Christianity: Prayer and Other Shortcomings
Prayer is the most accessible act in the Christian life — and yet the one we often neglect. It requires no special location, no degree, no financial cost, and yet it is the first to go when life gets crowded. Many believers know they should pray, but few experience prayer as a constant, living connection with the God who made them.
This book is a call back to the heart of prayer — not as a ritual or last resort, but as the lifeline of the believer. It begins with the wonder that prayer is conversation with the Creator of the universe. The One who spoke galaxies into being listens to our words, whispers back through His Spirit, and invites us into a relationship deeper than we imagined.
Along the way, we face the uncomfortable truth: our prayer life is often hindered by deeper spiritual shortcomings. We underuse the Holy Spirit, not from disinterest but from lack of understanding or training. We allow sin to grow because we do not stop it at the first glance, forgetting James’ warning that desire, once conceived, gives birth to sin. We keep the letter of God’s commands while ignoring Jesus’ “You have heard it said, but I say to you” — missing His call to purity of heart and motive. And we forget that prayer should produce fruit in our lives, not just feelings of comfort.
The chapters explore prayer in all its dimensions:
Prayer as conversation — learning to speak and listen throughout the day.
Intercession — standing before God on behalf of the unsaved, our leaders, even those who oppose us.
Persistence — drawing from Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow to understand why God sometimes answers only after we keep asking.
The Spirit’s help — how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and teaches us to pray when we don’t know how.
Prayer and holiness — removing the obstacles that hinder our prayers.
Prayer as warfare — fighting the battle in the unseen before it is fought in the seen.
More than a “how-to,” this is a heart call. It is an invitation to live in constant awareness of God’s presence, so that prayer becomes as natural as breathing — a life-giving conversation that shapes how we see, how we act, and how we love.