Miller shares in these chapters particularly his own personal prayer journey and how his life and the lives of those he loves have been shaped by prayer. and if you don’t come to God just as you are, “then you are artificial and unreal, like the Pharisees. Author Paul Miller shares his insights and conclusions about how to connect the broken pieces of your life and allow prayer—even poorly delivered—to fill the gaps with meaning and substance. There are numerous practical tips in the latter chapters that are very helpful to anyone seeking to grow in prayer.

The content of the book was really good, with good application and some good specifics about how to pray more effectively.It even covers a 'new' method which I've found helpful - using filing cards to hold your prayer list, rather than a scrap of paper or notebook. Reading Paul Miller’s A Praying Church fresh filled my heart with the power of Oswald Chambers’s insight: ‘Prayer does not equip us for greater works—prayer is the greater work. A great part of the enlightenment was the belief that individuals are not tied to fate or feudalism, and our lives can change a situation. Your living, vital relationship with God dies a slow death because you open the door to unseen doubt and become quietly cynical.

Because it is uncomfortable to feel our unbelief, to come face-to-face with our cynicism, we dull our souls with the narcotic of activity. I do appreciate the practical help near the end, and it’s got wise nuggets throughout, but I don’t think they redeem the whole book, and there are enough pitfalls to say, No, I think you should spend your time on something more edifying. Miller pulls this point together by reminding us to follow Jesus as our only hope to move us out of cynicism. Most of all, rediscover how Christ and the Spirit equip the saints for the work of the ministry—through prayer. In the fourth part of the book, Miller shows us that our prayers are part of a bigger story, God’s story, a story in which prayer plays a significant role.Instead of a fixed world, we live in our Father's world, a world built for divine relationships between people where, because of the Good News, tragedies become comedies and hope is born. Cynicism's ironic stance is a weak attempt to maintain a lighthearted equilibrium in a world gone mad. Though perhaps more often than necessary, Miller gave dozens of personal stories that gave the book a helpful, earthy feel. It was formerly a print journal operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008.