This is a booklet of advice for conducting prayer meetings. The advice is good, if simple, and taking it to heart will indeed help avoid some of the worst errors and abuses in those meetings made-to-be-endured. On the other hand, there is also an experience of corporate prayer that captivates our hearts and sweeps us together into the presence of a good and awesome God. There is here no encouragement to seek that experience nor instruction in how in how to find it. The booklet would be all the better if attended to both.

This book consists of an extended series of clever comments about prayer, especially its importance and effects on the Christian minister. While this author has been widely read and appreciated, I can't say I found it especially helpful. For me, an extended series of quips is both less engaging and less helpful than an orderly development of ideas. With respect to the author and the many who feel otherwise, I did not enjoy it nor can I recommend it.

Extraordinary book! Other reviews say, in effect, that this is a fine book, and deeply helpful in getting inside of the heads of the biblical authors and their readers. With that I wholeheartedly agree. But what they don't say is that if you really understand what Heiser is saying, your understanding of scripture will be revolutionized. Don't misinterpret, you'll still believe the miracle stories of the Bible. But so much more, you'll experience a fresh way of looking at scripture--and at the profound and majestic wisdom of God. It makes sense of so much of scripture and Christian theology! Heiser's work is really that good. But don't stop with book, read all that he had to say. It is worth every penny and every minute you invest.