appreciate this marvelous weapon!" In a section on abiding in Christ, he observes, "Mere intellectual study of the Word of God is not enough; there must be meditation upon it." Prayer and being in the Word go hand in hand. As for effectiveness, he writes, "Anyone who desires power in prayer must be merciless in dealing with his own sins." I also underlined, "God cannot deal with us on the basis of forgiveness while we are harboring ill will against those who have wronged us." Finally, I noted a passage on the hindrance that unbelief is to prayer. I struggle to maintain firm belief in the face of my son's addictions. Lord, help my unbelief! Don't let it hinder my prayers!