Prayer A to Z: A Comprehensive Bible-Based Study of Prayer, is indeed comprehensive. In this post I will give you a brief breakdown of the book, chapter by chapter, 52 chapters in all.

When I began thinking of what I wanted the book to be like, my thoughts were drawn to some of the classic books on prayer I have read, books by E. M. Bounds, Andrew Murray, Hudson Taylor, R. A. Torrey, and Charles Spurgeon. I considered these authors to be powerful and holy men of God, and so I wanted to follow in their steps.

What would I do? How would I form its content? The first thing I did was to look through all the books I had (about 30 book) to get ideas. I wrote down all the possible topics or chapter titles. I came up with about 80 topics; and I also decided that I would take some time to read through the bible to find all the prayers of the bible. It took me over a year; and during that time, I also worked on the formation of the chapters. Eighty chapters was way too many. I eventually narrowed it down to 52 chapters, including five chapters on the prayers of the bible.

Then I had a brilliant idea. If a person would read and study one chapter a week, that would make a good year-long study. I also got the idea of trying to put all the chapters in alphabetical order. That took some doing, but it came together. Well, after I was done patting myself on the back for my brilliance, I suddenly got the thought that maybe God had something to do with it.  And the more I realized how everything came together, I was sure of it. It was all His doing!

Okay, here are the fifty-two chapters, with just a short comment on each chapter.

1. Answers to Prayer. Seventeen pages on this topic. A great start.
2. Aroma of Prayer. This is a favorite to many readers.
3. Authority of Prayer. All our authority is in Christ.
4. Burden in Prayer. In this chapter you realize God’s heart of compassion.
5. Confidence in Prayer. Discover God-confidence in prayer.
6. Definition of Prayer. Discover here what prayer is.
7. Desire in Prayer. It is important to pray with desire.
8. Earnestness in Prayer. Earnest prayer grows out of desire.
9. Evangelism in Prayer. How to pray for the lost.
10. Failure in Prayer. Why we fail in prayer.
11. Faith and Prayer. Why faith is necessary in prayer.
12. Fasting and Prayer. Instruction and guidelines for Fasting.
13. Forgiveness and Prayer. Why forgiveness is so necessary for prayer.
14. God’s Idea. Prayer is God’s idea.
15. Holiness and Prayer. Holiness always goes with prayer.
16. Holy Spirit and Prayer. Prayer and the Holy Spirit work together.
17. How to Pray – Part 1. Eight of Jesus’ Teachings on Prayer.
18. How to Pray – Part 2. A study of the Lord’s Prayer.
19. Importunity in Prayer. Persistent and urgent prayer.
20. Intercession – Part 1. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s Intercession.
21. Intercession – Part 2. The definition of intercession.
22. Intercession – Part 3. How we intercede for others.
23. Jesus’ Name. Prayer in Jesus’ name.
24. Kneeling in Prayer. Prayer posture.
25. Length of Prayer. How long should we pray for.
26. Ministry of Prayer. Practical help on how to have a prayer ministry.
27. Necessity of Prayer. Nine reasons why prayer is necessary.
28. Obedience and Prayer. Being obedient to God is so necessary in prayer.
29. Possibilities of Prayer. Praying for big things.
30. Power in Prayer. How to have power in your prayers.
31. Praise and Prayer – Part 1. Praise as a vital part of prayer.
32. Praise and Prayer – Part 2. Biblical examples of praise.
33. Prayerlessness. The sin of prayerlessness.
34. Quietness in Prayer – Part 1. Hearing God’s voice.
35. Quietness in Prayer – Part 2. Our quiet time with God.
36. Quietness in Prayer – Part 3. The importance of solitude.
37. Quietness in Prayer – Part 4. How the Devil perverts our prayers.
38. Revival and Prayer. What part prayer has in revival.
39. Specific Praying. How to pray specifically.
40. Survey of Prayer – Part 1. Prayers of the Bible, Abraham through Moses.
41. Survey of Prayer – Part 2. Prayers of the Bible, Joshua through Samuel.
42. Survey of Prayer – Part 3. Prayers of the Bible, David through Jehoshaphat.
43. Survey of Prayer – Part 4. Prayers of the Bible, Elijah through Daniel.
44. Survey of Prayer – Part 5. Prayers of the Bible, Ezra through John.
45. Travail in Prayer. Why we need to travail in prayer.
46. United Prayer. Praying together in agreement.
47. Vigilance in Prayer – Part 1. Why vigilance is necessary.
48. Vigilance in Prayer – Part 2. Overcoming the enemy through vigilance.
49. Word and Prayer. The use of the word in Prayer.
50. Xanadu. Experiencing the beauty of prayer.
51. Yielding in Prayer. Why we must yield to God when we pray.
52. Zenith of Prayer. This last chapter of 93 pages summarizes the entire book.