A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

Books on prayer are a dime a dozen. This one added very little to the discussion. The thing that sets it apart from other books is the author's use of examples from the life of his autistic daughter. At times I wondered if I was reading a book on prayer or a book that related lessons taught to

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parents by autistic children. While some of the author's content was good, it was not presented in a unique manner. The author conducts prayer seminars, and the thought occurred to me as I was reading the book that he is probably better at conveying his thoughts audibly to an audience than in print. This book will appeal to many Christian readers, especially those who enjoy reading about special needs children.

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I'm somewhat ambivalent about this book. Partly because many raving reviews led to high expectations on my part and partly because this is an odd book. The phrase that kept coming to my mind while I read it was "A Praying Memoir" for that's what it felt like. Though perhaps more often than

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necessary, Miller gave dozens of personal stories that gave the book a helpful, earthy feel. I appreciate the author's grittiness and willingness to take all the frustrations of a praying life seriously. The book was a strange mixture of really helpful thoughts followed by too many antidotes and personal details. I can however, see how this would appeal to some readers.Using the Lord's prayer in the Garden as the primary model, Miller's treatment of Biblical teaching on prayer was very sparse and thus widely assumed. This is not to say that he did not have some helpful observations, just that this work lacked a Biblical treatment of prayer. His focus was much more on how to fit that practically into life. It should also be noted that there are several places where it is evident that Miller has been influenced by the Mystics. His mystic streaks detract some from the value of this work.The most helpful parts of the book to me included his thoughts on what it means to become like a child in prayer, praying 'in God's story,' and his prayer card system.While reading "A Praying Life," I simultaneously read C.S. Lewis' "Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer" Though I wasn't expecting many similarities, these books couldn't be more different. Lewis' thoughts were, as one might expect, much more philosophical as Lewis tried to grapple with the many extravagant promises regarding prayer in the Scriptures. Lewis seemed unable to come away with many conclusions. This reminded me that the current corpus of literature has a massive gap regarding the subject of prayer. This makes me judge Miller's effort more positively because prayer is quite mysterious. There is something good to be said for Miller's admirable attempts to, in spite of many unresolved mysteries, provide us a gritty memoir of how to pray. Notwithstanding this commendable effort, may I suggest that the reception of this book suggests that the church needs to do a whole lot more thinking (& writing) on the subject of prayer?If you are looking for a deeply intimate, highly practical treatment of how to incorporate prayer into your life, this may be helpful to you.

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Prayer being an area in my spiritual life that I feel I constantly want to grow, I was eager to read this book, especially after my wife Michelle gave it high marks as did many others.

As for me I think there is a lot in this book but it wasn't fully revealed to me because of other clutter in my

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heart. I might re-read it sometime and would like to but clutter is hard to rid one self of.

I did take some thought to journaling as Miller recommends so perhaps though I did not get the revelation through my actual reading, I will through journaling.

Based on what I did get out of it and what others have told me they got from this I recommend it

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It came so highly recommended that I was skeptical. Nope. It's actually awesome. Authentic and practical and an inspiring challenge to pray with the fervor of the helpless child that I am because I have a powerful and loving Father.

Very helpful and practical in developing a praying life.

I found it extremely difficult to follow the flow of this author. Broken, interrupted, and unfinished thoughts abound. Reading this book, one gets the sense that it is a compilation of notes written to a close friend who already understands the background of the many stories he recounts about the

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Miller household.

There were so many arcane and nebulous spiritualized terms that I was seriously mystified by much of what he wrote. Terms such as, “praying Christ into someone’s life;” and that his friend would, “See God in the face of Jesus Christ.” And, “put the Word [Bible] to work for you” by writing verses alongside your prayer requests. On long-term prayer he writes, "You cry out to God so long and so often that a channel begins to open up between you and God.” [WHAT!?] He says that prayer should be "in God's face, hoping, dreaming, asking. Prayer is feisty" (p. 79) With so many mystical phrases like these without any hint of a biblical basis, it became hard to read this book as anything more than, “The Memoirs of Paul Miller."

This is far from a theological study on prayer and is instead primarily a compilation of personal stories from his life and family. Most of the examples he uses are stories of "we faced this difficulty so we prayed and thankfully it didn't turn out as bad as it would have otherwise." Far from being a Biblical examination of prayer, he basically just repeats our need to be "childlike" in our prayers. The Bible actually has a lot to say about praying, unfortunately this book never takes a good, serious look at most of those passages.

I did appreciate the book's openness about cynicism as well as the main idea of prayer being a reflection of our helplessness and subsequent dependence on God.

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In a simple and yet powerful way, Paul Miller shares the fruit of hard-won maturity in prayer. This isn't yet another book on prayer methods, though he shares his, but more about helping us think rightly about prayer. Solid Biblically and easy to read.

Thursday, June 22, 2017
A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul E. Miller, © 2017
NavPress, previous edition published 2009

My Review:
This will not be a quick study for me, to ponder and apply directly to my heart. There are added Notes in the back referencing chapter

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content.

Jesus' example teaches us that prayer is about relationship. When he prays, he is not performing a duty; he is getting close to his Father.
--A Praying Life, 35

Morning and/or evening to gather with Him ~ upon awakening or reflecting on a new day ahead. A reference to praying aloud helps me to become more aware of my need.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. ~ Psalm 143:8

As I begin journaling, I will see what He has specifically for me; to be able to look back and see progress in yielding.

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. (37)

Beginning five minutes; just meeting alone with Him.

Regardless of how or when you pray, if you give God the space, he will touch your soul. God knows you are exhausted, but at the same time he longs to be part of your life. A feast awaits. (39)

I love this! Prayer and Grace multiplied.

The very thing you were trying to escape––your inability––opens the door to prayer and then grace. (47)

I am looking forward to enJ*O*Ying application of growing deeper in God's Word. I want to know Him more.

When you open a door to God, you find some amazing treasures inside. (49)

I have mentioned parts that stood out to me. I have wanted a consistent time with God beyond touching base throughout the day. I am glad I have become aware of and connecting with this helpful instruction to learn to expand time God has already provided for me to enjoy Him and His presence.

***Thank you to the publisher for sharing this print copy with me. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***

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Very practical and helpful. I found an app that fulfilled the role of the "prayer cards" described in the book and have found it very helpful in my own prayer times.

I wish I could have read this book 40 years ago.