A key part of the Sydney Diocese's mission is prayer. But just what is "prayer'? There is so much confusion about what constitutes prayer, even from within the wider church, let alone the influence of the views of other religions on Christian spirituality. Can we safely assume that Christians really understand what prayer is these days?

Once we have worked out what prayer actually is, then we have the further challenge of coming to grips with one of the great enigmas of prayer: that praying is about the most naturally unnatural thing we do as humans. Natural, because it is at heart a simple thing that anyone can do. Yet unnatural, because from personal experience we know that to do it faithfully and consistently is one of the hardest challenges we face.

Matthias Media now has three complementary resources that provide helpful, straightforward and biblical introductions to the subject of prayer: a set of bible studies, a series of talks, and an introductory book.

Bold I Approach is a set of six Bible studies on the topic of prayer, written by Tony Payne, and it includes an excellent appendix of practical tips from Don Carson. These studies are ideal for personal or home group study.

Christian Prayer is a series of five talks given by Phillip Jensen, answering the following five questions: To whom do we pray? Why pray? How do we pray? What do we pray for? What happens when we pray?

Prayer and the Voice of God, part of the Guidebooks for Life series, combines the wisdom of both Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen into a highly readable book on the subject of what God's Word says on the topic of prayer. Again, this resource contains lots of valuable practical advice to help you with prayer.

Of course, studying, listening or reading on the topic of prayer is not just for the new Christian. Reminding ourselves about the great God to whom we pray, and the enormous privilege and responsibility of committing ourselves and others to him in prayer, is a great antidote to the very common Christian malaise of prayerlessness. Reflecting again on prayer is a great way to kick start your prayer life.

Photo courtesy Jesse Schutt

Ian Carmichael is a senior editor at Matthias Media and regularly contributes insights into new publications for Your.sydneyanglicans.net readers