Foreword by David Powlison

Introduction : "what good does it do?" -- Where we are headed -- Part one : learning to pray like a child -- Become like a little child -- Learn to talk with your Father -- Spending time with your Father -- Learning to be helpless -- Crying "Abba"- continuously -- Bending your heart to your Father -- Part two : learning to trust again -- Understanding cynicism -- Following Jesus out of cynicism -- Developing an eye for Jesus -- Part three : learning to ask your Father -- Why asking is so hard -- Why we can ask -- How personal is God? -- What do we do with Jesus' extravagant promises about prayer? -- What we don't ask for : "our daily bread" -- What we don't ask for : "Your kingdom come" -- Surrender completely : "Your will be done" -- Part four : living in your Father's story -- Watching a story unfold -- A Father's love -- Unanswered prayer -- understanding the patterns of story -- How God places Himself in the story -- Praying without a story -- Hope : the end of the story -- Living in Gospel stories -- Part five : praying in real life -- Using prayer tools -- Keeping track of the story : using prayer cards -- Prayer work -- Listening to God -- Prayer journaling : become aware of the interior journey -- Real - life praying -- Unfinished stories

Paul Miller shares his insights and conclusions about how to connect the broken pieces of your life and allow prayer -- even poorly delivered -- to fill the gaps with meaning and substance. --from publisher description