Deborah Smith Douglas. The Praying Life. Morehouse Publishing. 2003.

Praying without ceasing is the goal of many Christians. How can this be accomplished when we have to work, take care of children, clean, and do the thousands of other tasks we do daily?

Douglas divided this book into 4 sections reflecting different topics: ways of praying, healing, spiritual companionship, and fruitfulness. Each section contains short meditations. I found the first chapter particularly relevant to "how we pray".

The author discusses finding 5 words (in addition to those already printed on holiday cards) to add so she could mail her greetings for the reduced postage rates being offered in Scotland. Through the process of determining what those words should be, she discovers many of the profound statements given in scripture are comprised of only five words. Clearly, God didn't need to be verbose to communicate his will!

Recommendation

This book would make an excellent devotional, taking just one chapter a day. The author shares her personal discoveries about prayer and being a Christian through the ordinary activities of the day. If you get in a real hurry, you can finish the book in an hour or more. I advise you to read it through in its entirety once. Then, treat it as a devotional and talk to God about each chapter. You'll soon discover that you too, are living a praying lifestyle.

Copyrighted by Diana Pederson, 2005-2009