Desiring God by John Piper

Week 6: Chapter 5 — Prayer: The Apex of Christian Hedonism

Read Chapter 5 of Desiring God. Key Scripture: John 16:24; Psalm 37:4; Matthew 7:7–11.

Prayer is where the rubber of Christian Hedonism meets the road — it is the place where our desire for God either grows or reveals itself to be counterfeit.

Discussion Questions

8 questions

1.Piper calls prayer "the apex" of Christian Hedonism. What does he mean? Why is prayer — rather than worship or Bible reading — the highest expression of the pursuit of joy in God?

2.Jesus says in John 16:24, "Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." Piper treats this as one of the most direct biblical connections between prayer and joy. What does it mean that joy is the stated purpose of answered prayer? How does this reframe the way you approach asking God for things?

3.Piper quotes Psalm 37:4 — "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" — and makes the striking argument that when we truly delight in the Lord, what we desire and what God desires for us begin to converge. Have you experienced this kind of convergence in your own prayer life? What does it feel like?

4.Piper is honest about the problem of prayerlessness — the fact that many Christians barely pray at all, and that this is a diagnostic of where their joy actually lies. Is prayerlessness a symptom or a cause of spiritual coldness? What is Piper's answer, and do you agree?

5.Piper describes two wrong approaches to prayer: the mercenary approach (treating God like a vending machine — insert coin, receive blessing) and the fatalistic approach (why pray if God already knows what he will do?). How does Christian Hedonism navigate between these two errors?

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Closing Prayer

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Father, we confess that our prayer lives often reveal how little we actually believe you are worth seeking. We rush through prayers or avoid them altogether, which is a quiet declaration that other things satisfy us more. Forgive us. You have told us to ask so that our joy may be full — and yet we remain empty because we do not ask. Teach us to pray with the abandon of people who believe you are the greatest gift you could give us. Let our prayer lives become the apex of our joy in you, not just a list of requests we hand to a reluctant deity. Through Christ, who ever lives to intercede for us. Amen.

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