A Walk Through "Praying the Lord's Prayer" by J. I. Packer

I recently finished "Praying the Lord's Prayer" and thought it would be useful to walk through some of the more helpful quotes from the book over the next few days. My aim is simply to spark some new thoughts on prayer: the whys, whats, and hows. I will pose a question (either my own or one directly from Packer's book), and present the quotes as answers to these questions, perhaps with some of my own reflection. I'll start with a doozie.

Why is prayer sometimes the hardest thing in the world for a Christian to do?

Here's one possible answer:

People feel a problem about prayer because of the muddle they are in about God. If you are uncertain whether God exists, or whether he is personal, or good, or in control of things, or concerned about ordinary folk like you and me, you are bound to conclude that praying is pretty pointless, not to say trivial, and then you won’t do it" (p13).

The knowledge of who God is and what he is like is right at the heart of prayer. Only a proper perspective, one shaped by the truth of Scripture, will compel us to commune with God in prayer. The Psalms are a great place to start to have your knowledge of God shaped into the right mold.