A Method for Prayer

Matthew Henry's 1710 guide to structured prayer has endured because it does something deceptively simple: it teaches readers to pray in the language of Scripture itself. Organized around Adoration, Confession, Petition, Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Conclusion, the book gives both personal devotion and public worship a coherent, biblically saturated framework. The 2017 Ligon Duncan edition modernizes Henry's prose and adds sermon material, making centuries-old pastoral wisdom genuinely accessible to today's readers. This is one of the most explicitly faith-affirming titles in this batch — practically the opposite of a content concern. The honest caveat is that the Reformed and Presbyterian theological frame, and the assumption of deep biblical literacy, may feel narrow to readers from other Christian traditions. For those who fit the audience, it is a genuine formation classic.