Prayer is a vital part of any Christian parent’s day – or at least it should be. It’s easy to get so distracted by the business of parenting small children though, that you totally forget to pray. Sometimes those stretches can go on for days, weeks or even months.
Some people benefit from having a book to remind them and to help them focus on their prayer lives. So I was interested when offered the chance to review the book Praying God’s Promises by Linda Evans Shepherd.
The way the book is organized is perfect for busy parents. The author addresses in each chapter a category of God’s promises – like His promises for our protection or His promises for our children. There are 27 chapters – all of which begin with three or four pages of introduction. Generally, it is a story of the author or someone she knew who prayed these particular promises and what happened.
The introduction is followed by several pages of verses pulled from scripture. Thankfully, she writes out the entire scripture and gives the reference making it easier for readers to use. She does switch her versions around quite a bit, which I understand to a point. It always makes me a tad bit uneasy though as it makes me feel as if the author had to search to find a version that translated the verse the way she wanted instead of accepting at face value the way the other multiple versions translated it. In this particular case, it’s probably not as problematic as if she were trying to convince readers of some new theology.
For some reason, the author feels the need after each scripture to add an “I agree” section where she basically just re-states the scriptures in her own words. Personally, I would rather have seen more scriptures in that space. Other readers may find it helpful in some way.
If you are looking for a book to help you focus more on your prayer life, this one will probably help. (A slight word of warning to those who are more conservative. In a couple of spots, she recounts some incidents some may consider charismatic.) It may not be the very best book on prayer I’ve ever seen, but it should help you with what you need.
This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.