Book Club Questions for Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

1.Foster famously begins by confessing that he did not feel worthy to write a book on prayer and that his own prayer life was often 'thin and anemic.' Why do you think he chose to open with this confession rather than with credentials or enthusiasm? What effect did it have on you as a reader?

2.How would you honestly describe your own prayer life right now — not as you wish it were, but as it actually is? What words come to mind?

3.Foster describes prayer as 'the central avenue God uses to transform us.' What does it mean to you that prayer is not primarily about changing God's mind or getting things from God, but about being changed ourselves?

1.Foster describes 'Simple Prayer' as prayer in which we come to God just as we are — with our self-centered wishes, mixed motives, and cluttered hearts — rather than waiting until we feel spiritually ready. Does this give you permission or make you uncomfortable? Why?

2.Foster uses the image of a child climbing into a parent's lap and chattering away about everything without self-consciousness to describe Simple Prayer. How close is that image to how you actually come to God? What would it take to pray with that kind of unselfconsciousness?

3.Foster says that Simple Prayer is the beginning of the prayer life, not the goal — that God calls us deeper. What do you think 'deeper' prayer might look like beyond simply asking God for things? Does the idea attract or intimidate you?

1.Foster describes the Prayer of Examen as a daily practice of reviewing the day with God — noticing moments of consolation (when we felt drawn toward God) and desolation (when we felt pulled away). Have you ever tried anything like this? What happened?

2.Foster draws on Ignatius of Loyola's tradition of the Examen. What strikes you about the idea of examining not just your actions but your desires and interior movements throughout the day? Does that level of self-scrutiny feel healthy or obsessive?

3.Foster distinguishes the Examen from introspective self-condemnation. He says we examine ourselves in the context of God's grace, not God's wrath. How does that framing change the practice for you?

1.Foster describes 'Formation Prayer' as prayer that is specifically oriented toward character transformation — praying not just about our circumstances but for the renovation of our inner life. How does this differ from how you most commonly pray?

2.Foster emphasizes that formation prayer requires cooperation — we are not passive clay but active participants in God's shaping work. What spiritual habits or practices have most visibly shaped your character over time? What role did prayer play in them?

3.Foster draws on the idea that we are always being formed by something — by our fears, our habits, our culture, or by God. How aware are you, day to day, of the forces that are forming you? What would it look like to be more intentional about submitting that formation to God?

1.Foster describes adoration as the 'noblest activity' a human being can engage in — pure, undiluted praise that seeks nothing from God but God himself. Is this kind of prayer natural to you, or does it feel forced? What makes pure adoration difficult?

2.Foster points out that adoration is different from thanksgiving — thanksgiving focuses on what God has done for us, while adoration focuses on who God is. Can you think of a prayer or a moment of worship in your own experience that felt like true adoration? What was it like?

3.Foster says that adoration reorients our entire inner life — that people who regularly adore God begin to see everything differently. Do you find this to be true? What happens to your perspective when you spend time simply praising God?

1.Foster describes Contemplative Prayer as a form of resting in God — moving beyond words, thoughts, and even images into a loving, attentive silence. How does this form of prayer strike you? Does it feel accessible, suspicious, or simply foreign?

2.Foster draws heavily on the Desert Fathers and Mothers and on figures like Teresa of Ávila and The Cloud of Unknowing. What do you think they discovered in contemplative prayer that ordinary spoken prayer does not reach? What might they have to teach contemporary, activistic Western Christians?

3.Foster warns against both extremes: forcing contemplative experience (striving to produce spiritual feelings) and dismissing it (treating it as elitist or unnecessary). How do you personally tend to err — toward striving or toward dismissal?

1.Foster describes Sacramental Prayer as prayer that is anchored in and flows from the physical sacraments of the church — baptism and communion in particular. How does your church background shape your understanding of the sacraments? Do you experience them as encounters with God, or more as symbolic ordinances?

2.Foster argues that sacramental prayer recovers the goodness of the physical world — that God chooses to meet us in water, bread, and wine, not just in invisible spiritual experience. Why might this be important for how we understand the relationship between the physical and the spiritual?

3.Foster suggests that participating in the Lord's Supper can itself be a profound act of prayer — not passive observation but active communion with the risen Christ. How does this challenge or enrich the way you approach the table?

1.Foster describes intercessory prayer as 'the most altruistic activity' we can engage in — a form of love that is both deeply personal and profoundly costly. Does intercession feel like love to you, or more like an obligation? What has shaped your answer?

2.Foster makes the bold claim that God has chosen, in his sovereignty, to work in the world through the prayers of his people — that things happen through intercession that would not otherwise happen. Does this claim thrill you, burden you, or both? Why?

3.Foster draws on the image of Moses standing in the gap — physically holding his arms up in intercession during the battle with the Amalekites — as a picture of the strenuous, sustained nature of real intercession. Is your intercession for others more like a quick mention or more like standing in the gap? What would change if you took the latter image seriously?

1.Foster affirms that praying for physical healing is a normal, expected part of Christian community — not a special gift for a few, but a practice for all who follow Jesus. How does your church background shape your comfort (or discomfort) with this claim?

2.Foster is careful to present healing prayer as an act of compassion and faith, not a technique that guarantees results. He points to Jesus's own healing ministry — which was marked by both great power and apparent restraint — as the model. What does it tell you about God that Jesus did not heal every sick person he encountered?

3.Foster acknowledges honestly that many people pray earnestly for healing and are not healed. He refuses to explain this away cheaply. How do you hold together a real expectation of healing with the reality that God sometimes says no or wait? Have you experienced this tension personally?

1.Foster describes 'Authoritative Prayer' as prayer that speaks directly to situations, circumstances, and spiritual forces — not just asking God to act, but praying as one who has been given authority to act in Jesus's name. How does this feel different from typical petition? Does it feel presumptuous or faithful?

2.Foster draws on Jesus's model — speaking to the storm, to demons, to fever — as examples of authoritative prayer. He suggests that Jesus sometimes prayed to the Father and sometimes addressed circumstances directly. What do you make of this pattern? When might one approach be more appropriate than the other?

3.Foster is careful to ground authoritative prayer in humility and discernment — it is authority derived from God, not generated by the self. What safeguards does he suggest against abuses of 'name it and claim it' theology? Do you find these safeguards convincing?

1.Foster describes confessional prayer as one of the most liberating and healing forms of prayer. He draws on Psalm 32 — David's experience of concealing sin and the physical toll it took — as a picture of what unconfessed sin does to us. Does that resonate with your experience? What has it felt like to carry unconfessed sin?

2.Foster distinguishes between general confession ('forgive me for my sins') and specific, particular confession of named sins. Why does specificity matter? What makes it harder? What makes it more healing?

3.Foster draws on the Protestant tradition's insistence that confession is made directly to God, but also takes seriously the Catholic and Orthodox practice of confession to another person. He points to James 5:16 ('confess your sins to one another') as a word for the whole church. Do you have a relationship in which you practice this kind of honest accountability? What has it meant to you?

1.Foster returns to meditative prayer in a deeper form in these later chapters — prayer that involves imaginative engagement with Scripture, especially the Gospel narratives. He draws on Ignatius's practice of placing oneself within a Gospel scene. Have you ever tried this? What happened?

2.Foster encourages praying with 'holy imagination' — vividly entering a biblical scene, noticing what you see, hear, and feel, and allowing God to meet you there. Some find this liberating; others find it suspect. What is your instinct? What do you think might be gained or risked?

3.Foster is clear that the imagination in prayer must always be anchored in Scripture and submitted to the Spirit — it is not a free-for-all of wish fulfillment. Given that safeguard, what biblical scene or story would you most want to 'enter' in prayer? What draws you to it?

1.Foster closes by returning to his opening theme: prayer as the heart's true home. Having journeyed through twenty-one forms of prayer, does that image feel more real to you now than when you began? In what ways?

2.Foster emphasizes that a life of prayer is not built in one dramatic decision but through the steady accumulation of small, faithful choices — showing up, day after day, in the presence of God. What small, sustainable practice of prayer are you most drawn to beginning or renewing?

3.Foster returns to the saints and teachers he has cited throughout the book — Teresa, John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Julian of Norwich, the Desert Fathers. Which of these figures has most intrigued or moved you? Is there one whose writings you feel drawn to explore further?

1.Foster organized the book around three movements: Moving Inward, Moving Upward, and Moving Outward. Looking back, which movement received the most attention in your prayer life before this study? Which received the least? Has that begun to change?

2.Which of the twenty-one forms of prayer was most new or surprising to you? Which one, if you are honest, did you most resist — and why?

3.Foster's opening confession that his own prayer life was 'thin and anemic' was meant to create a safe space for honest engagement. Looking back over this study, how honestly have you engaged? Have you been more of a student of prayer or a practitioner of prayer during these weeks?