Growing in Prayer: A Real-Life Guide to Talking with God

I honestly didn't know what to expect reading this book. I didn't know if the author was going to go way off from Scripture or would he remain faithful to the Bible? In the end, I found that I agreed with much of what he wrote. One might take exception with Bickle over his views regarding prophecy or regarding praying in tongues ("in the Spirit") but the book is not that bad. I found that I had a better desire to pray biblically after reading the book. Now I will admit that I prefer to read books that are teaching books on passages from the Bible on prayer. More of an expository understanding of prayer. But that said, Bickle does a good job of teaching the reader what it means to pray and how to develop a stronger prayer life.The positives from this book. The last chapter was the best. I don't mean that to be sarcastic. Earlier in the book Bickle wrote about what he called "apostolic prayers" in which he prays the Scriptures. In the appendix, Bickle gives you all those apostolic passages and how to pray them. This was the best for me. Bickle went from the Old Testament to the end of the New listing passage after passage with the promise to pray. This was very helpful to me in prayer.Another positive was Bickle's prayer journal. He gives several acronyms to help you pray and encourages you to keep a journal to help you see how God answers your prayers. This also helps you stay focused during prayer and you won't spend all your time praying for your own needs.Let me list some negatives. For me, the gospel must be our motivation to pray. When we study the gospel and understand by faith what Christ has done in saving us by His grace from the wrath of a holy God, this will lead us to pray (Hebrews 4:14-16). Prayer should flow from our saving relationship through Christ with the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27). While Bickle mentions the gospel here and there, the gospel was not the foundation to pray from and this disappointed me. I have no doubt that Bickle would encourage disciples to pray from a relationship with God and this would flow from salvation but the gospel is all about God. Salvation is God! Prayer is only vital and powerful when we truly know God and understand who He is and what He has done in saving us from our sins through His Son.Lastly, Bickle uses a few people that I would not have mentioned such as Kenneth Hagin or John G. Lake. Both men's theology was seriously flawed.Overall this book is worth reading. I don't think it was the greatest book I have read on prayer. The works of Leonard Ravenhill far exceed this book. However, it is a good read and I did enjoy it overall.

I purchased a copy of "Growing in Prayer: A Real Life Guide to Talking with God" last night for my Kindle. That was a big mistake! This book is massive (over 300 pages), but is a book I just couldn't put down. I have been an intercessor for 39 years and have been giving leadership to a city-wide prayer ministry for 14 years; needless to say I have spent a lot of time studying prayer and have read every book I could find on prayer from every stream of the Body of Christ. But I can safely say that "Growing in Prayer: A Real Life Guide to Talking with God" is the best resource I have ever seen - whether you are just starting to learn to pray, or if you, like I, have been praying, or have been involved in prayer ministry for many years.Mike Bickle has been actively involved in a life of devotional prayer and a ministry of intercessory prayer for over 40 years. He pulls from that well of experience to share the path to having a meaningful devotional prayer life, how to effectively be involved in an intercessory prayer ministry, as well as sharing lessons on how that all fits into the Christian dynamics of God-centered spiritual warfare. He covers spontaneous prayer, the importance of prayer lists, and spends a whole section of the book on praying the God inspired prayers - God's secret weapons - included in the Bible - the Apostolic prayers. This is a book I will be revisiting often, and will be sharing with many for years to come. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who desires to go deeper in their personal prayer life, and be more effective in partnering with our Bridegroom, Judge and King in establishing the Kingdom of God, releasing the end-time outpouring of the Spirit of God, and enforcing the will of God on earth as it is in Heaven.

This book is the deepest, most thorough book on Prayer I've ever read. It is not a quick read...It's one that you'll want to read and take breaks to just marinate. It is an incredible volume of truth!

You are definitely taking a chance when you buy a used book, but I have generally found it worth the risk. This time was one of the best! The book looks brand new. I've been watching Mike Bickle's videos on this subject on mikebickle.org and I can't wait to dig into the book.

At first i was troubled with a term he used "the fellowship of the burning heart" which I find nowhere in Scripture. I don't know why the author chose to make up a term when he could adequately convey the message in words that can be found in the Scripture. I almost didn't continue reading, but I decided to read the Table of Contents to see if he did more of that. I couldn't see anything else that was suspect, so I decided to continue reading. I'm very glad I did, as the book was both helpful and inspiring. The author has dedicated much of his life to prayer and I think any Christian can learn from his experience and from his very practical insights.

The author is the founder and head of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. He is experienced in both personal and corporate prayer; he is articulate and personable in his communication style. I am learning a lot from his rather heavy-duty book. My only criticism is that, like so many people tied in with a particular movement -- spiritual, political, or environmental -- Bickle uses specific vocabulary and makes certain assumptions particular to his IHOP prayer group, which I gather is part of the broader evangelical Christian movement. I sometimes chafe at these assumptions and want to challenge them, or at least get a better explanation of why his group has come to rely on them.

This book will change your prayer life forever. It has changed mine. The book is very thorough and deals with every aspect of prayer. It is easy to read and understand. I really do recommend this book to anyone who wants to go deeper into prayer.

Challenging and full of insight and teaching on Christian prayer.

In depths teaching on how to worship God through prayer, reading His word, singing,showing love to other people. Excellent teaching.

Absolutely amazing - seasoned with prayer. Motivational -nicely set out - A must for any prayer or intercesor .

An amazing book that has greatly helped me in my prayer life.Book also came much faster than expected and was in great condition.