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‘The Prayer Code’ latest in Hawkins’ book series


NASHVILLE (BP) – O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources, will release the latest in his Code series of books on Tuesday (Nov. 30). “The Prayer Code” will be the last of his books released during his tenure as president of GuideStone. He will retire in early 2022.

O.S. Hawkins

The book’s full title is “The Prayer Code: 40 Scriptures Every Believer Should Pray,” and it examines 40 famous examples of prayer from the Bible and how believers can incorporate the lessons within those prayers into their own prayer lives.

Each of the 40 chapters includes a “Code Word” readers can use to remember the importance of that guiding principle of prayer.

The book follows previous installments in Hawkins’ Code series including “The Jesus Code,” “The Joshua Code,” “The Daniel Code” and “The Bible Code.”

Hawkins, who will become President emeritus of GuideStone after the first quarter of 2022, said the previous books in his series lacked a specific focus on prayer, so he desired this work to show how prayer and Bible study connect.

“The reason we came to ‘The Prayer code,’ is that without the Bible, prayer has no direction and without prayer the Bible has no dynamic,” Hawkins said. “It’s sort of like ham and eggs or steak and potatoes; they go together.

“For many Christians the difficulty in prayer does not come from inaccuracies about prayer as much as it is lack of discipline in setting apart a time to pray. A lot of people have not effectively developed a prayer life.”

Beyond examining specific examples of prayer in the Bible, Hawkins also spends time in the book exploring aspects or methods of prayer. One chapter outlines what Hawkins calls “the pattern of prayer,” which includes confession, thanksgiving, praise, intercession petition and communion with God.

Seeing the important role prayer plays in the Bible is what Hawkins said prompts us to see its importance for our lives as well.

“The disciples spent 24/7 with Christ for over three years and saw Him do many amazing things, but the only thing they asked Him to teach them to do was to pray,” Hawkins said. “If He who knew no sin sensed the need of prayer, how much more do we need it?”

Hawkins said the main thing he was personally reminded of while working on the book is the powerful connection the Holy Spirit has to believers as they go to God in prayer.

“There is a beautiful truth that we all need a prayer partner, and the Bible says we have one in the Holy Spirit,” Hawkins said. “The Bible says we often don’t pray as we ought, but the Spirit prays within in with groanings which cannot be uttered. When Jesus left, He said He was going to leave us a prayer partner in the Comforter or the Holy Spirit.”

As his time serving with GuideStone comes to a close, Hawkins said he is thankful for his time to serve the organization and will continue to write more books in the Code series.

All royalties for the books in the series, which have sold more than 2 million copies, go to support Mission:Dignity, a GuideStone ministry aimed at financially assisting retired pastors and their wives/widows.

Serving those who have faithfully served is what Hawkins said motivates him to continue his ministry of writing even into his retirement from full-time ministry.

“I’ve had 25 incredible years at GuideStone, and here we’re on a mission to bring dignity to those forgotten people … that’s what keeps me writing the Code books and supporting Mission:Dignity.”

More information about the Code book series or Mission:Dignity can be found here.