Praying Life, A: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

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We are not to move into a godlike stance about our view of someone else’s story God is weaving, we must be reminded of Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question about John in John 21:22. They are the spiritual warfare equivalent of “going nuclear”: You have no other option, so you reach for your most powerful weapon—your ability to cry out to the living God for help. There's just something unique about this book - I don't envy the author his family life, and one or two of his anecdotes actually made me dislike him slightly - but I think it's a book that will get you praying.

In various places Miller stumbles into creating systemic false dichotomies between fighting sin and learning to pray, or between discipline and true prayer. This gets 5 stars because of how it made me think and feel about prayer, and the visible impact it has already had on my day to day life. When it comes to praying on Sundays, in prayer meetings, as couples, and in relationships, Miller provides a plethora of possibilities and suggestions, building on but not repeating the ideas in A Praying Life. The specific challenge was to read the book, and post about the results of a personal 30 days of real prayer, implementing the principles from the book in my own prayer life.

Perhaps what makes Miller's book so effective is that he talks about prayer not as a duty but as a desperate need. The phrase that kept coming to my mind while I read it was "A Praying Memoir" for that's what it felt like. Then he was again interrupted by his autistic daughter pacing upstairs, so he stopped praying, went upstairs (since yelling at her wasn't working) and told her to stay in bed. Christians sometimes prioritize productivity over time in prayer---and experience anxiety, joylessness, and fear as a result. We’ll sing the old gospel hymn, “Just as I Am,” but when it comes to praying, we don’t come just as we are.

However, after a significant amount of recent reading, I have become convinced that it is a major problem and that if I don't do something, I will be violating my responsibilities to the Lord and to my grandchildren. Within the first few chapters, actually within the first few pages, I could tell that Paul Miller was describing something that I had never experienced before.He explains that when believers come together in prayer, both the individual and the community will spiritually benefit. As you grasp what the Father’s heart is like, how he loves to give, then prayer will begin to feel completely natural to you” (p.

It is true that Bible prayers in word and print are short, but the praying men of the Bible were with God through many a sweet and holy wrestling hour.Every time I get a chance to listen to a chapter, I glean something new or am reminded of a truth that astounds me about this relationship Jesus offers us!