Praying Backwards - Bryan Chapell

This is the first book I read by Bryan Chapell, and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. The emphasis of this book is what captivated me. Bryan Chapell so graciously deals with our wrongful approach to prayer while teaching how we ought to involve Christ in our prayers. He deals with a variety of issues concerning prayer: praying fervently, praying expectantly, praying persistently, etc. I particularly enjoyed reading what he had to say about Spirit-filled prayer. He writes, "The Holy Spirit fills our heart with this supreme love for Christ so that his purposes are our greatest desire. Thus Spirit-filled prayer is preeminently Christ-loving prayer" (pg. 78). Such Christ-exalting phrases can be found throughout the book. I also appreciated that Chapell dealt with discerning God's will on his chapter "Praying in God's Will," as well as "Praying in God's Wisdom." Teaching on practical discernment is often times neglected when discussing God's will and prayer.
Though I think this is a great book on prayer, there were a couple of things that I wanted to see that I did not: He did not press upon me the urgency of prayer as well as discuss the merits of congregational prayer with great depth. It would have also been helpful for me if he discussed the relevance of posture in prayer. Still, Chapell gives great teaching on what it means to pray biblically. It is a book that will be welcome by many who desire to pray biblically and more effectively.

Pages - 194
Reading Difficulty - Normal
Rating - 4/5
Buy or Borrow - Borrow