Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer

by Tyler Staton

Whenever there’s a specific detail in the Bible, one that seems gratuitous or strange, lean in and pay close attention. There are no unimportant details in the Scripture.

Wrestling with God through persistent prayer is a confirmation of true belief, not distressing doubt.

So, why God? Why let James die if you have the power to teleport Peter to safety? I don’t know. That’s the only honest response.

The very part of her story she wanted to erase or hide in the fine print at the bottom of the page became the very part of her story she’d never stop telling. That’s the kind of author God is. He doesn’t edit. He repurposes and redeems.

Before prayer is about power or outcomes or heavenly armies and a righteous uprising, it’s about love. It’s the way we freely choose the God who freely chose us first.

all those years in between are filled with nothing but ordinary fidelity. And fidelity is boring.

Get these ancient, recited prayers into your bloodstream, and they’ll come out of you when you need them most. The memorable moments of spontaneous prayer emerge from a rooted, disciplined life of prayer.

They weren’t fanatics; they were radicals (from the Latin radix, “root”).32 They became radicals by growing deep roots through committed practice.