Merit Award, World Guild Christian Living Book
Praying is an action that is of the essence of Christian existence. It involves our beliefs, emotions, values, hopes and fears, certainties and uncertainties, knowledge and ignorance.
As J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom explain, "Our aim is not just to clarify Christian understanding but to foster Christian living. In real praying, head, heart, and hands go together." With wisdom, humility, and sincerity the authors lead us through different moods of praying, including brooding, praising, asking, complaining, and hanging on.
In Praying the authors offer hope for those of us who daydream when we try to listen to God and stumble when we try to speak. Yet they don't just teach us about prayer; they challenge and inspire us to do it by pointing us to a clearer realization of the reality of God and his character. Let Packer and Nystrom guide your praying to our powerful God, and let him move your praying through mere duty to delight.
J. I. Packer is Board of Governors Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver and the author of many books, including Knowing God and Evangelism the Sovereignty of God.
Carolyn Nystrom is a writer living in St. Charles, Illinois, who has authored more than fifty books and Bible study guides.
"There is much to be gained from reading this book! Not only do the authors tell us what prayer is, but also what it is not. They do an excellent job in stressing how we should pray according to Scriptural principles."
--Andrew Simcak Jr., Christian News, March 26, 2007"Praying gently pulls readers in with its conversational style, quotations and excerpts from beloved works."
--Christian Retailing, July 3, 2006