Week 1: Introduction — Awe and Intimacy

1.Keller observes that many Christians feel a persistent guilt about their prayer lives—they know they should pray more and better, but the guilt itself seems to make things worse. Do you identify with that pattern? What does your typical experience of prayer actually feel like right now?

2.The subtitle of the book promises 'awe and intimacy with God.' Keller argues these two qualities—awe (a sense of God's transcendence and holiness) and intimacy (a sense of God's nearness and fatherly love)—must be held together in prayer. In your experience, do you tend toward one more than the other? What happens to prayer when awe eclipses intimacy, or when intimacy eclipses awe?

3.Keller frames this book partly as a sequel to Counterfeit Gods, arguing that prayer is the primary means of dismantling the idols of the heart. Why might prayer—rather than, say, willpower or accountability—be the right tool for that job? What does that say about what prayer actually is?

4.In the introduction, Keller draws on a range of historical voices—Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and others—to show that struggles with prayer are not modern problems. How does it affect your relationship with your own prayer struggles to know that some of the greatest theologians in church history wrestled with the same things?

5.Keller distinguishes between prayer as a religious duty (something you do to maintain standing with God) and prayer as a relationship (something that grows out of who God already is to you in Christ). Which of those better describes how prayer has functioned in your life so far?

6.Romans 8:15–16 speaks of the Spirit enabling believers to cry out 'Abba, Father'—a cry that is both intimate and reverent. How does the doctrine that prayer is Spirit-enabled (not merely self-generated) change the pressure you put on yourself when prayer feels dry or difficult?

7.What do you most hope to gain—or most fear discovering—as you work through this book and this study guide?