Although many books on prayer exist that encourage Christians to develop stronger private prayer lives, Tautges seeks to fill a void by addressing the corporate prayer of believers when they come together as local expressions of the church. To that end, his book is geared toward the gathered community of Christians and the way they approach and practice prayer. While helpful, Tautges’ book is slim and never quite connects on the level it potentially could have.

One of the pleasures of God is to take ordinary, common sinners, redeem them, and then empower them with the Spirit to walk in God-dependency. And the clearest mark of their humble, God-dependent spirit is their dedication to prayer. [21]

We feel badly when our prayer lives become stagnant or virtually nonexistent. But do we call our lack of prayer sin and repent of it as a form of independence from God? … Prayerlessness is sin, as is the self-sufficient heart attitude of independence that feeds it. [33]

An anxious spirit cannot coexist with a thankful one. Thankful prayer summons the security guard called peace to stand post at the doors of our hearts, forcing out worry and forbidding its reentrance. [38]

Our churches will not experience the fullness of the Spirit’s power until we return to the priority of prayer, not only as individual believers who pray in private, but also as churches filled with people who cry out to God together. [64]

God in His sovereignty has ordained that some things He has already determined to do will only be accomplished as a result of prayer. [80]

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