In recent years my prayer life has been nurtured and challenged by a small handful of friends who have mentored me in prayer, both formally and informally. I wish everyone had this privilege. But for decades I had no personal prayer mentors, as I suspect many of you also do not. In those days—and even still—the writings of various prayer giants, living and dead, served to mentor and inspire me. I have many of these “friends”—people like George Müller, Evelyn Christensen, Rees Howells, Andrew Murray, Richard Foster, and many more.

This month on the Pray! homepage (www.praymag.com) you can get a free introduction to another of my friends, Henri Nouwen. Written by Charles Ringma, in this electronic product you’ll find 12 meditations on several of Nouwen’s more profound prayer themes gleaned from a number of his different books. 

I hope you’ll check out this inspiring selection of writings and let them encourage your prayer life. I also hope you’ll share with us who some of your most helpful, memorable, challenging, or encouraging prayer mentors have been.