This book is an easy book to turn to when looking to pray in concordance to the Bible. It is more of a resource type book than one that is purely reading.

It is a challenge not to simply pray what is on the top of one’s mind, but through this book one can learn how to pray in line to God’s Word. I find that this book is a nice basic book that is divided into types of prayers. A little bit of an excerpt or example is before each type of Bible “prayer” verse. I love the fact that the author desires that we pray in line with Verses. Author James Banks proceeds to point out that when Jesus prayed He often prayed in accordance to God’s Word. Banks offers the challenge for us to practice praying, and to draw closer to God through prayer.

I liked that this book cut right to the chase and is clear and conscise. Not a type of book that writes long about “how to pray” which I appreciate. A reader will find that this book’s format is really basic with Topics followed along with Bible Verses. Nothing long and tedious to read.

This is an excellent book to use to pray with.

The book is organized well in terms of subjects to pray.

This is a perfect book

Praying the Prayers of the Bible is a wonderful book to keep close as a companion to assist you in praying the Scriptures.  It’s an awesome resource for any Christian who has ever struggled in their prayer life and has been seeking a breakthrough.  You will find that this book will become a valuable resource to improve and enhance your prayer life.  I really appreciated the layout of the book and how each section has a short reflection, related scripture, prayers from the Bible for you to pray through to strengthen our walk with the Lord.  You will be blessed when you read this book. 

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This is a wonderfully organized book that will become a real treasure to help you find the right thoughts and words for your prayer time.� Dr. James Banks describes how even Jesus’ prayers included references to scriptures from the Old Testament.� If Jesus prayed the prayers of the Bible, then this is a good format for us to consider. �This book is organized into several different themes (e.g., Prayers to Praise and Honor God, Prayers to Strengthen Your Faith, Prayers To Confess Sin and Humble Ourselves, Prayers for Guidance and Direction, etc.)� Each section begins with an overall reflection of the theme and then is followed by a series of scriptures pertaining to that theme.� This helps to meditate on the promises of God from His word.�
These scriptures are followed by a series of Prayer Starters to “jump start your prayer” and also come directly from scriptures.

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At the end of the book there is an additional summary of When To Pray These Prayers and specific scriptures listed for a variety of different topics (e.g., When You Want To Tell God You Love Him, When You Need Encouragement, When You Need Justice,� When You Are In Trouble, etc.)�

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There is great value in just reading the Table of Contents of this book which is a summary of each of the specific scripture promises pertaining to each theme. This book is not only a great resource, but a great reference as well. This is a book that you won’t just read once but will reference over and over again.� Because there is so much great information in this book, I think it would be more valuable to have a paper copy to flip through, mark up and compare scriptures rather than reading this as an e-book.� This is sure to be a classic on your bookshelf for years to come.

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I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Discovery House Publishers and Net Galley in exchange for my fair and honest opinion of this book.� I enjoyed it so much I will be buying a paper copy too!

The Bible is often studied and analyzed by Church groups and many Christian communities. From character studies to theological treatises, from word exegesis to thematic references, the Bible has become the sole bread and butter of everything Christianity. One of the ways that the Bible has so richly informed the Christian community is the prayers in the Bible itself. Whether it is from the Old Testament or the New Testament, it is very easy to find references to prayer in the sacred Scriptures. According to James Banks, we have much to learn from just the prayers of the Bible themselves. We can learn how Moses, Job, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, Paul, and many others pray to God. The advantages are many. We learn to stay faithful to the biblical text. We learn to pray the way that the biblical men and women of old have done. More importantly, because the prayers are so God-focused, and so natural to the human being, it is a worthwhile discipline for anyone following Jesus to learn to pray the prayers of the Bible. James Banks teach us how in this book.

The objective is simple. Make the prayers of the Bible our own. There are 9 themes that the prayers are organized under.

For praising and honoring God;
For Thanksgiving;
For Faith;
For Needs;
For Confession and Humility;
For guidance and direction;
For Help and Protection;
For Everyday Struggles;
For Blessings.

Each theme has a "prayer starter" for those who want a quick entry into the prayer. It also has a longer description for anyone desiring to probe a little deeper. Banks guides readers along. In fact, Banks urges readers to go beyond just remaining in any one category, but to immerse themselves widely in various categories. Believing that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for holy living, readers are encouraged to go deep and wide, and to pray and to bask in the presence of God as they utter the words of Scripture. There is no limit to what one can do with the prayers, simply because the prayers point one toward the Eternal and Everlasting God, Boundless, Limitless, and full of glory and grace.

Dr Banks is well qualified to share with us his experiences, having led many groups in prayer retreats, written books, as well as being involved in pastoral work. Through this book, readers from other parts of the world is able to benefit from the ministry of Banks.

My Thoughts

Use this book as a guide to praying, but do not limit yourself to what Banks is saying. Let the Spirit of God lead you to pray and also to come up with your own prayers, with the Bible as a guide. The more we pray, the more we learn. The more we learn to pray, the more we become creative in our praying. The book provides the biblical texts so that readers can use them straightaway. The main problem with books like these is always context. When we pull out verses from the Bible, we risk taking the texts out of contexts. While I am happy to recommend this book for general reference and earnest praying, I will encourage readers not to stop there, but to open up the Bible for themselves. Perhaps, let the selected verses be entries to reading and praying through whole passages, leading toward whole books, and even large chunks of Scripture.

If this book can encourage readers to desire more after God, and to study the Bible more for themselves and their communities, it will have worth every single penny for the price of the book.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

This book is provided to me free by Discovery House Publishers and NetGalley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Ok have read better...not a choice for my library..

This is an excellent way to learn the Word of God and pray God's Words back to Him. I will suggest this title to all of my fellow clergy friends to use with their members!

James Banks has written a wonderful prayer book called Praying the Prayers of the Bible. It is a great prayer resource and extremely helpful for those who are interested in praying the Bible. The book is based in scripture and is very grace-filled and teaching oriented. It gives prayer starters and lists out verses and examples. This method helps readers not only become more confident in praying, but also more confident in the method of praying the Bible.

The book is divided into different kinds of prayers, including for: praising and honoring God, thanksgiving, faith and submission, everyday needs, confession and humility, guidance and direction, help and protection, everyday struggles, and blessings.

I appreciate that the author continuously points the reader back to Scripture and to a relationship with God. A person who might feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar with prayer will not feel condemned by this book. In fact, I believe it would be a great book especially for those who have felt like prayer is a daunting concept. Praying the Prayers of the Bible will help acclimate these believers to prayer in a grace-filled kind way.

Overall, I recommend this book and will continue to use it myself as a guide to praying the Bible.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review of it.