There are many books on prayer out there, but Adam Dressler admits that his book is not the best nor the most revolutionary. I would add that his book is honest. It's the honest journey of a regular guy finding new motivation to pray. This book is not about methods. It's not a book on motivation. It's a book that honestly reflects on why prayer is hard and what we could do about it. This was a book worth reading.

This book is an in-depth look at prayer. It goes into the how's, when's, and why's of prayer. It's a lot of information, but it also has some personal stories that help to keep it interesting.

This was a really great read. I learned a lot about the types of prayers I pray. I would definitely suggest this to anyone who wants to learn more about prayer and the importance of it.

This book also reminds us of the importance of prayer despite all our distractions. This was my favorite, but most convicting chapter to read. It's so easy for me to make excuses to why I don't pray as I should. This book helped me reevaluate my priorities.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Wow, a beautifully written book of how to talk to God as your friend. Talking with “God” your friend as a confidante and not be intimidated. Easy to understand and relate as an everyday relationship develops and grows through friendship.

This book is unlike any other I have read on prayer. Dressler writes about his experiences of prayer and his thoughts about them. He adds insights from the Bible and books he has read. I would describe this book as thoughts on a philosophy of prayer. It is not a how to book but I have learned more about prayer from it than many others I have read. This book has made me think about prayer, the why and how of doing it. I was surprised Dressler writes about our prayers and how they relate to our character. That gave me much to think about.

One particular aspect of the book I really like is Dressler's honesty. He writes about his feelings when he prays and nothing changes. He feels disappointed and that God is ignoring him. Yet he senses that there is a greater reality than what he is seeing and feeling. And he keeps praying. He writes on topics like pain, silence, repentance, and more.

He reminds us that we cannot know spiritual reality like we do physical reality. Yet we continue to pray to our unseen God. We continue to seek the friendship and love of God. He suggests when we get distracted we try to see God in it and ask what He wants us to learn in this situation. He writes about our wanting control and our frustration when God does not do as we think He should. He writes about a life of prayer in that we recognize the presence of God all the time.

I recommend this book to readers who are on the journey of knowing God through prayer. Perhaps you are puzzled by prayer, the doing of it or the meaning of it. You will gain insight from Dressler about simply being present with God, growing in your relationship with Him. You'll be challenged too.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Author Adam Dressler will be the first person to let you know that his book This Is How We Pray is not really a How-To Guide on how to pray. He offers the reminder many times throughout his long but absorbing book. No, This Is How We Pray is more of a meditation on prayer. It’s a book about why prayer is good when you’re hurting, why prayer is good when you seek forgiveness, why prayer is good in a myriad of other ways and for other reasons. It’s a book that takes its time to unspool its yarn. And, for that reason, it’s a book you can easily get lost in. Dressler has a very winsome and folksy way of writing, so you can simply get carried away by whatever he’s talking about – which may not be a bad thing because this is a book that if you have it on your Kindle, you’ll be making bookmarks and highlighting phrases within it, but then will promptly forget why you made that bookmark or highlighted that phrase to begin with.

Right off the bat, let’s just say that This Is How We Pray can be a confusing read. That’s not necessarily a criticism, but the book does have a tendency to prattle on and is overlong by a few chapters at least. You can tell that Dressler is a preacher because he sure loves to tell stories. Be sure that you know what you’re in for. This is a book, essentially, that is one person’s attempt to reconcile why he prays, and come up with reasons for why he doesn’t when he doesn’t. It’s a spiritual memoir, but it’s also a lengthy sermon. Or sermons. In fact, I kind of imagined that Dressler would speak each new chapter as a new sermon in his church on a given Sunday. There are, I believe, 14 or 15 chapters, so that’s about 14 or so sermons. But wait! I’m making it sound that Dressler is preachy, when that could be the furthest thing from the truth! You see, Dressler feels your pain. Having trouble having a satisfying prayer life because you’re raising four young kids? Dressler gets that! He really and truly does.

But the thing is, I’ve just finished reading this book and cannot tell you a thing about what it’s about – other than it’s about prayer. Very little of this volume really sticks or makes an impression. Sure, it’s a nice enough read when you’re reading it, and you may nod your head in agreement at some of the things its author writes about, but, at the end of the day, it’s hard to really tell you what I learned from this book. It’s more a book, it seems, about the need for prayer because God is this wonderful loving father-figure (who also has Kingly designs) who wants to have a dialogue with you – and why, despite your misgivings, you should pray as often and thoroughly as you can to this loving, powerful God.

Dressler does a lot of work to uncover just how loving God is, which is refreshing because he is an evangelical. However, there is very little about atonement theology in this book, just good God-loving vibes, which makes Dressler a breath of fresh air in the evangelical community. He talks of going on mission trips when he was younger, but, with this book, he’s not really out to convince people that his view of theology is right. He talks about it some, and in a way that is strongly personal. What you get is a guy who is just talking about his views, and his views work for him, so that’s the way it ought to be.

That also might be a mild condemnation about This Is How We Pray. It’s somewhat universal in its vision of God presented to you – none of this batter you over the head with so-called “correct theology” – but then Dressler slips in a C. S. Lewis reference to make you remember just what you’re reading. Oh well. We can’t all be perfect (that’s the sole domain of the guy upstairs – am I letting my lapsed Catholicism show?). Still, it’s a little disappointing because Dressler does this really convincing job of making himself seem like not a bad guy – even when he’s admitting his warts. He makes you feel comfortable reading about his life tales and, if I could, I’d certainly like to meet him to do a coffee with him and talk. So when the little drabs of the nasty atonement stuff leech into the book, it’s a bit of a shock because, up to a certain point, the progressive in me was heavily nodding while reading this tome.

Still, Dressler is doing something right. His Southern church is one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in the US of A. There may be a reason why people are driving from all around to come to his church, if this book is any indication. Dressler is an articulate man who knows a thing or two about nice, leisurely Sunday drives, just by the way he writes, and, despite any misgivings I may have, you have to admit that sometimes it’s kind of nice to be going somewhere without much in the way of a destination. If you like your books to amble along, This Is How We Pray is the book for you. If you need a book on how to introduce new techniques into your prayer life, look elsewhere. This Is How We Pray isn’t really sure of what it is, but it’s entertaining enough and worthy of digging into your pocketbook if you want to read someone come to grips with the fact that he has to pray more. That’s it, that’s all. Nothing less, nothing more.

"Prayer is hard because it requires us to come to terms with our own fractured hearts. Our own paradoxes. Our own contradictions. We want to be spiritual but we also want to sleep in."

This book is utterly relatable while being incredibly beautiful and positive. It has practical advice and is full of anecdotal evidence that prayer can be complicated for even those most determined to be close to God.

Dressler looks at the things we allow to prevent us from experiencing God's fullness in our lives, like guilt. It was helpful and hopeful.

Thank you to Adam Dressler, Faithwords and Netgalley forgiving me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent book, beautifully written and edited. The author tells his own story, highly relatable to young parents. He speaks of the challenges of Christian living while raising small children and dealing with 21st century life. Better yet, Dressler slips in an introduction to many of the major Christian theologians and writers, from antiquity to the present (Augustine to C.S. Lewis to Anne Lamott).

This would be a terrific book for people who are new-ish to Christianity - not exactly brand new but who are still learning the basics of Christian thought and practice. Excellent for post-confirmation small groups or young adults.