Praying the Bible

In a world overladen with books on prayer that leave one as overwhelmed as they were before, Dr. Whitney comes in with relief for the weary. This is - by far - the best book on prayer that I've ever read. That is no small compliment, especially in light of excellent books by devotional giants like Andrew Murray, Matthew Henry, and Martin Luther, to name a few. I cannot say enough great things about this book! There are several strengths to "Praying the Bible". Here, though, I will list only a few that come to mind: 1. Simplicity. It is the simplest book on prayer that you will ever find. Dr. Whitney is a scholar, but he is a pastor first, and it shows in how simple he lays out his tried and true method for prayer. He leads the dejected and spiritually parched Christian by the hand to an ever-flowing fountain of fresh spring water. My first-grader can follow this book and put it into practice. 2. Practicality. I've read some books on prayer that leave me lost in a fog, not knowing what to do. Prayer, above all, is a discipline to practice. It is something the Christian must do. Dr. Whitney gives the reader very concrete instructions and helps to immediately improve their prayer life. The reader leaves knowing exactly what to do and with a very clear plan on how to do it. 3. Theocentricity. That's the best word I could use to describe the overall flavor of the book. It points the reader back to his/her God. It drives the one who prays to the word of the One to whom they pray. It exalts the God of Scripture and his holy, inspired, inerrant word. This gives the reader a clear focus on God as they approach him in prayer. This is exactly what every Christian needs. Not just more methods, even simple, practical ones; but a reorientation to the glory of the Bible and the God who reveals himself to us there. 4. Brevity. I suppose this goes along with "simplicity" but it deserves its own mentioning. This book is very short. It is surprisingly short. You could pick it up and finish in a few hours, reading at a reasonable pace. However, I'd suggest taking a weekend to prayerfully work through the book. Dr. Whitney offers much profundity in very little space, and this is exactly what weary, prayerless sheep need. Do yourself a favor worth a billion dollars to your soul. Grab your Bible and grab this book. Read every page of this book and do what it says. I did, and my prayer life has not been the same since. Thank you, Dr. Whitney!

*Praying the Bible* by Donald Whitney is a practical and refreshing guide to transforming your prayer life through Scripture. Whitney offers a simple but profound method of prayer: using the Bible itself as a foundation for praying. By praying through specific passages, believers can move beyond repetitive or generic prayers and engage in more meaningful, Scripture-saturated communication with God. Whitney emphasizes how praying the Bible not only deepens one's relationship with God but also helps the believer grow in knowledge and love for Scripture. The method he proposes is easy to implement and suitable for any Christian, regardless of their level of spiritual maturity. His writing is clear and encouraging, providing a helpful framework for prayer that incorporates the richness of God's Word. Overall, *Praying the Bible* is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to enrich their prayer life and develop a deeper, more biblical approach to connecting with God. It’s both practical and spiritually enriching, making it a great tool for personal devotion or group study.

This is Whitney's most helpful work. While many would claim that "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" is Whitey's greatest work (it certainly is tough competition), I believe that this resource is more helpful because it is easy to read and easy to apply. It takes about an hour for a slow reader, like myself, to read this book. Its size (and Whitney's clarity in writing) allows it to be understood by both Senior saints and Junior High believers. Additionally, the book is immediately application as Donald Whitney teaches us how to pray and then challenges us to do so.

Donald Whitney’s Praying The Bible is a small book about a simple idea to overcome a big problem. The problem: for many believers prayer is hard, sometimes dry, and spending extended periods of time in prayer is an impossible sounding fantasy achieved by super-saints like George Muller. The solution: open your Bible. Whitney’s first chapter presents “The Problem” where he asks the important question, “Since prayer is talking with God, why don’t people pray more? Why don’t people enjoy prayer more?” He has put his finger on an area that resonates with most Christians and is probably a source of discouragement for many of them. Of course praying should be a joy! But it so often isn’t… His solution is simply, “when you pray, pray through a passage of Scripture, particularly a psalm.” This clear-cut technique provides great hope for those who struggle with prayer. It fuels prayer with God’s own words, adds endless variety, causes the Christian to meditate on the Bible, provides the discipline of moving forward through the Psalms in prayer, and on top of that, IT’S BIBLICAL TO PRAY THE PSALMS! In following chapters, Whitney addresses potential problem areas (such as how to handle passages that you don’t understand or imprecatory psalms), fleshes out the nitty-gritty of the method (such as how to choose psalms to pray), and provides practical examples of praying through verses. He continues on by explaining how to pray other sections of Scripture (epistles and narrative) before arriving at what he calls, “The Most Important Part of This Book” where he challenges the reader to put the method into practice RIGHT NOW! This short chapter and challenge serves as a reminder that this is not a magical book. It presents Christians with a simple way to stimulate their prayer lives, but the method has to be implemented. While other chapters follow, this is the pivotal point. Will you choose to let the author’s challenge pass you by as an inspirational, but fleeting, thought? Or will you choose to pick up your Bible, read God’s very words to you, and talk to your Lord?

I think this is a fairly good book because I am a huge proponent of the concepts laid out in the book. It’s a short book and I read it in about 2 hours or so, but I think it was worth the time. I remember when I first got the book, I had selected it because during my studies I had noticed something interesting about the things Jesus said while he was being crucified: the things he said were nearly all quotes or allusions to Psalms. This is especially clear when he quotes the opening lines of Psalm 22. Then I started paying more attention to other prayers in the New Testament—they were also Psalms or allusions to other Scripture. Then I noticed that a lot of New Testament Scripture was often referring in some way to the Older Testament. I think what it did most for me was that it taught me that prayer doesn’t have to be complicated, wordy, or a chore. Prayer can be simple. Prayer can simply be a conversation with God we have at any time, during any circumstance, and under any conditions. And those prayers need not be longwinded, boring (a word Whitney uses a lot in the book), or repetitive. Whitney reminds readers of the importance of the Scripture being the content of the prayers we offer. We pray the words of Scripture because we a) don’t know what else to say or b) because the words are most appropriate for the circumstance, or c) because while we are praying the Holy Spirit fills our hearts and minds with the Scripture and it becomes difficult to pray anything but the Scripture. I will note a couple of things that bother me about the book. First, cliché. He writes, “Prayers without variety eventually become words without meaning. Jesus said to pray this way is to pray in vain,” (16). And yet, Whitney resorts more than once to tired Christian clichés that simply annoy me (e.g., ‘wings of prayer’, ‘finances’). Second, I disagree with his take on the imprecatory Psalms. “While I believe those sections of Scripture are inspired as fully as John 3:16 and any other part of the Bible, I don’t think we should pray verses like these with specific people in mind” (39). I disagree. I don’t think we would be praying these verses if we didn’t have specific people in mind. That’s a personal opinion, not gospel. Third, I’m up in the air over his comments on (68) regarding ‘perception of spiritual impression or hearing an inner voice, imagining God saying things to us—away with that sort of mysticism.” I think those thoughts come from his background and not necessarily from the Scripture. Strange, when I read Scripture and I see people praying, they often receive direct words from God’s mouth to their ears. I don’t think they called it mysticism; I think they called it conversation. It is true that the Scripture is God’s word to us, but I don’t think that means God does not speak to us in other ways. If the Holy Spirit lives inside us, then who’s to say the Holy Spirit doesn’t rattle our inner ear every now and then when we pray? Generally speaking, this is a fantastic book. I believe the point is well made and that he takes just enough time to say it. I’m glad he spent time looking at the prayers of Jesus and the early church; although, I wish he had spent more time doing so. The church can look to see how Jesus and the early church used those Psalms as the meat and potatoes of their prayers and follow their lead. One thing is very important, however, and that is the key element of the church being involved with the Scripture. I think there’s more to say about this, but Whitney—5 years ago—was on to a very important point: our lives, ministries, churches, relationships, prayers, songs, and so on should be guided, directed, and governed by Scripture. Great book and worth the effort.

I have completed several books by Donald Whitney over the years and always appreciate the fact that he is doctrinally sound and extremely practical. This little book is no exception. Whitney's goal in this book is to help the reader overcome the "boring routine of saying the same old things about the same old things" by teaching the reader the variety, freshness, and excitement of praying through the Bible. Perhaps the most helpful chapter in the book is the section on "Praying the Psalms." He quotes Ben Patterson, "By praying the Psalms back to God, we learn to pray in tune with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." In learning to pray through the Psalms it helps the one praying to be (a) Balanced in prayer - as the Psalms convey every doctrine in the Bible; (b) Emotionally healthy - as the Psalms deal with every human emotion: joy, anger, fear, anxiety, discouragement, loneliness, etc.; (c) God centered - usually we have a tendency to be self-absorbed - the Psalms get our focus back on God; (d) Accurate - Whitney writes, "God gave the Psalms to us so that we would give the Psalms back to God. No other book of the Bible was inspired for this express purpose." Whitney, also has a helpful guide to praying through the 150 Psalms in the back of the book. Praying through this plan insures direction and guidance for prayer as well as momentum for prayer. The author gives great examples of how to pray other Scriptures and various genres and even tackles some thorny questions related to prayer. I have been tremendously helped in my own prayer life by this terrific book and I'm convinced that it will help anyone grow in their excitement and communication with the Lord in prayer.

It seems that I’ve done something like this as I pray through scripture that I’ve memorized, and I’ve prayed as I’ve been prompted while reading the Bible devotionally on an annual basis. But this method of Praying the Bible takes prayer to an intentional level that avoids the rut of praying in a routine way and avoids praying in super-spiritual yet unbiblical ways when copying others. This is prayer that considers the whole counsel of God in scripture. Plus, it gets people to meditate on the Word in a life-empowering way.

As of right now one of the best books on prayer and I would recommended this book to anyone that is struggling in their prayer life.

This is an excellent little book, it’s short and written in a way that’s very easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience a rich and meaningful prayer life.

Me encantó!! Muy práctico! Y le dio una vuelta a mis disciplinas espirituales para bien :)

This teaching is accessible to everyone and very practical. Why isn’t it more known in churches ? A French translation would be a blessing!

Praying the bible This is possibly the best book on prayer I have ever read. I have read hundreds of books on prayer. This is not a long book, I read through it in just three sittings. After just reading the first few chapters my prayer life was changed for the better, forever. I have read about praying the Bible before but never had it seemed so clear and concise as to what it was that praying the Bible meant. The Bible is God’s word, you’ve heard that a million time for sure. But when did you ever treat the Bible, or any other scripture, like the beginning of a conversation that you should respond to to make it a real conversation. God is a person who would engage with you and converse with you. When you read this book you will realise that this is not what you have been doing your entire life. You have either been listening mutely, and half heartedly and in a distracted way, or else you have been doing all the talking. Right now you can heart the Lord talk to you and respond in prayerful conversation. Why didn’t someone tell us this before, if they did why where we not listening. Perhaps I am only talking about myself here. I can’t believe how simply the author gets this message across and how easy it is to practice real, personal, prayer. Whilst reading this book, in just a short time, I’ve learned that instead of saying the same old, gray, colorless prayers, I can pray in fresh, new ways about almost everything I pray about virtually every time I pray. Mind blown. Great book

Simple, short and easy way how to pray in a biblical way