Week 10: Chapter 9 — Petition and Intercession

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?

2.Keller unpacks the structure of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13) as a model for all prayer, noting that it moves from God's concerns ('Your kingdom come, your will be done') before our concerns ('Give us this day our daily bread'). What does that ordering teach us about the posture from which petition should arise?

3.Keller addresses the question of unanswered prayer directly and honestly—one of the most pastorally sensitive topics in the book. He argues that prayer changes us more reliably than it changes circumstances, and that this is itself a form of God's goodness. How does that claim strike you? Does it feel like a consolation prize, or does it carry genuine weight?