If there’s a limit to how many books one person should read on a single subject, I’ve probably exceeded it with books on prayer. I keep reading about it because I often feel dissatisfied with my prayer life. I don’t pray as frequently—or as well—as I desire, and I need all the help I can get. By the number of prayer books coming off the press, it seems I’m not alone in this struggle. Many Christians yearn to pray more faithfully but don’t always know how.

In Prayerfulness: Cultivating a Bible-Enriched Prayer Life, Peter Adam, vicar emeritus of St Jude’s Carlton in Melbourne, Australia, helps readers move beyond shallow praying and rediscover the beauty, power, and joy of a gospel-shaped prayer life.

Adam aims to “expand the range and depth of our praying, so our prayers will express and reflect the full range of the Bible and be based on a deep theology of prayer” (25). To that end, he explores how our relationship with God shapes our prayers, how Scripture can enrich them, and how to prepare for both personal and corporate prayer.

Prayer Is More than Asking

Many of our prayers center on making requests—for provision, guidance, healing, or salvation. Of course, nothing is wrong with bringing our daily needs to God; the Lord Jesus included petitions when he taught his disciples how to pray (Matt. 6:9–13). However, if we reduce our prayer to supplication only, we risk missing its deeper purpose. Praying is primarily about a relationship.

If we reduce our prayer to supplication only, we risk missing its deeper purpose.

Just as the Bible isn’t merely a list of commands, prayer isn’t only a list of needs. Like Scripture, prayer is an avenue for communion with our heavenly Father, and for it to be more meaningful, it must go beyond asking. Adam writes,

We easily fall into the trap of thinking that the only part of our talking to God that matters is our asking for things. However, in the Bible we find God’s people confessing their sins, praising God, thanking God, lamenting and grieving, promising, and weeping. We need to widen our range of “praying.” (24)

We can broaden our prayers by growing in our knowledge of God. A. W. Tozer famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Adam builds on this idea and shows how our view of God influences how we speak to him:

Our prayers should be a response to God’s teaching on who he is and how we should approach him. Because God is a heavenly Father, we should pray to him as his children. Because God has revealed himself to us and made his covenant promises to us, we should speak to him in faith. (32)

If we see God only as a helper, our prayers will reflect that. However, if we remember he’s also our Father, Protector, Redeemer, Friend, Savior, and King, then our prayers will expand in depth and reverence.

Scripture Shapes the Way We Pray

Some of the most moving prayers I’ve encountered outside the Bible are those saturated with Scripture. These kinds of prayers, according to Puritan Thomas Watson, pierce both the heart and heaven.

Praying God’s words back to him was a hallmark of Puritan piety, and Adam exhorts us to recover this practice:

Why should we pray Bible-shaped prayers? Because we are using God’s words to pray to him, thinking his thoughts after him, praying his words after him. This is a vital part of the process of becoming a doer, not just a hearer, of God’s Word (Jas 1:22). . . . When we pray the Bible, we are linking together mind, heart, and life. (105)

Forming a habit of praying Scripture begins with immersing ourselves in it—reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on it. We let God initiate the conversation with us through his Word, then we respond through prayer. My prayers have always been most meaningful when they stemmed from meditating on Scripture and using what I learned to speak with God.

Forming a habit of praying Scripture begins with immersing ourselves in it.

Adam also proposes using prewritten prayers as an aid. Most of us pray spontaneously—we kneel before God and pour out our hearts, free-flowing and unfiltered. But Adam shows that preparing our prayers in advance doesn’t make them less authentic or sincere. Using written prayers ensures our prayers will be Scripture-shaped and broad. He writes,

Without [written prayers], my daily prayers tend to be narrow, unimaginative, repetitious, self-centered, task-oriented, and without an appropriate focus on God. Without them I naturally forget to tell God that I trust him; I forget to praise him, to thank him, and to worship him. . . . My prepared prayers enlarge and enrich my praying. (83)

Live a Prayer-Filled Life

Prayer is essential to Christians. It’s a gift God has given us to deepen our intimacy with him. When we pray, we get to

relate to God, express our trust and hope in him, bring our lives before him, praise and thank him, and confess our sins. We bring our griefs, sadnesses, and needs to him. We pray for others, pray for his world and his church, pray for gospel ministry, and pray for people to become Christians. God gives us the dignity of praying to him, as well as the dignity of working with him and for him. We are God’s agents when we pray, and when we work. (292)

In our age of constant busyness and distractions, prayer often becomes an afterthought or a last resort. Adam invites us to slow down and value prayer for what it is. He doesn’t offer gimmicks to make our prayers sound more impressive, but long-lasting practices that will make our prayers more meaningful, rich, and satisfying.

Prayerfulness gives readers a vision of prayer rooted in Scripture, shaped by the gospel, and centered on relationship. It’s a much-needed invitation for weary saints who yearn to cultivate and nurture a prayer-filled life.