The author defines the questions and problems to be discussed quite well, but fails to answer almost all of them. His proposed answers are foolish and unbiblical, but his language is complex enough to fool the less academic audience. I suggest that one chooses another book to study prayer.

This book, Prayer in the New Testament, examines the practice and doctrine of prayer in the New Testament. The book was translated from it's German original by John Bowden. Cullmann starts by raising several modern objections to prayer, and refutes these objections using examples from the Synoptic Gospels and John, Paul's writings, and briefly, with the rest of the New Testament. In some places I felt the grammar, possibly the translation, was confusing. Cullmann interchanges the meaning of "hearing" prayer, using it to mean both God's listening to our petition, and God's answer to the petition. This leads to several confusing statements such as "the apostle finds that his prayer is heard in not being heard" (page 136). Furthermore, why did the translator assume the word "Leitmotif" is so well know in English that it needed no translation? Why are there often breaks in the paragraph structure; an extra space followed by an indented paragraph, which does not seem to differ from the text preceding and following (i.e., they do not always seem to be farther explanations or footnotes)? I like Cullmann's point on being persistent in prayer. He sees it as both a demand and a means of help in overcoming the temptation to neglect prayer. Regular prayer makes our uniting with God easier, allowing us to remain in constant contact with God. Cullmann shows how New Testament prayer emphasizes the nearness of God. This book made me contemplate such things as experiencing God's presence in prayer, the physical residence of God, his omnipresence, being remote yet near, Jesus' transcendence, what it means to be close yet transcendent. I like Cullmann's thoughts on; "God in us, Christ in us." Cullmann repeatedly emphasized the aim of prayer is a loving encounter with God. Our encounter with the omnipotent God can only succeed with the divine help of the Holy Spirit. He showed how we must approach God in prayer with childlike trust, to be in conversation with God as a loving partner. We need to be ready to submit to God's will, and accept the unanswered prayer ("unheard prayer") as possibly a sign of God's love and part of his divine plan. I recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their prayer experience.

Cullmann's book (translated from the French) provides a complete study of the doctrine of prayer in the New Testament (prayer in the Synoptics, John, Paul; prayer and human weakness, prayer and the question of evil, how to pray, the Our Father and doubts about prayer). Though some hard questions about prayers were left unanswered, I find this book a good start to better understand how we may pray more effectively.