Customer Reviews

Experiencing God: How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God

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This book is the only book I have ever read (other than the Bible) that has allowed me to understand how to have a meaningful and personal relationship with God and to know His will in my life. Obedience, submit and trust are not my favorite words as a Christian, but the author sets forth in a straight forward approach the way to know God, see His will in your life, trust Him and react based upon that trust. This should be recommended reading for every member of the clergy so they would be better prepared to help their church members develop a personal relationship with God. The reader will find that if this book is read, studied and the roadmap set forth in this book followed, it will be a life-changing experience. It was for me.

I first went through EG with a group of men in 1998, and now as a pastor I just led my college and career Sunday School class through it in 2006. This book has stood the test of time because it is so simple and so very basic. I am continuously reminded of these principles in my own life and ministry as I seek God's will. Henry Blackaby has impacted an entire generation of Christians with this Discipleship 101 walking with God classic.

I still love the four ways of knowing God's will, and I've never heard it put better than the way Blackaby does it. This book will challenge you to a closeness with the Lord that may challenge your foundations, and it will change your life. As a pastor it invigorated me and the recent review heavily impacted my ministry. If you haven't read it or taught it lately, pick it up again.

For teaching I much prefer the simple paperback over the workbook (I've done both).

As strongly implied by the subtitle, "How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing God's Will," this book is about application. In fact following every few paragraphs there is a section of reflective questions that summarizes the key points and help you to put them into a context for your own life.

Blackaby and King describe personal experiences, but subordinate those to the Scripture. Some favorite examples from the Bible are used repeatedly in the various chapters. Model prayers are included at the end of each chapter to assist a person in praying targeted prayers.

If a general theme could be drawn out from the book it would be: a relationship to God is more important than any work you do for Him. That's the essence of the book. The authors say as God reveals to you what He is doing, He invites you to join Him in His work. Consequently, listening in prayer is more important that speaking, according to this premise.

Coming from a legalist background, I believed that experiencing God was a purely intellectual exercise. God left the Bible and retreated to heaven to judge how well people obeyed His commands. I always felt that there should be more based on the Spirit's direct interaction with early Christians but could never find anyone who had a 'reliable' experience.

God sent me this book to open my eyes. My wife and I spent almost 2 months of intense Bible study and prayer over this material and it has changed our lives. God is moving in our lives in ways we never allowed Him to before. Praise Him!

While Pharisees may want to quibble with a particular interpretation of scripture, Blackaby is completely consistent with the spirit and message of the Bible--old and new testament.

Don't start this book without being prepared to change your life.

This book has truly helped me grow closer in my walk with Christ. I picked up this book not knowing what it was about, just looking for some inspirational reading since it was in my Dad's library collection. At the time I was in search of Gods will and this book was a blessing in disguise! This Book made me realize that God's will is revealed to you through your obedient walk with God! In order for Him to reveal this you must establish a love relationship with Him.

I kept praying for God to show me his will but instead I needed to draw closer before I could understand what God wanted from me. Allow God to lead and direct your paths on a daily level!

I recommend this to anyone who is in search of hearing Gods voice. Do you at times feel like you have continually been praying to God about something but still do not feel a complete peace within your heart? Read this book- it will make you realize that you must develop a more intimate relationship wih God.

"There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel- that will stand" Proverbs 19:21

I went into this book to disprove H.B. as just anouther "closet" charismatic. I was sensitive to anything that might be "unorthodox". Well He is neither charismatic,cultic ,nor heretical. In fact this is a book every Christian needs to read. It brought me back to some old values I had years ago. One being,what should your attitude be when God is at the center of your life. Anouther being, do I want God to bless my work or do I want to be in Gods work. Furthermore H.B. is grounded in the Sovereignty of God and the word of God being our test of what is scriptural.You don't "name it and frame it" you find out Gods will in the matter then believe it. You must buy this book.

Blackaby makes clear that it is possible to come to know God in an increasingly intimate manner throughout life. Blackaby points out that God is always active around us, and is looking for someone to work with Him to accomplish His goals on earth. Our "yes" response to God's gentle call is the doorway to coming to know Him more intimately. Blackaby drives his theme home by referring to many Old Testament saints who discovered God's love and faithfulness through a living relationship with Him, and shows how *we* can do the same today. What's especially helpful is how Blackaby links the knowledge of God with working *together* with Him to bring about His will; and, how God will sanctify us in this process to make us more like Christ. The whole book can be summed up in Blackaby's statement, "God initiates a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal." This book has helped me understand God's purpose in bringing many things into my own life--that His ultimate desire is not just my sanctification, but sanctification with the ultimate purpose of intimate communion and fellowship with Him *in this lifetime.* You will be radically changed if you read this book seriously and prayerfully!

I had long been aware of the writing of Henry Blackaby prior to reading this book. I give a big thumbs up to this book - There were at least three topics discussed in this book that touched me deeply. First, there was a discussion of the story of Lazarus. The point is that the story is more than just Jesus bringing him back from the dead - the key was the timing...that it was done "too late" for a reason - for the benefit of all the non-believers who witnessed it. Second was the explanation of the God-sized events that result in an encounter with God...an answered prayer - Something that clearly only God can do - not some random event - good or bad - something far beyond what common man can achieve - something that will bring someone to God - or back to God just by experiencing it...and finally, best of all, was an explanation of God's messages for man and the whole concept of the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" - that in the Old Testament, God spoke directly to the likes of David, Jacob, Moses and so forth...and then in the New Testament, God continued to speak to man, but now through His son - Jesus Christ. So what about today? God's messages to man are now delivered through the Holy Spirit. And these Angels, Ghosts, Messengers of God - are not the folks who show up in your bedroom glowing at four in the morning with wings, etc. - they come to earth in the form of truck drivers, baseball players, rock musicians...you name it... these encounters with God take place every day - and only an open mind and an open heart will help you as you LISTEN for these messages. Read this book - and let it speak to YOU... The book allows one to reflect as you read the various chapters - Claude King provides learning activities after Blackaby's writing...this proves most helpful, forcing you to consider what you have read. It is important not to skip these activities. Criticism? - Only that I think sometimes it is easy to say we are punished for the bad things and rewarded for the good things - when in truth everyone experiences good and bad times and it is too simplistic to attribute everything to punishments and rewards for our actions...what sets these random acts apart are the God-sized tasks that the Lord does through us. The things that only HE can do... things that do not just happen... Blackaby's sub-title is "Knowing and Doing the Will of God" - This is probably a next to impossible goal - but a worthy one at any rate.

I know this book is popular and was written with the best of intentions, but the book is so flawed as to be rendered worthless. Please consider the following quotes:

1) "Prayer is two-way fellowship and communication with God. You speak to God and He speaks to you. Prayer includes listening as well. In fact, what God says in prayer is far more important than what you say." P.87

Is prayer a 2 way conversation? What scripture passage teaches that God literally says things to believers during prayer? Not only does Blackaby teach that God will clearly tell us things, he says that we should write down the things God is saying to us!

2) "I always write down what God is saying to me when I pray and as I read His word." P. 89

3) "If the God of the universe tells you something, you should write it down. When God speaks to you in your quiet time immediately write down what He said before you have time to forget." P. 87

Can anybody take this teacher seriously when he tells us that God is going to say things to us during prayer that we can write down?

Blackaby also teaches that God will tell us what he has planned for our churches, communities, and country:

4) "You need to know what God has on His agenda for your church, community, and nation at this time in history. Then you and your church can adjust your lives to God, so that He can move you into the mainstream of His activity before it is too late." P. 31

Instead of adopting the outlook and language of James 4:13-17 (if God wills, we will do such and such) or Ecclesiastes (no man can discover anything about his future), Blackaby tells us we need to know the sovereign plan of God for our church and country before we can serve God correctly. Is he saying we need to have prophecy in order to serve God well?

There are other problems. One of the foundational principles of the EG philosophy is "When you learn how God has worked throughout history, you can depend on His working in a similar way with you." P. 13 Is this principle biblical? Does God work the exact same way throughout history? Do we cast lots today? Do we use the Urim & Thummim? Do we have tongues of flame settling on people when they become believers? Do people speak in tongues when they are saved?

It is this principle - that God always works the same way throughout history - that Blackaby uses to teach that God 'invites' people to 'join' him in his work. There is error here for 2 reasons:

a) He bases his teaching on how God interacted with prophets and apostles (Abraham, Moses, Paul, etc.). There is no scriptural reason to think that God is going to come tell us what he is about to do before he does it. Yes, he told prophets of coming events, but in the grand scheme of history those predictions were isolated events. Prophecy is never presented as the normative mode of God's communication with man. Scripture is the day - to - day guide. To teach Christians that they will be ineffective without having a prophetic word about their church, community, and country is to send them on an errand of frustration. God does not even hint that we should live this way.

b) The other error in this principle is that God 'invited' the prophets to join him in his work. Is it biblical to read the story of Abraham or Jonah or Paul and conclude that God was 'inviting' anybody to do anything? He is issuing commands.

Another problem with the book is that Blackaby puts great pressure on people to start 'hearing' God. He says that people who don't hear God's voice (in the sense of guidance) fail to do so because they are not believers (do not belong to God). He writes: "If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience." P. 36

He uses John 8:47 as a proof text. "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

He uses this verse out of context. This verse is not talking about daily guidance for the believer. Jesus is talking about the response to truth. The Pharisees could not respond to the truth of Jesus' message because they were unbelieving. That verse is Jesus proof that the Pharisees were children of the devil: they would not accept him or his teaching. So here we have one of many examples of how Blackaby uses verses out of context to support his view of guidance. We also see that EG would damage the assurance of a Christian who does not 'hear' God in the way that Blackaby says he should.

Well, I've done a great deal of criticizing, and I hope that people will pause for a moment and reflect on what I am saying. I think this book is unbiblical and should be ignored. Some might ask if I have any alternatives to this book. I would suggest reading JI Packer's "Knowing God" (there is a chapter on guidance there), Garry Friesen's book "Decision making and the will of God", Haddon Robinson's "Making decisions by the book" or Sinclair Ferguson's book about the will of God. I think if a person will read any of these works, they will see scripture handled in a much more accurate way. Passages are dealt with thoroughly, and in context (this is especially true of Friesen's book). Those of you who are teachers owe it to God and to your pupils to investigate the other view of knowing God's will. If you don't do that, you will never know if you are teaching falsehood.

The downside to books such as Experiencing God is that people tend to think that upon completion of a book or study such as this, they somehow will have magically arrived at a place in right standing with God.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Books such as this are a tool to help one discover how to hear God, and when he is moving. Ultimately, the rest is up to us. To act upon what is learned. And, the harder part, to remain humble.

The book Experiencing God points person's in the right direction; better than most discipleship type books. The author's key in on what God is doing, and where he is working, and then focus in on getting us to move in God's direction.

One of the most important phrases is "Most people ask God what his will for our life is. Instead of being selfish, we should ask God what his will is; period. Find out what God's will is, and plug in to what God is doing." Blackaby and King do a superb
job in getting a handle on the steps to succeeding in discovering God's will.

Where the book lacks, in my opinion, is the types of questions asked. The questions are basic, copy out of the Bible type of questions, and do very little for practical application of the passages. In order for the Bible to become real to us, we need to know how passages apply to us. I have found the more one asks, "Why" about a particular statement, the better. The more one asks Why in conjunction to the previous statement, the more that person begins to understand.

Experiencing God is a great starting point for experiencing God.
It's a worth while reading. However, remember, one cannot experience God, simply by reading a book, and following a formula. God is a real person, and, as in any relationship, it takes time, and work. Formulas are good to the point in helping one understand how to get started; how things work.