Prayer: Modern, Updated Translation To

Prayer (more fully titled “I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also,” 1662) is John Bunyan’s comprehensive treatise on true prayer, distinguishing genuine communion with God through the Spirit from merely formal or hypocritical religious exercise.We have updated this timeless classic into a modern, updated translation that anyone can read!Written shortly after his imprisonment for unlicensed preaching, this work addresses fundamental questions about prayer’s nature, necessity, and proper practice, combining theological instruction with practical guidance for believers seeking to develop authentic prayer lives.Bunyan systematically examines prayer’s essential elements, demonstrating that genuine prayer requires both the Spirit’s enablement and the understanding’s engagement, avoiding both mindless formality and presumed spirituality divorced from biblical knowledge. He defines true prayer as sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God through Christ in the Spirit’s strength, for such things as God has promised according to his Word. This definition establishes criteria distinguishing authentic prayer from counterfeit religious exercises that may appear similar externally while lacking spiritual reality.What distinguishes this treatise is Bunyan’s remarkable combination of theological precision with experiential insight drawn from personal spiritual struggle and pastoral observation. Unlike purely academic treatments of prayer or merely practical manuals divorced from doctrine, Bunyan demonstrates how right understanding of God, sin, grace, and redemption shapes authentic prayer while the Spirit’s work enables believers to approach God with confidence despite unworthiness. His treatment is especially valuable for addressing common struggles including sense of inadequacy, wandering thoughts, and doubt about prayer’s effectiveness.The work addresses prayer’s necessity, demonstrating from Scripture and Christian experience that believers cannot survive spiritually without regular communion with God. Bunyan shows how prayer serves multiple purposes including worship, confession, petition, thanksgiving, and intercession, with each aspect expressing different dimensions of relationship with God. He emphasizes that prayer flows from genuine spiritual life rather than producing it, with the regenerate heart naturally seeking God while formal prayers divorced from grace remain spiritually dead.Bunyan particularly emphasizes the Spirit’s essential role in authentic prayer, showing how believers pray “with the Spirit” not through ecstatic experiences or special gifts but through the Holy Spirit’s work enabling genuine spiritual desires, teaching proper requests according to God’s will, and interceding when understanding fails. He demonstrates how this teaching guards against both presumptuous self-confidence and despairing sense of inadequacy, pointing to divine assistance making acceptable worship possible despite human weakness.Author BiographyJohn Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English Puritan preacher and author whose powerful allegorical and devotional writings profoundly influenced Protestant spirituality. Born to a tinker’s family with limited education, Bunyan experienced dramatic conversion after years of spiritual struggle, becoming a nonconformist preacher whose unauthorized ministry led to twelve years’ imprisonment. During his confinements, he produced numerous works including “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” the most widely read Christian allegory in history, and various theological and devotional treatises combining biblical exposition with vivid imagery and pastoral insight. His writings, characterized by accessible style, psychological depth, and firm Calvinist theology, made complex spiritual truths comprehensible to ordinary believers while addressing universal human experiences of guilt, doubt, and longing for assurance.