God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer [Hardcover]

Pete Greig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2007

Pete Greig, the acclaimed author of Red Moon Rising, has written his most intensely personal and honest account yet in God on Mute, a book born out of his wife Samie’s fight for her life and diagnosis of a debilitating brain tumor. Greig asks the timeless questions of what it means to suffer and to pray and to suffer through the silence because your prayers seem unanswered. This silence, Greig relates, is the hardest thing. The world collapses. Then all goes quiet. Words can’t explain, don’t fit, won’t work. People avoid you and don’t know what to say. So you turn to Him and you pray. You need Him more than ever before. But somehow…even God Himself seems on mute. In this heart-searching, honest and deeply profound book, Pete Greig looks at the hard side of prayer, how to respond when there seem to be no answers and how to cope with those who seek to interpret our experience for us. Here is a story of faith, hope and love beyond all understanding. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...thoughtful and deeply moving...even in the wake of one of his most difficult trials of faith." -- Charisma Magazine, March 2007

"Pete Greig offers a considered answer to those who may question God's silence in God on Mute." -- Relevant Magazine, March/April 2007

"Theologian Pete Greig dives headlong into the inky waters of unanswered prayer to rinse off the mystery." -- Christian Music Planet, March/April 2007

"Throughout this well-written book, Greig creates a personal checklist that explains why certain prayers remain unanswered. Recommended." -- Aspiring Retail, March 2007

From the Back Cover

Writing out of the pain of his wife’s fight for her life but also the wonder of watching the prayer movement they founded touch many lives, Pete Greig wrestles with the dark side of prayer and emerges with a hard-won message of hope, comfort and profound biblical insight for all who suffer in silence. “If you are hurting and secretly wondering ‘Where is God?’ and ‘Why’s this happened to me?’ and ‘How come my prayers aren’t working?’ then I dedicate this book to you…”--Pete Greig 

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Regal (March 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830743243
• ISBN-13: 978-0830743247
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith and Courage, March 11, 2007

By 

Mel Lawrenz (Brookfield, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer (Hardcover)

Pete Greig gives us an example of real faith and courage as he tells the story of the perilous journey he and his wife Samie have been on since a tumor the size of an orange was removed from her brain and she was left with chronic epilepsy. Though leaders in an international prayer ministry called 24-7, Pete and his wife have had to deal with the issue of praying hard for healing in Samie's body, being grateful for the preservation of her life, but having to accept just partial healing. Using the prayers of Jesus' final days (agony in the garden on Thursday, from the cross on Friday, the silence of Saturday, and the triumph of Easter) is a brilliant way to show that our prayers may come out of anguish--but so did those of Jesus. In the end, Pete and his wife are left with real faith (stripped to its essence) in the true God, and they show us how to go forward in life with the best prayer of all: "Lord, have mercy..."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest Look at the Realities of Prayer, January 2, 2008

By 

Chad Davies "Downhill" (Barnesville, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer (Hardcover)

Pete's Greig's book, God on Mute, has to be one of the most honest and compelling discussions of prayer I've ever had the pleasure to read. Gone are the platitudes and cliches regarding prayer and how it is supposed to work that one finds in most contemporary discussions on prayer. Instead, framed within the four days of Christ's passion, the reader finds an honest discussion about unanswered prayer and those times when God chooses to be silent.

Written from Greig's own experience when confronted with his wife's serious medical condition, the book starts from the questions of why and where is God from Christ's experience in the Garden of Gethsemane and works through issues of prayer including lament and issues of abandonment (Good Friday and Christ's crucifixion), the silence of God (Saturday and Christ in the tomb) and the hope that springs eternal both in the future but also in the here and now (Christ's resurrection).

The reader will not find easy answers in this book and therein lies it's strength. Greig does an excellent job summing up the theology and thinking behind unanswered prayer and also in giving that theology a human face. These are not abstract discussions about prayer but very real considerations faced by anyone who has pleaded to God for something and not received an answer.

I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand real prayer in a real world with a real God. I cannot praise it highly enough.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Asking The Questions People Rarely Ask About Prayer, April 22, 2007

By 

William Dahl "On Porpoise" (Redmond, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer (Hardcover)

From Maundy Thursday to Good Friday to Silent Saturday and then Easter Sunday, Pete and Samie Greig use the blessing of their Life's story to share the same with the reader. God on Mute - Engaging The Silence of Unanswered Prayer is a very important topic, relevant to our times as people seek the precarious and shallow certainty in various forms of fundamentalism --- in a number of faith persuasions that populate this planet...not only the Christian faith. Thus, this is a book I would recommend to Muslims, Hindus, Jews -- whatever the favor of your faith is today.

Been "burned" by "unanswered prayer? Be honest. Have questions about unanswered prayer? Buy this book and savor the reality of the life story of two people who's feet are planted firmly in the earth of the reality of daily living --- no matter what country or culture you might presently reside in.

Listen to Samie and Pete in a few quotes below:

Samie - p. 260 "I don't always understand God's ways in my life, but I'm absolutely certain that He can be trusted."

Pete - p. 23 - "It seems to me thst those of us who spend our time encouraging people to pray and share the amazing stories of unanswered prayer also have a sworn duty to care for those whose prayers appear not to be working."

Pete - p.211 "Life's great trials invariably make us bitter or make us better. They never leave us unchanged."

Pete - p. 67 "It is ultimately not comforting to abandon all hope of miracles by shrinking our view of God's power to the size of our own pain."

Pete p. 19 - "Christians are quick to spread glory stories, but disappointments tend to be brushed under the carpet because we don't want to discourage anyone at church or be a bad commercial at work. But God isn't like us. He doesn't get insecure about His performance, and He never asks us to cover up for Him."

Pete p.55 - "The God of the cosmos thinks you are amazing. You! Not just some heavenly, idealized version you might one day become. You --- the person who does such stupid things. You --- thje one with bad hair, bad breath and bad desires."

Finally, Pete p. 125 - "In spite of all the increases in technology and increased life expectancy, there is an extraordinary fragility to our generation. We collapse easily, our marriages fall apart, and we are quick to take offence. In our celebrity obsessed world that is cosseted away from death and anesthesized against pain, we need to be reminded that it's normal to have problems, get sick, experience financial challenges and face relational breakdown. Jesus promises us, "You will have trouble" (John 16:33), but not many of us stick that verse on the fridge."

I adored this book. It's a lesson that can only be taught by those who have lived it and had the courage and disciplne to share it with us. Read it. You'll be sorry if you don't.

Thank you very much Pete and Samie.

Bill Dahl