In my early years as a Christian, I read many books on prayer by such spiritual giants as Arthur Mathews (“Born for Battle”) and E.M.Bounds (“Power Through Prayer”). I think I was naive to think that I could become an effective prayer warrior on my own by simply reading these kinds of books and just becoming more disciplined in my life.

These things are obviously helpful. But they also reveal a very individualistic way of looking at prayer, spirituality and discipleship. In the Christian Scriptures, learning to pray and practising prayer in a corporate context is also very important.