What Ten Years of Prayer Writing Has Taught Me About Prayer

Was God Speaking Through My Dream?

Ten years ago I awoke to a most unusual dream where I was giving a talk to a mass of people and having trouble with my words. I had thoughts in my head that refused to come out of my mouth. When I awoke and made my way to the shower to get ready for work, I continued to think over the dream. Immediately, I thought I should write a book.

You have to understand how crazy this idea was to me. I graduated college with a math degree. During high school I aced the AP Calculus exam and failed the AP English one. I made it a point to avoid classes in college that required essay exams. If I was assigned a two-page paper, I was lucky to get a sentence or two on the second page.

In spite of these known obstacles, I believed that God was trying to tell me something. I was working with a Fortune 100 company running a microsite that generated leads for the business using search engine optimization. It was a relatively new field at that time, so I took the path of least resistance and wrote a book to help churches and ministries harness this field of marketing to increase their outreach. Finishing this book showed me that writing was not impossible as I thought and opened me to the possibilities of future books.

The Beginning of the Prayer Coach Blog

At that same time, I was helping a new ministry startup whose goal was to help Christians pray by developing short recorded messages that people could sign up for to lead them in daily times of prayer. Shortly after the dream, we met with a marketing professional to help increase the awareness of this new venture.

One of his suggestions was to start a blog to give encouragement and structure to prayer. There was a void in the Christian community of people specifically communicating about prayer and most Christians felt discouraged by their own prayers. We could fill that space and by becoming subject matter experts, thus more easily promote the new business.

My friend who was starting the venture was not interested in that portion, wanting to focus more on the core product offering. I, on the other hand, knowing my dream, wanted to take up the challenge. This was the first phase of what has become the Prayer Coach blog.

Did I Know Enough About Prayer?

When I started writing this prayer blog, I had written and led Bible studies, had spoken to groups of a couple hundred people, had discipled college students, had gone as a missionary to the Middle East, had been on staff at a church, but I cannot say that I felt like an expert on prayer. Like most Christians, I struggled with doubt about my own prayers. I had moments of great prayer, but I still struggled feeling that God was satisfied with my level of devotion. My hope as I started was to communicate my experiences, continue to attempt to grow in prayer, and trust it would help some people.

Now, with almost ten years more experience, with many new joys and also new failures, I feel it is time to compile and organize the things God has taught me about prayer through this journey. Each week for ten years, I have written a new article about prayer and with each new article, God has solidified two deep convictions about prayer that I believe if we as Christians fully comprehended, we would experience great joy in our relationship with God.

What I Have Learned About Prayer

First of all, prayer is easier than we make it out to be. While we are fixated on getting the words correct or our mental focus in check, God is waiting to spend time with us. If we are really to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), then it can’t be too difficult to do.

Secondly, our views of God and ourselves are currently hindering our prayers. The Bible is clear that we now have free access to God in Christ (Hebrews 4:16, James 4:8, Ephesians 3:12, 1 Peter 3:18, etc.). When we feel God is distant or that we have to do anything before coming into His presence, this is evidence we are believing something different than what the Bible tells us is true.

New Book on Prayer Coming

In the fall I plan on releasing a book on prayer that will elaborate on these two convictions by looking at the burdens we put on prayer and the blessings God offers. With these conceptual structures in place, I will lead you through some practical suggestions that will release you into more enjoyable times with God. God loves to spend time with us and wants us to have confidence every time we pray.

As I finalize this book, I am pulling together a small group of people who will get an early look at the book, get to read the rough draft, get to help determine the style. This group will get the inside scoop and help refine the message to encourage many more people.

Join My Launch Team

If you want to join this Prayer Book Launch Team, I have a signup for it below. Because of how personally invested I’m going to be in this project, we only need a small, committed group. But, for your help, I am committing to this group to give them:

Advanced electronic copies (PDF) of each chapter. You will get a behind-the-scenes view of this book coming together.
A free physical copy of the book when it is released.
Exclusive access to a private Facebook group, where we’ll share promotion ideas, give feedback on visual aspects of the book, and you’ll have direct contact with me.
The opportunity to interact with other launch team members.
A special mention on my blog with a link to your website.

What I’m Asking From You

If you’re picked to be a part of this team, I ask that you agree to:

Share your thoughts and comments regarding the book as it comes together.
Interact with the rest of the launch team and participate in the community to help come up with promotion ideas (we’re open to experimenting).
Read and review the book online (e.g. Amazon, Goodreads, and/or your blog).
Spread the word any way you can during the week of the book launch (in the fall).

I’m going to be “all in” for this, so I ask that you take it seriously. If you are not interested in growing in prayer and for wanting to help others gain confidence in prayer, this is not for you.

Apply Now

Because of how personally invested I’m going to be in this project, we need to keep the group to a manageable size. Therefore, we won’t be accepting everyone who applies. Applications close this Monday, August 20th at 6pm MST.

[button link=”https://facebook.com/prayercoachblog” color=”red” window=”yes”]Application Closed[/button]

We’ll be emailing individuals to let you know if you made the team. If you don’t hear from us in a week, you can assume you didn’t make it. Don’t worry; there will be other opportunities to get involved in the launch.