Bringing our needs and desires to God has always stood at the heart of Christian prayer. But why is petitioning God so important? In Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom noted theologian Stanley Grenz points to petitionary prayer as a crucial way for us to be involved with God's work in history. At the center of such prayer, Grenz argues, is the cry to God that his kingdom might come into the world. Grenz explores key questions that many Christians ask: What does it mean to pray "according to God's will"? Should we persist in petitioning God for our needs? Does prayer really influence God? In the process of addressing these questions, Grenz offers practical guidance on praying effectively and challenges the contemporary church to recapture what it means to be a church that prays. Revised and completely rewritten, with the inclusion of additional material, and now featuring an insightful foreword by Eugene Peterson, Grenz's Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom will help readers from every Christian tradition to foster a richer personal and communal life of prayer.