Every Thursday, I post a short book recommendation related to our study on prayer. Some of these are my favorites… others, not so much. But they’ve all made me think. I have copies of the books I post about, so let me know if you’d like to borrow one before buying.
Today’s read is Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey
From Amazon: Philip Yancey probes the very heartbeat of our relationship with God: prayer. What is prayer? Does it change God’s mind or ours or both? This book is an invitation to communicate with God the Father who invites us into an eternal partnership through prayer.
Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, bestselling author Philip Yancey probes such questions as:
- Is God listening?
- Why should God care about me?
- If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?
- Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?
- Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?
- How can I make prayer more satisfying?
From the book…
“Prayer remains a struggle for me. On the other hand, so does forgiving someone who has wronged me. So does loving my neighbor. So does caring for the needy. I persist because I am fulfilling God’s command, and also because I believe I am doing what is best for me whether or not I feel like it at the time. Moreover, I believe that my perseverance, in some unfathomable way, brings pleasure to God.”