This book is about the Holy Spirit's essential role in prayer. We cannot pray effectively in our own strength, by our own wisdom, or through our own effort. True prayer, the kind that activates heaven and changes earth, is always the work of the Holy Spirit within us. As Paul tells us, "The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words" (Romans 8:26). We must learn to pray in the Spirit, by the Spirit, and through the Spirit, or we will never pray with power.

Furthermore, this book is about faith as the engine of effective prayer. Jesus made this clear again and again: "Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Matthew 21:22). "All things are possible for one who believes" (Mark 9:23). "According to your faith be it done to you" (Matthew 9:29). Faith is not merely one element of prayer among many; it is the essential element without which prayer cannot function. We must recover biblical faith, not the weak, anemic faith that hopes God might do something if it's His will, but the robust, confident faith that knows God will do what He has promised because He cannot lie.

Finally, this book is about prayer and the Great Commission. The two cannot be separated. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Still, He also commanded us to wait for power from on high before attempting this mission (Acts 1:8). The early church understood this connection. They devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42), and the result was explosive growth, miraculous signs, and the transformation of the known world within a generation. We have tried to fulfill the Great Commission without the power that comes through prayer, and the results speak for themselves.