The God Who Hears: A Biblical Guide to Prayer

• The God Who Hears is the second book out of their publishing effort, an A-to-Z guide to prayer with short chapters drawn from a Wednesday night sermon series and priced as low as Amazon allows, because the aim is getting resources into people's hands rather than making a living off writing; Drew Rogers said the point is not prayer performed as a duty but a relationship with God — what he hopes readers walk away with is that God is real and wants a real relationship with them, and teaching these principles is what convinced him Paul's admonition to "pray without ceasing" is genuinely possible when there is a true love relationship with God.
• The series and the book came out of a sheet Michael Williams handed out at a prayer camp in the UP — one point and one scripture per letter — which Drew developed and taught for 13 weeks as "practical steps towards biblical prayer," alongside Blackaby's Experiencing Prayer with Jesus, for 28 weeks total on prayer.
• The big shift was moving the focus off praying for specific physical needs and onto adoration and God's kingdom and will, following the model Jesus gave; Drew said prayer is not an opportunity to convince God to help but an opportunity for God to lay his agenda on his heart — and the less they prayed for the physical needs to be resolved, the more they saw those needs answered.
• Chapters they highlighted: A for adoration, B for bread for today (spiritual nourishment, not groceries), K for knowing the God who hears, P for professing your identity in Christ, Q for questions for God, casting your cares, thanksgiving, and a list of over 650 names of God; Dillon McCurdy added that praying in Jesus' name means praying in alignment with him and in the authority he gives, not attaching a tagline to a sentence.
• At the church they changed Wednesday nights to teach a lesson, then spread out for ten minutes of individual prayer in adoration and for spiritual bread before bringing requests — "praying before we prayed" — and opened the building at 9:00 on Sunday mornings; some people loved it, others stopped coming, and Drew's counsel is to keep doing what the Lord is leading you to do.
• Over about six months they saw answers they called impossible: Pearly's cancer gone and hospice leaving, a baby born at two pounds now with a clean bill of health, Drew's wife's masses gone or non-cancerous, Mrs. Gibbs' two aneurysms gone, and a grieving widower released from condemnation after prayer.
• Dillon tied prayer to spiritual warfare — Daniel continuing in prayer while the messenger was held up — saying prayer is part of the battle, and that the body of Christ praying individually and collectively has great power and is the means by which God seems to work.

Take it further

1. Drew described prayer as developing a relationship with God rather than performing a duty. Which of the two better describes your prayer life right now?
2. The shift they made was praying for God's kingdom and will before bringing physical needs. What would change about your prayer time if you started there?
3. Drew said prayer is God laying his agenda on your heart rather than you convincing God to help. Where have you been trying to convince God instead of listening for his agenda?
4. Chapter A is adoration, and Drew said the more we lose our awe of God, the more we lose touch with all other spiritual disciplines. When did you last simply stand in awe of God before asking him for anything?
5. Dillon talked about thanksgiving in a culture of complaining. What good news, personal or professional, could you bring to God in thanksgiving this week?
6. Drew admitted the change at his church met resistance and that some people stopped coming. Where is God leading you to change how you pray, even if the people around you do not join in?