Deepening Your Conversation With God: Learning to Love to Pray

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Job
Review: An effective prayer life affects every part of your life and consequently positively influences the lives of other people. In this wonderfully writte book, Ben Patterson couples personal experience with academic study to give an inspiring teaching on prayer.

His teaching is practical. He says prayer is like swimming, that you learn by doing. He talks about the joy and value of being in God's presence. In several places he goes back to the original languages in the Bible to make a point. Consider his explanation of a Christian calling. In Latin "vocare" means "to call", from which our English word vocation comes.

This book is inspiring as well as motivational. Reading it will create the effect the author seeks, to give you a greater desire to spend time with God.

Rating:
Summary: Objectives stated in the book title not delivered
Review: Dont know whether the wavelengths of the author doesnt match with mine or what, though much had been told about prayers, the author's personal experience with it and the importance of it to our spiritual lives, I was not the least moved, impressed, nor could I have my prayers deepened and caught what the author promised in the tagline on the book cover "Learning to love to pray". Certainly, it is quite a subjective judgement, but so are all of our experience with God. I couldnt recall which passages that the author tried to teach me how to love to pray. To me, he just kept on repeating the need to pray, but I couldnt find the "sweetness" in it. If he didnt teach, how could I have learnt?

As a common christian like me who love reading christian books of popular authors like Philip Yancey, Jimmy Carter and Robert Schuller much(I am capable of appreciating sophisticated ones as well, like "Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard J. Foster"), I am obliged to warn potential buyers the risk of not enjoying the book at all. In case you really wanna give it a try, I suggest you to borrow it from the library and have a test drive before you commit you money on it.




Rating:
Summary: An opportunity for us to learn from the author's experience.
Review: If there's one thing every Christian should get wrapped around, it's a solid, meaningful, soul-filling prayer life. Yet this is lacking in most of our lives, and mine is really no different. Ben Patterson's book on learning to love prayer has been refreshing and insightful. It offers a look into some deeply personal episodes in the life of a man who has learned by hard experience how critical it is to connect with God in prayer. And we have an opportunity as his readers to learn from his experiences, or at least to prepare ourselves for our own experiences.

Seldom will you read a more honest, open, unabashedly human account of a person's journey toward spiritual maturity. Patterson is not afraid to lay his weaknesses and failings out on the table, or to discuss some things that might make some modern Christians squeamish. But he does it lovingly and at times humorously, with plenty of helpful illustrations along the way. I personally found the chapter on fasting to be of great benefit during one of my own spiritual struggles when I was just beginning to practice this as a spiritual discipline.

If you're searching to find true substance in your prayer life, or if you're looking to take an already solid prayer life to the next level, give this book a try. I think it has something to offer to every believer.

Rating:
Summary: An opportunity for us to learn from the author's experience.
Review: If there's one thing every Christian should get wrapped around, it's a solid, meaningful, soul-filling prayer life. Yet this is lacking in most of our lives, and mine is really no different. Ben Patterson's book on learning to love prayer has been refreshing and insightful. It offers a look into some deeply personal episodes in the life of a man who has learned by hard experience how critical it is to connect with God in prayer. And we have an opportunity as his readers to learn from his experiences, or at least to prepare ourselves for our own experiences.

Seldom will you read a more honest, open, unabashedly human account of a person's journey toward spiritual maturity. Patterson is not afraid to lay his weaknesses and failings out on the table, or to discuss some things that might make some modern Christians squeamish. But he does it lovingly and at times humorously, with plenty of helpful illustrations along the way. I personally found the chapter on fasting to be of great benefit during one of my own spiritual struggles when I was just beginning to practice this as a spiritual discipline.

If you're searching to find true substance in your prayer life, or if you're looking to take an already solid prayer life to the next level, give this book a try. I think it has something to offer to every believer.

Rating:
Summary: Lost In Space???
Review: This is by far one of the most POORLY written books I have ever had the bad fortune to buy. Ben is so pie in the sky that I have absolutely no idea where he is most of the time. At times he gives illustrations that do not appear to go with the topic at all. He also seems to have a love affair with words no one has heard of. I am sure he is a nice guy, but in my opinion, this book misses the mark.

Rating:
Summary: Lost In Space???
Review: This is by far one of the most POORLY written books I have ever had the bad fortune to buy. Ben is so pie in the sky that I have absolutely no idea where he is most of the time. At times he gives illustrations that do not appear to go with the topic at all. He also seems to have a love affair with words no one has heard of. I am sure he is a nice guy, but in my opinion, this book misses the mark.