Talking to God

This book, though it is brief, seeks to present a fairly complete summary of what the Bible teaches about prayer. It is based upon the conviction that the Bible is God's Word, fully trustworthy in all that it teaches. The writer is committed to the theology of the Reformation. For the study of prayer, this means that the study is undertaken with a conscious awareness of the absolute sovereignty of God, and of his undeserved grace as the source of salvation. It involves studying the scripture in a certain way, seeking its meaning through study of words and grammatical structure, with an awareness of the unity and historical progression of God's revelation. This book concentrates on teaching about prayer that is found in the New Testament. However, the New Testament constantly looks back on the events and teaching recorded in the Old Testament, and can be accurately understood only against that background. A brief consideration of prayer in the Old Testament is presented in Chapter Two. - Introduction.