Customer Reviews
A thought provoking read - By: elspeth, 01 Jan 2009 
I thought this was an excellent book, Yancey shows a real understanding of the problems & confusions people have about prayer. I found I could only read a few pages at a time because I'd need to stop & think about what he'd said. I'm a person who'd never really struggled with the concept of prayer until recently when many prayers for a sick friend went apparently unanswered. In reading Yancey's book i wasn't expecting to find any black & white answers (and i didn't) but i found many examples of people who'd felt how i felt, encouragement to keep praying generally & a few suggestions that made sense to me as to why many of these things happen. I've read 3 of Yancey's books now & as always i found his honesty refreshing. I definately recommend this book.
It certainly made a difference to me! - By: Day Dreamer, 19 Jul 2008 This is mt first Philip Yancey book & I`ve been devouring itin any spare moments I get; on the train, waitingin lines, even on the toilet!
I found that I had some real problems with prayer & how best to approach it & how to get motivated; so I was interestedin this book. At the start of the book Yancey explains "My main qualification for writing about prayer is that I feel unqualified - & genuinely want to learn."
I think that this humble & honest approach to writing about prayer really helped me. He peppers his writing with a variety of short interview extracts made by everyday people on prayer; their struggles & their accomplishments.
Above all the book is insightful & although it doesn`t teach you how to prayer (it`s not a guide) I found that it made prayer seem like less of a chore & more rewarding. Thanks Philip!
First Time - Disappointed - By: Brian, 16 Apr 2008 
This book on Prayer was the first book by the author that I have started to read. It was given to me as a gift & I had no particular questions or problems with prayer when I started to read it. Although I appreciate the author not being a fundamentalist, I have to say I have found the book to give me more problems than help. I have found it to be doubt-ridden, meandering & tedious. I am also disappointed that he left his wife for days on end to write it. Not recommended.
Uplifting - By: Paul Holland, 07 Apr 2008 
Philip Yancey is a credible spiritual/Christian writer with a number of uplifting & inspiring books to his credit. This, an exploration on the subject of prayer is similar to his other books,in that they offer hope & a realistic rather than dogmatic approach. Can he absolutely prove that prayer works? No. But perhapsin this book that is not the point- is prayer useful & important? Again this cannot be absolutely provedin the positive however Yancey presents a good argumentin an enjoyable, down to earth manner. Worthwhile for Christians & open minded non-Christians alike.
Disappointed with Yancey - By: Geoffrey Turner, 25 Jul 2007 
I've appreciated other books by Philip Yancey - especially "Disappointed With God" & "The Jesus I Never Knew" because he didn't duck the awkward questions but asked them & tried honestly to answer them. With this volume, he doesn't address some of the really difficult questions about prayer (human freewill; response to some prayers but not others)andin his answers to the questions he does ask, he drops into "standard response" mode - platitudes that don't offer the answers - if they did, we wouldn't need a book like this. Good as far as it goes but that's all - I got more from a brief essay by CS Lewisin an Appendix to "Miracles" - On "Special Providences" that offers a very short but clear & logical discussion of prayer
