Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

1.Keller argues that all the great figures of Scripture—Moses, David, Paul, and above all Jesus himself—were people of extraordinary prayer. What does Jesus's own prayer life (the fact that the sinless Son of God prayed constantly) tell us about what prayer is for?

1.Keller offers a working definition of prayer as 'continuing a conversation that God has already started through his Word and his grace.' How does framing prayer as a response rather than an initiation change how you approach it?

1.Keller emphasizes that Christians have access to God not as petitioners approaching a distant king but as children approaching a Father—and specifically, as people who approach God through the intercession of Jesus, who is himself praying for us (Hebrews 7:25). How often do you actually think about Christ's ongoing intercession when you pray? How might it change your posture?

1.Keller draws heavily on Martin Luther's practice of 'praying the catechism'—taking doctrinal content and turning it into personal address to God. Have you ever tried to turn a passage of Scripture or a theological statement directly into prayer? What happened? What made it easy or hard?

1.Keller argues that self-knowledge and knowledge of God are deeply intertwined—that honest prayer is one of the primary means by which we come to know ourselves truly. Do you experience prayer as self-revealing? When have you discovered something about yourself through praying (or through avoiding prayer)?

1.Keller uses the story of Jacob wrestling with God at Peniel (Gen. 32) as an extended image for prayer. Jacob refuses to let go until he receives a blessing. What does this image say about the disposition prayer requires—specifically about perseverance, honesty, and the willingness to be hurt in the process?

1.Keller draws heavily on Psalm 51—David's great prayer of confession after his sin with Bathsheba—as a model for how deep, honest confession works. What makes David's confession in that Psalm different from a mere apology or a legal petition? What is David actually asking God to do?

1.Keller argues that adoration is the 'highest form of prayer' because it is the only form that is entirely about God rather than about us or our needs. Does that claim surprise you? How much of your typical prayer time is petitional versus purely worshipful? What does the balance reveal?

1.Keller argues that petition is legitimate and important—that God genuinely invites us to bring our needs to him—but that it becomes distorted when it is all we do in prayer. What shape does your petitionary prayer usually take? Is it more like a shopping list or more like a child talking to a parent?

1.Keller notes that both Daniel and Jesus had fixed, daily times of prayer—not because they were rigid but because they understood that consistent access to God requires consistent habits. What is the relationship between habit and authenticity in prayer? Can a scheduled prayer time be genuine, or does scheduling it make it merely mechanical?

1.Looking back across the whole book, which single chapter or idea landed most powerfully for you—and why? Was it a new idea, or was it something you already believed but hadn't yet felt?