The Transforming Power of Prayer

The Transforming Power of Prayer feels like it was written by a spiritual director. There's a good reason for that -- Houston is an academic who has made Christian spirituality his specialty. His love for the subject matter shines through. This book truly takes a spiritual direction-type approach as opposed to, say, a Biblical study approach to prayer.Be warned: This is a dense, meaty book. Houston has a lot of wonderful things to say, but you can't just zip through this book. You need to chew on what Houston writes and let it sink into you. My favorite chapter is on contemplation and how it differs from Biblical meditation.This is the second best contemporary book I have read on prayer; only Richard Foster's Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home surpasses it.

One of the very few recent books on prayer worth reading, Houston's book (formerly titled "The Transforming Friendship") presents prayer as a friendship with God that is personally transforming. Not a touchy-feely friendship and not a self-help transformation, this is the core of the Christian life. Filled with personal and biblical reflections, Houston also draws on his comprehensive knowledge of early church mothers and fathers in this rich book.