Prayer
Finding the Heart's True Home
By Richard J. Foster
Read by Rick Adamson

    Foster tells listeners “God has graciously allowed me to catch a glimpse into his heart” and that “The heart of God is an open wound of love.” God aches over our distance, weeps over our obsessions, and longs for our presences. Moreover, God wants to relieve us of aggression, frustration and fear and replace it with security and peace. Foster’s goal is to help believers with lessons on prayer. Foster tells us we avoid prayer because we are naturally prideful and hardhearted. In addition, when we do desire prayer, we first want to put our life in order. That’s why God gave us prayer, he explains. Constant prayer – the beginner’s prayer, the simplest prayer, the breath prayer, etc. – will put our lives in order and bring us “back to that which we were created for.”

    Foster explains prayer and guides those who pray. Written for both the novice and experienced Christian, he talks about the prayer of adoration and rest, sacramental prayer, meditation and contemplation. In expressing God and his desire, the author uses common examples and backs his teachings with scripture. At times, Foster’s message may seem poetic or melodramatic, even (“withering winds of God’s hiddeness”).

    The book Prayer was published in 1992. This audio version contains chapters 1, 2, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21 of that version. The audio book is read by Rick Adamson. Adamson’s tranquil tone matches Foster’s mellowed written voice.

    Foster is the founder of “Renovaré”, an infrachurch movement committed to the renewal of the Church. For those unfamiliar with Forster’s commitment, here is his website: http://www.renovare.org/