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| Source: NetGalley.com |
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Publication date: June 3, 2014
Category: Christian nonfiction, self-help
Source: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
The title of this book caught my eye because it deals with a major piece of Christianity and the title plays off of a well known prayer book, The Book of Common Prayer. The title is pretty straight forward as far as what you'll find inside. Linda McCullough Moore discusses why we pray and how prayer changes people as much as it changes circumstances. Some of the information I've heard elsewhere, but there was also discussion that was new to me...this being the "not so common" part I assume.
Unlike most Christian nonfiction books that may speak to prayer in a chapter or scattered throughout, Moore takes the reader through her personal journey of instilling prayer throughout her day, every day. She details her thoughts before, during, and after the process. I liked this aspect, as it gives the reader a clear example of what she means...such as when she talks about her mind wandering. She also goes further than an example and talks about what a problem can mean and how to fix said problem (such as a wandering mind). And last she gives many examples of how she's prayed...many of the examples beyond use of words or other activities (art or music) coinciding with words. Overall I thought the book taught new aspects and clarified others. If you find the information in it repetitive, then you've probably read enough books on prayer and should just get to it!
As I told April in her review of Never Pray Again... I have prayer issues. (Not faith in God issues, just hangups about how we humans use prayer). Maybe I should read that book and this one back-to-back... Hmmm. Thanks for sharing this one.
ReplyDeleteThat might be helpful. I think people use the idea of prayer flippantly and/or to replace actually doing things when they can/should, which is definitely where April's book comes in. I am going to read that one, although I don't agree with the title as it is, from the sound of the review I think they have good points. Lol.
DeleteI think prayer is important and effective though, so I like to read books on it when they pop up. Try to work on it and keep myself from being a hypocrite.
I agree with what Monika and Jennine have said. So there are a couple books I need to read I think. This one and the one Monika noted. When I get into what I call a "prayer slump", I tend to need perspective. For instance I recently read Philip Cameron's book They Call Me Dad, it looked interesting. But after I finished I was forever changed. Talk about the power of faith and prayer. Reading a work like this gets your view more focused, then you can see what prayer is and that is what helps me the most. I recommend Cameron's book, his site for this book is http://www.stellasvoice.org/they-call-me-dad/, if you want a read that stays with you, this is a good one!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation! Gotta have perspective!
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