Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller
Week 9: Chapter 8 — Adoration and Praise
Read Chapter 8 of Prayer by Timothy Keller. Primary Scripture: Psalm 145; Revelation 4:8–11.
Want the full guide for Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God?
Free Week 1 sample in 5 min · $24.99 for all 12 weeks · 7-day refund
After examining confession, Keller turns to what he considers the highest element of prayer—adoration, the act of contemplating God for who he is rather than for what we can get from him. This chapter challenges us to go beyond petition and thanksgiving into genuine worship, and these questions will help you examine whether you actually know how to do that.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.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?
2.Keller notes that adoration is not simply 'saying nice things to God' but involves genuinely beholding God—fixing the mind and heart on specific attributes and works of God until something like wonder or joy rises in us. What makes the difference between going through the motions of praise and actually experiencing what Keller is describing?
3.Keller draws on C.S. Lewis's observation that in praising something we genuinely love (a sunset, a poem, a friend), we are completing or expressing the joy rather than adding to the thing being praised. How does Lewis's insight change the way you understand why God commands us to praise him? What does this say about what praise does to us?
a.Have you ever experienced praise as completing a joy you were already feeling?
b.What would it mean to let praise become a habit that forms desire, even when you don't 'feel' joyful?
You're on Week 9 of 12
Don't lose momentum — get the rest of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
All 85 questions across 12 weeks, with closing prayers and a downloadable PDF for your group.
One-time purchase · 7-day refund · Covers your whole group