Customer Reviews

Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (Workbook)

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to draw closer to God. If you actually DO the work as instructed and not just read the book, your relationship with God will be forever transformed. You cannot possibly walk away from doing the steps in this workbook and have the same relationship with our LORD as you began.

It really gets to the heart of the relationship that we are to have with GOD. If you really have a heart for God and seek after him, this book will bless you over and over again. By using examples from the Bible the authors show us how God wants to have a close personal relationship with ALL of his children. We see how God works with HIS children from the Old and the New Testament. God does not change, and this book shows that to us again and again. This book has changed my life and improved my marriage.

From a practical standpoint doing the "work" in this workbook is a challenge (as is our Christian walk). There is no magic formula and you get out of it exactly what you put into it, no more and no less. If you just read the book there really is little point in purchasing it, but if you DO the work, the blessings will flow like water. Mine do.

I started the study of "Experiencing God" for one reason and that was to know Him. I really can't put into words what this study has meant to me. The workbook was a help to me because I need "baby" steps. Some do not and the study goes at whatever pace you need. The small group study helped me see God working through others to teach me. You learn so much about His love. I recommend this workbook in a small group study for anyone. Whether you are spiritually mature or are just starting your journey as a follower of Christ.

I've participated in a small group study of Experiencing God once, and I taught it twice after that. I think this is one of those rare workbooks that in a simple way, captures the deeper truths of God and the Christian life. It is profoundly simple. I've read a lot of Christian books in my time, and there really isn't one like this. It's in a category of its own. You should definitely do it in the context of a small group. Beware though, it is demanding for the average reader. There are daily exercises that can take 20-30 minutes to do. These exercises are chalk full of great wisdom and insight, but for some it is a lot to do. I've read probably a hundred Christian books/workbooks, etc., and this one is definitely in my top 10, if not my top 5. I highly recommend it. If you're a teen, I'd use the teen version. It's great for everybody.

13 years ago when I became a christian, it was a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that began the journey. This bible study leads to a deeper understanding on how to "do the will of God". This study will take you to places you have not thought of, and to places that many would rather not really go. This is the study that changed my life in my walk with God. It took me from convert to disciple. You will not regret this purchase.

I came to the workbook expecting yet another attempt to rejuvinate my love for God and found a relationship deeper than I've ever known. A follower of Christ for 15 years, both devoted and devout, I was beginning to think that going through the motions was as good as it was going to get. Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God and follow up study, When God Speaks have transformed my relationship. It is NOT profound. It is filled with many truths I've long known about God but I have never been so challenged in my journey as I am now. I thank God for the opportunity to have an active relationship with Him and will be forever grateful for Blackaby's writings that have so encouraged me. I continue to struggle with many of life's questions, but no longer seek to explain them away with religion. Instead, I know who I am and I know who God is and will continue to seek and continue to find. Relationship is fragile and too often we "christians" think we have one when we don't. Drawing nearer to God with Blackaby's help has saved me from my worst sin, pride. God has used Henry Blackaby to remind me that apart from Him I can do nothing of eternal importance.(John 15:5). (Incidentally, I finished the studies over one year ago)

I have read the workbook and the paperback versions of the book. I have no doubts about the answered prayers in the book, nor of his statements that we first need our relationship right with God and become more sensitive to his work around us. However, the more I reviewed his quotes from the Bible, the more concerned I got with his proof-texting (taking Bible verses out of context). Examples include John 14:6 (p.33 of paperback book) and John 5: 17, 19-20 (p. 65 of paperback book)--please read these in the context of the quotes. I also got uneasy with him saying as well that if you don't hear his voice that your relationship with God is in trouble. We've had enough trouble in Christianity with "If you feel it, it must be right" arguments, mixing secular philosophy in. Again, I'm not saying that God didn't answer the prayers stated, but just because he can give those examples doesn't mean he can claim authority on the principles he tries to put forth. Prayers can be answered despite ourselves, and no person is perfect with the Bible--that's why we have discussions like this to correct one another. After I had my doubts, I looked for reviews of the book on the internet. Although I'll let you vouch for their authority (i.e., please prayerfully test them, for I don't agree with everything there as well), they raised more questions than I had. I have nothing to do with their sites and don't necessarily endorse them--I just found these reviews (although R. C. Sproul's site is the most reputable, he didn't take part in the discussion in the last link). One book I highly recommend (again not perfect, but much more solid) is "Knowing God's Will" by M. Blaine Smith, from Intervarsity Press, 1991, and Amazon.com sells this, too. I have no relation with this book either, but I think he backs himself up a lot better than Mr. Blackaby. Reading the other reviews so far, I can empathize with the desire to "hear" God and make our relationships with God (Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit) that much closer and "tangible." That's one reason I picked up the book on recommendations from others, given the difficulties we have with decisions without clear-cut answers. However, that can't allow us license to have the Bible say what we want as warned in 2 Timothy 4. Please be careful.

Are you at a crossroads in your faith journey? Do you feel like there has to be more to the relationship with God than you are experiencing but just don't know how to get there? Then this book can help you pick up from where you are and take your life on a journey with God that will not end until THIS life is over! I took this course with a group that had mixed results. Those of us that were "ripe" for the growth that come about as a result of an in-depth study used this bible study to teach us how to have a continuously growing relationship with God. Yes, there were a couple of things in the book that I didn't agree with, but I have never found a book that I agree with totally except the Bible. Because of this study, I have learned about God's healing love, and now are hungry every day to read and study my Bible, devotionals and other books. I pray and praise God constantly throughout my day. It is so sweet to go to sleep with a prayer on my lips and to wake with a praise song in my heart! I was truly a Type-A personality before this study, and have found such joy and peace in turning my life over to my Lord and Master. This book will not facilitate that, though, you have to be ready in your heart for it. I am allowing God to take my life and do with it as He will instead of wasting it on the ways of this world anymore. My husband and I are beginning a journey in prison ministries that we would have never gone on without this study or something similar to it. We don't know where the journey will take us, but look forward to the day that our God looks at us with love in His eyes, and calls us His "good and faithful servants". If you are ready for this kind of change in your life, this study is an excellent place to start. Have a wonderful journey. Grace and peace to you. Barbara

This is the finest study in practical Chrisitanity I've ever seen, and a way to do discipleship with or without a group. Author Henry Blackaby's well-known workbook takes you through twelve weeks of five studies each that cover topics such as, Is God pursuing us or are we supposed to pursue Him? Does He want to be involved in what I'm doing, or does He want me involved in what He's doing? Does God communicate to us today the same way He did to people in the Bible, or is it different? Why is it so hard for me to believe Him and do what He asks? How can I encounter Him? How can I experience God?

I go back through this study every five years or so, or whenever I feel like I've lost my spiritual compass. It always helps me regain God's perspective on my life. God loves me: the cross proves it. So when I feel overwhelmed or like my life is out of kilter, what's going on? Blackaby helps answer this and many other questions common to Christians - new, as well as old-timers who just need their compasses recalibrated.

It all comes down to relationship. God is vitally interested in initiating a love relationship with us, not in making us do or not do certain things, and certainly not in what we can do for Him. Like any good father, He wants us to be involved in what He's doing, not so much for the work, but for the experience of doing it with Him. What is He doing? How can I recognize it and get involved with Him? Blackaby shows from scripture and life what this looks like.

How does God speak to us today, and how can I recognize His voice in my life? Blackaby takes us through many examples of how God spoke to the men and women of the Bible, and how that has and has not changed today. There are basically four ways today: the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the Church. In all four cases, it is the Spirit that is speaking in order to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.

What is preventing me from having a love relationship with God? Why is it so difficult for me to do what He asks? Blackably shows how to develop our relationship by having a quiet time with God each day, as well as carrying that relationship into everything we do. As we strive to apply what we are learning from the Bible and the other ways God speaks, we will experience a crisis of belief. Basically, we will reach a crossroads in which we will have to choose between God's way or our way. It will never be easy to do things God's way, but it will always be right and good.

How can I get to know God better? How can I experience Him more? When people think of encountering or experiencing God, they usually think of Moses and the burning bush. But it's not that hard for us today. We have God's Spirit within us as a gift, so He's speaking to us all the time: not just through burning bushes, prophets or angels; but when we read the Bible, the Spirit guides our reading so that He speaks to us through the words of scripture. That is an encounter with God. When we obey the words and join God in what He is doing, we will experience Him in all His power and love.

A great example of how wonderfully practical this book is, is the way Blackaby looks at prayer. He says that when we pray, we need to look at what happens right after that and in the days that follow, and make the connection between those events and what we prayed for, because there will most definitely be a connection. Also, he says that prayer is not so much our deciding what we want and trying to convince God to want what we want, as it is God deciding what we need and changing our hearts to want what He wants. What He has planned for us is always far better than what we could possibly plan for ourselves.

Blackaby says that when God speaks to us through Scripture, prayer, circumstances and the Church, it does not prepare us to have an encounter with God - that IS the encounter with God. God wants a love relationship with us, and He is pursuing us relentlessly. He is far less interested in what we do than in our ability to relate to Him and others. He is at work in the world around us, drawing people to Himself. When we join Him in His work, we will experience Him in all His grace and glory.

Waitsel Smith

This book is like "heart surgery" for the soul. When I received this book, about five years ago, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I discovered was a *top-notch* workbook that raises Christian consciousness to new heights.

As bible study programs go, this workbook sets out to build the best foundation for Christian thinking that I have seen. Programmatically, it works not only by presenting Bible stories, but also by applying Biblical principles in the learning process itself, actually centering such learning on these principles.

This program is one that is straigh-forward, but does not leave you tied up in fragmented thinking with respect to the specific application of biblical principles. Rather the program inculcates, step by step, a sense of biblical priorities and purposes. It presents a way of experiencing the Bible and Christianity in ways that consistently make sense across many contexts rather than in ways that seem to imply one thing in one context and then something entirely different in the next.

Most of all, I think this workbook helps bridge the gap between thinking and doing, enabling a person to really live Christian values in a "moment by moment," way. So, if you are looking for a plan to turn your life around, or if you merely want to become a person of mettle and center your life around the right values, this may be the book for you. This is a world-class workbook, one from which many could benefit. It's good to see that it is now accessible to readers through Amazon.com. I think this book is a "Must-Read" for Christians or for those who want to be Christians...or more precisely it is a "Must-Do" workbook. This book stresses an approach intending to result in enabling you in your own personal relationship with God, something one can only arrive at through "discovery," for which this book is most helpful. I highly recommend it, without reservation. END

Henry Blackaby is very motivational as a speaker, enlightening as an author and obviously walking in God's truth. This is a workbook based upon Blackaby's bestselling book "Experiencing God." Both the book and workbook are excellent works! This workbook is well written and easy to use in a group setting. The questions are deep and probing to make us open our eyes. Our God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to hear Him and to obey Him. This workbook opens our eyes and ears to Him in many thought-provoking ways. Let's start deepening and developing our relationship with God, listening for His voice and obeying Him, this workbook is one step to help.

John 10:27-30 27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given {them} to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch {them} out of the Father's hand.

30 "I and the Father are one." NAS)