Posted August 10, 2010 Book: Adventures in Daily Prayer: Experiencing the Power of God’s Love Author: Bert Ghezzi Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI. 2010. Pp. 158 An Excerpt from the Introduction: In these pages I share in detail my adventures in daily prayer. I offer my experiences as a series of mirrors in which you can reflect on your own prayer life. I will tell of the ways the Lord has worked in me so they may trigger your memories of the ways he has worked in you. Each chapter explains an element that characterizes my prayer times — practices such as praying in God’s presence, listening to God, and interceding for others. In order to help you connect with my message and explore its value for you, I have provided Think, Pray, and Act questions at the end of each chapter. You may also use these questions — especially those labeled “Think” — for group discussions. An Excerpt from the Book: Later in 1975 the Lord spoke to me through C.S. Lewis’s essay, “The Weight of Glory.” One night, after everyone had gone to bed, I stayed up reading and came across this stunning paragraph: “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinies. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities . . . that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal, and their life is to our as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” I realized immediately that these words would change forever the way I viewed and treated my family. Deeply moved, I went room by room and looked at my sleeping wife and children, whom God created to have eternal life — my potential gods and goddesses, to use Lewis’s image. I prayed for each of them. I resolved that I would strive to relate to each in ways that would move them toward their becoming eternal splendors. Have I succeeded in the effort? As you might guess, not always. But when I do something that may move one of them in the wrong direction, I quickly repent and take corrective action. Table of Contents: 1. Adventures in daily prayer 2. Giving ourselves to God 3. Living in God’s presence 4. Praying in the spirit 5. Praying with thanksgiving 6. Praying with scripture 7. Listening to God 8. Relying on God 9. Praying for others 10. Praying with others 11. Faithfulness at prayer 12. Prayer and Christian growth