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Top-Rated Products
Customer Reviews for NAV Press A Praying Life
NAV Press A Praying Life
Miller offers a practical real-life approach to prayer for busy families! His honest down-to-earth advice shows you how to practice praying in the midst of daily routine. You'll learn to pray like a child, live your Father's story, understand unanswered petitions, and more. Includes tips on using tools such as prayer cards and journaling. 272 pages, softcover from NavPress.
Average Customer Rating:
(22 Reviews) 22
Rating Snapshot (22 reviews)
5 stars
22
4 stars
0
3 stars
0
2 stars
0
1 star
0
14 out of 14100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for A Praying Life
Review 1 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Amazing Book!
Date:August 11, 2012
dfd22
Location:Colorado
Age:45-54
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
This book has changed my life! It is so refreshing to begin to understand how God wants us to come to him as a little child, helpless and utterly dependant on Him. It has helped me realize that my prayers are simply heart-felt pleas for God's help and grace, not something I have to perform or say the right way or in the right order. This book has really helped me begin to realize that it is God's desire to be in constant communion with Him. I highly recommend this very practical book!
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Review 2 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Very helpful
Date:June 14, 2012
Wendy Johnson
Location:Lake City, FL
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
I am half way through the book and I am finding it to be very helpful. This is a great resource for both new and mature Christians. After going through a major life change I found my prayer life to be stilted. This book is helping me to "reconnect' with God. Mr Miller offers several easy steps to help you get started or to resume a prayer life. A good book to have in one's arsenal.
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Review 3 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
A book everyone should read and share!
Date:May 9, 2012
Rachel Garner
Location:Raleigh, NC
Age:25-34
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Several of my family and friends read this and passed it along to me. It has been an encouraging and convicting read! Well worth reading at least twice and seriously thinking about. It is not difficult to read but harder to apply. A great book for either young Christians or long time believers.
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Review 4 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:April 23, 2012
Mark
Age:45-54
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
This is a wonderful book, not just about prayer, but about growing closer to the One who made and loves us. I was pleasantly suprised by its depth and authenticity.
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Review 5 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
This book challenges
Date:March 29, 2012
Mike
Age:55-65
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
As you read this book, I believe that it becomes a mirror that reflects to us our prayer life and in my case, how I would like it to be. It challenged me to know that my prayer life could be more powerful, not that the words of my prayers are significant, but to the One my prayers are directed is faithful.
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Review 6 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Very Pragmatic
Date:March 5, 2012
MsSandra
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
this book gives you a matter of fact view on prayer. I am really enjoying it and learning a lot.
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Review 7 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Wonderful book.
Date:February 10, 2012
PaJones
Location:Glenside, PA
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
We are using this book in our Women's Ministry group and it is definitely worthwhile.
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Review 8 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Loved the different perspective on prayer!
Date:September 29, 2011
Freckles
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Loved the different perspective on prayer! Appreciated the life experiences included in the book as well.
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Review 9 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Best book I've read in years!
Date:May 23, 2011
As a lifelong Christian, I've heard a great deal of teaching about prayer and read a good many books on the topic. I've been taught to model my prayers on The Lord's Prayer. I've learned the ACTS method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). I've been encouraged to trust God for impossible answers, and above all, I've been made very aware of my spiritual shortcomings with regard to the discipline of regular, personal prayer.
Like many, I have tended to view prayer as a spiritual discipline I need to accomplish. So I try harder to do this prayer thing -- this spiritual event accompanied by certain kinds of emotions and feelings. When I fail, I am overcome with guilt. When I don't pray, I find it hard to start praying again. It seems I just never measure up to my perfect ideal of what my personal praying should be. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed wonderful seasons of prayer. I've had many spiritually high moments in prayer. I've seen God work through my prayers. But I don't have the level of spiritual stamina at praying that I would like.
Given this context, I jumped at the chance to review Paul Miller's "A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World", by NavPress. 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. Thanks again, Michelle Bennett for that challenge. I'm so glad I read this book.
"A Praying Life" is easily the best book I've read in the past several years. Miller speaks with an uncommon grace, and his book plants the spiritual discipline of prayer squarely upon the truths of the Gospel. A praying life is the goal, not regular disciplined moments of spiritual ecstasy. Miller's book is distinguished from others I've read in that it stresses prayer's connection with the gospel, it explains how a lack of prayer betrays a lack of dependence on God, and it illustrates through Paul Miller's own personal family stories, how prayer connects with all of life. In short, the book makes a praying life seem real, and possible.
I wish I could say after these 30 days, that my prayer life has been completely revolutionized. But after reading the book, I can definitely say my thinking about prayer has. I want to share a few of the principles that came home powerfully to me as I read this book.
First, I was reminded that Jesus invites us to pray. And our prayer is part of a life lived in confidence in the Gospel.
"Jesus does not say, 'Come to me, all you who have learned how to concentrate in prayer, whose minds no longer wander, and I will give you rest.' No, Jesus opens his arms to his needy children and says, 'Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28, NASB). The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy....
"We know that to become a Christian we shouldn't try to fix ourselves up, but when it comes to praying we completely forget that. 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. We try, like adults, to fix ourselves up.
"Private, personal prayer is one of the last great bastions of legalism. In order to pray like a child, you might need to unlearn the nonpersonal, nonreal praying that you've been taught." (pg. 29-30)
"Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers." (pg. 53-54)
Second, I was challenged to see that when I don't pray, I am basically telling God I'm good enough that I don't really need him. Ouch! This point has really revolutionized how I think about prayer. I have more of a desire to pray, even though I'm still not "good enough" at it. Although I'll never really be good enough, still I want to show my dependence on God in praying constantly for specific help.
"If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But if, like Jesus, you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray. Time in prayer makes you even more dependent on God because you don't have as much time to get things done. Every minute spent in prayer is one less minute where you can be doing something 'productive.' So the act of praying means that you have to rely more on God." (pg. 47)
Third, prayer really is about being helpless. We come to Christ in the gospel as a helpless sinner. We are to have faith like a helpless child. We should pray as helpless Christians. We really do need our Savior's continual help! This last line should get the "duh!" award. But so often we live like we really don't. The more mature we become as Christians, the more aware of our sinfulness and helplessness we should be. And thus we should pray more.
Fourth, I learned that "we don't need self-discipline to pray continuously". Instead "we just need to be poor in spirit".
"Poverty of spirit makes room for his Spirit. It creates a God-shaped hole in our hearts and offers us a new way to relate to others." (pg. 64)
"If we think we can do life on our own, we will not take prayer seriously. Our failure to pray will always feel like something else -- a lack of discipline or too many obligations. But when something is important to us, we make room for it. Prayer is simply not important to many Christians because Jesus is already an add-on." (pg. 57)
A big theme of the book is how suffering is often the context where we learn to pray. It grows us and shows us our true need. It helps make prayer important.
Fifth, prayer is not about some special feeling or perfect spiritual experience.
"Instead of hunting for the perfect spiritual state to lift you above the chaos, pray in the chaos. As your heart or your circumstances generate problems, keep generating prayer. You will find that the chaos lessens." (pg. 72)
Too often we seek the perfect spiritual state, when we really should just pray to God out of a heart full of need.
Sixth, I learned that prayer changes things. As we pray we should look for ways our prayers are having an effect. We should seek to use prayer to change the hearts of those we love. Our problems and all of life's difficulties can be shaped and met with prayer.
"When you stop trying to control your life and instead allow your anxieties and problems to bring you to God in prayer, you shift from worry to watching. You watch God weave his patterns in the story of your life. Instead of trying to be out front, designing your life, you realize you are inside God's drama." (pg. 72)
That's the secret of the praying life. It's not your own story, it's God. He becomes the One in control. By prayer we see Him working. By prayer we let Him into our lives.
Seventh, I was given a practical method of prayer which I've begun to adopt. He explains how to have a prayer card -- a 3.5" notecard -- for each major area in life that you pray about. Have one for each of the members of your family and pray a specific verse for them. Add individual requests to the card over time. Keep track of answers to prayer. I've slowly begun to create cards and I find them easier to use than a prayer list. It's more personal and focused on the subject or person at hand.
I've only scratched the surface of what is contained in the book. It is very readable, because Paul Miller interweaves personal stories of his children and life together with various prayers he has. He shows how prayer helped him deal with situations and persons. How prayer was answered slowly over time in the lives of his children. How prayer allowed him to parent well, and love others rather than react negatively.
I'm confident that if you pick up "A Praying Life", your prayer life will improve as well. May God challenge us all to have praying lives.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by NavPress for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
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Review 10 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
This is an excellent book on prayer.
Date:April 29, 2011
Community Of Faith Christian School
Location:El Paso, Texas
Age:Over 65
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Every Christian should read and apply these principles.
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Review 11 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Excellent book
Date:January 21, 2011
hudson
Location:Australia
Age:35-44
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
As a new Christian I found this book to be an excellent read, it explained a great deal to me in a really reader friendly way and I looked forward to reading the next chapter every time I picked it up. If your struggling with prayer or just want to feel closer to God then this is the book for you.
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Review 12 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Practical applications of prayers.
Date:November 8, 2010
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
A Praying life by Paul E Miller has got to be the most practical, all-inclusive, intimate, deep, personal, and relational book on prayer I have ever read! His personal life examples illuminate his prayer perspectives, goals, and illustrations. Helplessness equals power when God is in charge of your prayer life.
Parts 1-5 include some of the following:
1. Learning to Pray Like a Child: talking to your Father, spending time with your Father, and learning to be helpless.
2. Learning to Trust Again: coming out of the world of cynicism and following Jesus.
3. Learning to Ask Your Father: why is it to hard for us to ask, just how personal is God, and surrendering our own will completely.
4. Living in Your Father’s Story: how your life is the Father’s love story, dealing with unanswered prayer, and living in hope.
5. Praying in Real Life: practical tools to help you keep on track with your prayer life, learning to really listen to God’s voice,and using a prayer journal and/or cards.
Of the above parts, number five is my favorite, as it teaches me how to practically apply what I learned in the first four chapters. Now, don’t get me wrong, the first four parts are full of dynamite pieces of wisdom as well!
Such titles include: What good does it do to pray? Ask like a child. Pray like Jesus prayed. Prayer equals helplessness. The secular world’s removal of the Shepherd from Psalm 23! Spotting Jesus! Good asking. Character change–too scary! Our prayers shape us. Life in the desert. And much, much more.
I would highly recommend Paul’s book for Sunday School, Bible study, personal growth, and personal devotions, i.e., everyone. This book is a ‘keeper’ for my shelf for future use and referral! A definite 5.0 rating!
This book was provided free by NavPress in exchange for my honest review.
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Review 13 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:November 3, 2010
Prayer is definitely one of the most important parts of Christianity, but many devout followers view it as a tedious and difficult activity. Paul E. Miller’s A Praying Life (2009) teaches Christians how to make prayer the center of our lives. Prayer should not be forced and mechanical. Instead, Christians should be engaged in constant prayer as well as dedicated prayer time. Miller warns that this type of prayer requires persistent and patience to attain. In order for us to truly pray, we must do so in a childlike manner. That is, we must have the trust that children have in their parents.
Miller goes on to tackle some the most complicated areas of prayer. It is easy to keep faith when prayers are answered. However, when our prayers seem ignored, many people begin to lose faith. Miller argues that unanswered prayers are one of God’s ways to build and strengthen relationships with his children. If all of prayers were immediately answered, God would seem like an endless prayer vending machine. We would not take the time to reflect on God’s plan for our lives and stop focusing on our self-centered goals.
Miller’s A Praying Life is one the best books I have ever read on prayer. He shows readers what true prayer looks like. He even addresses smaller details such as choosing a proper location to pray. Miller brings his readers into his personal life by allowing us to read his own prayer requests. Instead of keeping a prayer list, Miller writes his prayers on cards. In addition to teaching readers this technique, he even includes some of his own cards in the book. Much of the book consists of stories from Miller’s own personal life. He includes his own doubts and troubles as well as his blessings. Each anecdote illustrates one of the aspects of prayer that Miller is explaining.
I highly recommend this book to others. It is aimed towards Christians who are skeptic about prayer. However, anyone wanting to strengthen their relationship with God should immediately read Miller’s book. Each of the short thirty-two chapters is assessable yet powerful.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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Review 14 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Excellent book
Date:October 2, 2010
Hb3908
Location:Annapolis, MD
Age:35-44
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
A Praying Life is a book that speaks to us, as Christians, and how we often only pray when we are in a dire situation or at our dinner time meal.
Prayerlessness, as the author calls it, is the cause for so many of us to live in fear, anxiety and and joylessness. In this book, Paul Miller reminds us to come before God first as little children would go to their father.
Also, this book stresses how helpful a prayer journal can be as well as prayer cards - all in the purpose of becoming closer to God.
Also, this book stresses how helpful a prayer journal can be as well as prayer cards - all in the purpose of becoming closer to God.
I particularly appreciated the author's chapter on unanswered prayers; he shares a very personal story that touched my heart. Not all prayers are answered and those that aren't are part of Gods' plan.
This book is a very practical guide and would be perfect for bible groups, as well as individual readers.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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Review 15 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:May 9, 2010
Matthew Rowley
This is an intensely personal, sometime painfully real account of Paul Millers failures and success in prayer. It is a good balance of theology and practical advice about how to live a praying life. I have read a few academic books on prayer that give good examples of what is and is not orthodox. This is not that type of book. Paul shares how the difficulties in his life have driven him to his knees in a way peace and prosperity would never have. This book has practical advice for parents, marriages, work etc. There are few aspects of life that Miller does not touch on. One of the best things I have learned from this book is that prayer is difficult. I often feel guilt that prayer is not easy. Miller explained that prayer would be easy in Eden, but the fall corrupted our ability to connect with God. I would highly recommend this book for those frustrated with prayer, and for those who need to be more real about how broken their relationship is with God. I hope to listen to this book many more times. This is a good book for someone who wants to know more about prayer, and someone who thinks they already know enough probably needs it even more. It is one of those books that draws you to pray and worship while you are reading it.
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Review 16 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:April 16, 2010
Donna Fuentes
This is an excellent book! It examines our attitudes and misunderstandings. I'll use it again and again.
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Review 17 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:March 21, 2010
Linda Winterland
This book was an excellent read. The author was right on when it comes to the distractions we have in our prayer life and our frustration and guilt when it comes to talking to God about our daily life and problems. I highly recommend it!
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Review 18 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:August 18, 2009
Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
Paul Miller has written an engaging, transparent and practical book on prayer. His connection to his everyday life, filled with trials and tribulations (their daughter Kim struggles with autism and developmental delay). This 'real world' approach to prayer lends credibility and quality to the read. Enjoying prayer and our conversation with the Lord is what this book brings to one's life - returning to a close walk with the God who loves us. In his easy to read style, Miller encourages us to 'live in your Father's story.' By this he means you cant listen to God if you are isolated from a life of surrender that draws you into his story for your life. In essence, this is what the five sections of this book does, using humor, pain and his real life adventures as a backdrop for our return into his presence. This may be one of the best books written on prayer in decades, since it combines sound Biblical truth and tested street leather application. I highly recommend this book and encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself and for a friend - this is a great book for a group journey deeper into Gods presence.
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Review 19 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:July 22, 2009
Kathy Sullivan
I was struggling with the 'glass ceiling' of prayer, wondering if God even heard me. I felt that I was just throwing my prayers out there hoping they would land in God's lap, and that He would answer. Paul Miller's book changed all that. From the first chapter I was blessed beyond expectation and his book, A Praying Life, has changed my prayer life. I've already ordered extra copies to share with friends. I recommend it to everyone I speak to about prayer.
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Review 20 for A Praying Life
Overall Rating:
Date:July 14, 2009
Far more than a "how-to" method of praying, Paul Miller's A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World is a warm, compassionate and wise book. Filled with honest, personal revelations of less-than-perfect prayer times, I realized that I am not the only Christian fighting distractions when I pray or struggling in my own prayer life. What is more, I was inspired to persevere in prayer--and how to do so. The author shares his wisdom and experience learning to spend time with God, becoming transparent and vulnerable before Him, and learning to trust Him.More than this, Miller reveals how our contemporary worldview affects our beliefs about how personal and approachable God really is. The author teaches how to truly abide in Christ and ask in His name. I learned how to look for God's working in my own and others' lives in response to my prayers. Finally, Miller offered some tools for praying and a caution that my relationship with God and communication with Him is the very heart of prayer--not the tools or method. He inspired me to snatch every opportunity to communicate with my God. Truly powerful, insightful and life-changing. Warmly recommended.
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