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

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The book is littered with stories of experience: Paul’s father, Jack, and mother, Rose, loom large in the background as does Miller’s experience in various ministries and local churches. S. Lewis quotes, and Miller’s got his handful, but he also chooses some more questionable sources to cite, using quotes which are unhelpful, leaving me thinking those quotes are more about sounding hip and erudite, rather than about teaching something important. Many Christians haven’t stopped believing in God; we have just become functional deists, living with God at a distance.

and its amazing how much Kim has brought them closer to God, revealed more of God and also how they are now using it to encourage others in their journey with God. Churches that are true change agents in their communities are congregations for whom prayer is a way of life.His anecdotes don't stop, and sometimes feel invasive, but everything he has to say is worth hearing. Now with added chapters on prayers of lament and further guidance for using prayer cards, Paul Miller introduces us to prayer that regularly and consistently hopes, trusts, and expects God to act. Your living, vital relationship with God dies a slow death because you open the door to unseen doubt and become quietly cynical. The content of the book was really good, with good application and some good specifics about how to pray more effectively. 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.

The more mature we become as Christians, the more aware of our sinfulness and helplessness we should be. This kind of prayerlessness can leave us with a distressed spirit and practical unbelief characterized by fear, anxiety, joylessness, and spiritual depression. Two other things to note about A Praying Life are Miller's use of personal stories and his suggestions for developing a prayer system. This all sounds really nice, and certainly there’s some truth there, but I find myself wondering where the Bible ever talks about the fruit of repentance being “authenticity. Redeeming Reason is the latest installment in a series of short volumes by Poythress that place familiar academic disciplines into conversation with Christian theology (prior titles include Redeeming Mathematics, Redeeming Philosophy, and Redeeming Sociology, among others).I respect the author and after the recommendations from a good friend and my pastor, I knew it was a "must read.