On Prayer

"The teaching about prayer in the Bible cannot be separated from the biblical view of God and the world that is its foundation and context. The defense of Christian prayer cannot be successfully undertaken apart from an acceptance of the biblical revelation as a whole. But when by faith we apprehend God as personal, conscious, active, powerful, and benevolent; when we see the world as created by God, and under God's sovereign control; when we embrace the commands and promises of God concerning prayer as set forth in the Scriptures; then prayer in all its aspects, not excluding petition, becomes a reasonable and meaningful practice."

Dr. Wayne Spear, Talking to God, 98