A PRAYING CHURCH: BECOMING A PEOPLE OF HOPE IN A DISCOURAGING WORLD, by Paul E. Miller

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance 

by Kirsten Birkett 

About the Author 

Paul E. Miller is the executive director of See Jesus and the author of J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life (Crossway, 2019), A Loving Life (Crossway, 2014), and A Praying Life (NavPress, 2009). 

Contents 

PART 1: WHY PRAY TOGETHER? 

1. A Glimpse of a Praying Community
2. Who Killed the Prayer Meeting?
3. The Missing Spirit of Jesus 
4. A Short History of the Praying Church

PART 2: WHAT IS THE CHURCH? 

5. Saints in Motion 
6. Feeding the Saints 
7. Are Saints Real? 
8. Saints Unleashed 
9. The Parable of the Missing CEO 

PART 3: HOW THE SPIRIT RESHAPES A PRAYING COMMUNITY 

10. How the Spirit Works
11. The Spirit’s Path 
12. Management by Prayer 
13. Becoming a Praying Leader 
14. Praying Big 
15. The Prayer Triangle 
16. Avoiding the Pitfalls of Prayer 

PART 4: THE ART OF PRAYING TOGETHER 

17. Beginning Low and Slow 
18. Forming a Divine Community 
19. Restoring Prayer to Sunday Morning 
20. On a Resurrection Hunt 
21. Becoming Real in Prayer 
22. The Prayer Menu 

PART 5: SPECIALIZED PRAYING IN COMMUNITY 

23. Constant in Prayer 
24. A Band of Brothers 
25. Turbocharging Our Prayers 

Conclusion 

General Summary

A book encouraging the church to pray, with biblical examples, theology of the spirit, and many practical ideas. Many chapters end with advice and ideas for pastors to help their churches pray. 

PART 1: WHY PRAY TOGETHER?

1. A Glimpse of a Praying Community

Prayer can be in person, on Zoom, with individuals, with groups. “Prayer fuels prayer.” Life feels too busy to pray, but that is the reason to pray. Praying together is not a luxury; without community prayer, individual prayer can lose steam. We want churches to have Jesus’ prayer life. 

2. Who Killed the Prayer Meeting?

“If you doubt something, you don’t think it works, so you don’t use it.” Christians are praying, but alone. Most American churches don’t have significant corporate prayer. Praying feels like “sitting around.” Prayer meetings declined with the rise of secularism, which “defines normal for us.” Kant killed prayer by making the spiritual “the realm of faith, inner feelings” making it mere therapy. Leaders who say one thing but do another devalue prayer. Pastoring is more difficult than ever but this advice should be a help, not a burden. . . .

Buy the books

A PRAYING CHURCH: BECOMING A PEOPLE OF HOPE IN A DISCOURAGING WORLD, by Paul E. Miller

Crossway, 2023 | 303 pages

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