In the book, Keller describes ‘The Touchstones of Prayer.’ These ‘touchstones,' "are not a set of rules that merit or trigger God’s response in some magical or mechanical way. Rather, they are twelve touchstones by which we can judge the relative strength or weakness of our prayers for honoring and connecting us to God.”
To summarize his longer points, he grouped them into four parts.
Part 1, What It Is:
Work: Prayer is a duty and a discipline.
“Prayer should be done regularly, persistently, resolutely, and tenaciously at least daily, whether we feel like it or not.”
Word: Prayer is conversing with God.
“To ‘walk with someone’ in the Bible is to have a friendship, because people talk as they walk together.”
Balance: Prayer is adoration, confession, thanks, and supplication.
“All these ways of praying to God should be present, interactive, and balanced when we pray.”
“Prayer should be done regularly, persistently, resolutely, and tenaciously at least daily, whether we feel like it or not.”
Word: Prayer is conversing with God.
“To ‘walk with someone’ in the Bible is to have a friendship, because people talk as they walk together.”
Balance: Prayer is adoration, confession, thanks, and supplication.
“All these ways of praying to God should be present, interactive, and balanced when we pray.”
Part 2, What It Requires:
Grace: Prayer is “In Jesus’ name,” based on the gospel.
“To come to the Father in Jesus’ name, not our own, is to come fully cognizant that we are being heard because of the costly grace in which we stand.”
Fear: Prayer is the heart engaged in loving awe.
“One important sign of an engaged heart is awe before the greatness of God and before the privilege of prayer.”
Helplessness: Prayer is accepting one’s weakness and dependence.
“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.”
“To come to the Father in Jesus’ name, not our own, is to come fully cognizant that we are being heard because of the costly grace in which we stand.”
Fear: Prayer is the heart engaged in loving awe.
“One important sign of an engaged heart is awe before the greatness of God and before the privilege of prayer.”
Helplessness: Prayer is accepting one’s weakness and dependence.
“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.”
Part 3, What It Gives:
Perspective: Prayer reorients your view toward God.
“Prayer brings new perspective because it puts God back into the picture.”
Strength: Prayer is spiritual union with God.
“Prayer is the way that all the things we believe in and that Christ has won for us actually become our strength.”
Spiritual Reality: Prayer seeks a heart sense of the presence of God.
“Through prayer our somewhat abstract knowledge of God becomes existentially real to us.”
“Prayer brings new perspective because it puts God back into the picture.”
Strength: Prayer is spiritual union with God.
“Prayer is the way that all the things we believe in and that Christ has won for us actually become our strength.”
Spiritual Reality: Prayer seeks a heart sense of the presence of God.
“Through prayer our somewhat abstract knowledge of God becomes existentially real to us.”
Part 4, Where It Takes Us:
Self-Knowledge: Prayer requires and creates honesty and self-knowledge.
“Prayer must eventually take us beyond a mere sense of insufficiency into deep honesty with ourselves.”
Trust: Prayer requires and creates both restful trust and confident hope.
“The final thought of every prayer must be for the help we need to accept thankfully from God’s hand whatever he sends in his wisdom.”
Surrender: Prayer requires and creates surrender of the whole life in love to God.
“You should not begin to pray for all you want until you realize that in God you have all you need.”
“Prayer must eventually take us beyond a mere sense of insufficiency into deep honesty with ourselves.”
Trust: Prayer requires and creates both restful trust and confident hope.
“The final thought of every prayer must be for the help we need to accept thankfully from God’s hand whatever he sends in his wisdom.”
Surrender: Prayer requires and creates surrender of the whole life in love to God.
“You should not begin to pray for all you want until you realize that in God you have all you need.”
Which ones of these resonates the most with you today?
