Balentine invites the reader to consider several aspects of prayer in the Hebrew Bible: prayer and the depiction of character, prayer and the characterization of God, prayers for divine justice, the lament tradition, sensible praise, prayer in Old Testament theology, and the motif of the church as "a house of prayer".

Samuel E. Balentine is emeritus professor of Old Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary. He is the author of numerous essays and books on Job.