Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer

Description

'What if, until now, you've never really prayed. Not like Jesus designed it, anyway.' Prayer is the source of Jesus's most astonishing miracles and the subject of Jesus' most audacious promises, and yet, most people - even most Bible-believing Christians - find prayer to be boring, obligatory, disappointing, confusing, or, most often, all of the above. If you've ever felt this way, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools is your invitation to trade your conceptions and misconceptions about prayer for prayer in its purest form: a vital, sustaining, powerful connection with God that is more real and alive than you could have ever imagined. In these pages, Tyler Staton - author, pastor, and national director of the 24/7 Prayer movement - addresses common roadblocks to prayer and gives you the confidence to come to God just as you are. Through biblical teaching, powerful storytelling, and insights on historic Christian practices, Staton helps you ... Express your doubts and disappointments about prayer Discover and practice multiple postures of prayer, including silence, persistence, confession, and more Understand and embrace the wonder and mystery of prayer in everyday life Realize that prayer is a powerful invitation to partner with God in the redemption of a fallen world And, ultimately, open or reopen the line of communication with your Creator and experience afresh his divine power on earth. Prayer is a journey, and this book will help you transition your prayer life from a path littered with half-hearted requests to a treasured journey of ever-deepening, adventurous relationship with Jesus.

Tyler Staton is the Lead Pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, and the National Director of 24-7 Prayer USA. He is passionate about pursuing prayer - communion and conversation with God - while living deeply, poetically, wildly, and freely in the honest and gritty realities of day-to-day life. Tyler believes that justice is kinship, stories are a gift, and prayer is an invitation. Tyler is the author of Searching for Enough: The High-Wire Walk Between Doubt and Faith and Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer. He lives in Portland with his wife Kirsten, and their sons Hank, Simon, and Amos.

This is a book for our desperate times. My friend Tyler Staton is a world-class leader, a gifted pastor, an extraordinary writer, and, above all, a man of prayer. By reading this book, you will be learning from a master. * John Mark Comer * No book has ever left me wanting to pray more. In Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, Tyler Staton opens our eyes and hearts to the beauty, mystery, and value of prayer in the life of every believer and skeptic. * Christine Caine * To know Tyler Staton is to encounter a man who is consumed by what it means to live like Jesus. And of course it is inconceivable to live like Jesus without doing what he spent so much of his time doing, which is prayer. Tyler has both given himself to this life-giving practice and provided us with a compelling vision for prayer in the life of the Christ follower. I emerged from this book with my heart stirred to talk to God more. * DR. BRYAN LORITTS, author of Saving the Saved * Tyler Staton is one of America's most inspiring and gifted prayer leaders today, and his brilliant new book flows from the deepest place of his own personal life. At times it feels like holy ground. I particularly appreciated the practical exercises at the end of each chapter, as well as the closing section about the lost art of praying for the lost. Tyler serves up the full menu of prayer-from deep contemplative practices to teaching about the power and necessity of intercessory prayer. There's something here for everyone. It's both an on-ramp for those new to faith who are seeking to grow in a conversational relationship with the Lord and a master class for Christians who are seeking to be stretched and inspired. This is a vital invitation into the highest calling of every person on the planet, flowing straight from the heart of a contemporary prayer warrior, a respected pastor, and a dear friend. * Pete Greig *