Customer Reviews

A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants

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December 1986 my family presented me with this book. I enjoy readings of William Barclay, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Carlo Carretto, Richard Foster, Carl Jung, C. S. Lewis, Henri J. Nouwen, Mother Teresa, Elton Trueblood, John Wesley, to name a few. But to have writings by these great authors compiled in one book is unimaginable. On top of that there are the lyrics of some of the most well known and loved hymns included in this book. There are monthly retreat models that can be done individually or with a group. The story "A Doll of Salt" by Anthony Bloom is a wonderful simile of our developing relationship with God. I have highlighted, written in the margins, and dogeared so many pages that I had to get a second copy because the first one is falling apart (and it was the leather bound copy). The readings are so inspiring and uplifting as well as thought provoking for the layperson as well as the ordained minister. If you are going to get this book I encourage you to get the leather bound for you will discover you will use it on a daily basis along with your Bible.

This book is an excellent guide for an individual's daily devotionals. It includes prayers, selected readings from great writers, as well as a daily scripture passage to lead you to the Sunday selections from the Common Lectionary. By using this guide I find myself mentally and emotionally prepared to hear the message my pastor has to share with us on the Sunday following a week of devotionals. Each week also includes a psalm and a hymn selection, adding richness to the worship experience. All in all, I find this guide a wonderful way to begin my day with praise, petition, reflection, and worship.

This devotional guide has changed my walk with God. Whether you are in Christian leadership or not, this humble yet sublime offering of deeply honest and contemplative readings will stir your soul and renew your life. I am buying 8 copies online to give to my colleagues and friends.

I have studied under Dr. Norman Shawchuck and I know this work to be a valid personal testimony of his spiritual journey. This is one of the best devotional guides ever printed. It includes daily lectionary readings, deeply moving meditative excerpts from many great theologians, and monthly retreat models. The retreat models have been a Godsend to my wife and I. We find much healing and renewal in these retreats. The passion of the writer's own spiritual growth is clearly evidenced in these pages. This is a vital tool for all clergy. No pastor should be without the benefit of this kind of refreshing and renewal. This guide is a daily trip to the well.

Job 5:8 "But as for me, I would seek God,And I would place my cause before God."

Psalm 9:10 "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You."

Psalm 14:2 "The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of menTo see if there are any who understand,Who seek after God."

Psalm 22:26b "Those who seek Him will praise the LORD Let your heart live forever!"

Psalm 70:4 "Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;And let those who love Your salvation say continually,"Let God be magnified."

If you seek an ardent devotional life, if you want to have a life of prayer, if you are looking for a guide on how to dwelve in the Word and reap the benefits of the Bille's wisdom, than look no more.

Here is what I wrote my relatives and friends as a result of one morning's Bible reading of 2 Tim. 1:1-14 (suggested reading for that day).
"I'm not here to push this book, but I want to say that my spiritual walk with God, on a day to day basis, starting the day and ending the day, has been very enriched as a result of reading the Scripture passages, meditating on the excerpts from spiritual writings and poems, and praying, with the help of this devotional book."

The structure of the book is fairly simple. Week by week (according to the Christian calendar). Each week's daily devotions and texts are broken up in the following 8 categories:
I. Invocation (written),
II. One of the Psalms (as a prayerful reading material)
III. Reading for Reflection (various numbers of little excerpts from spiritual writing from the whole rich treasure chest of Christian history and from all various denominational and traditional Christian faiths),
IV. Daily Scripture Readings (Mon.-Sunday.; some of them are long like a whole chapter; others very short)
V. Reflection: Silent and Written
VI. Prayers: For the Church, for Others, and Myself (no prayers provided but one is asked to pray for these three areas)
VII. Hymn (written)
VIII. Benediction (written).

You will not be sorry you invested the money in this book. The challenge is making the time to devote your life, heart, mind, soul to God and reap the benefits of your closeness to the divine.

Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox - friendly. The authors come from the Methodist tradition but are very ecumenically minded.

Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuch have combined to produce an incredibly rich resource for the personal spiritual journey. The daily prayers, scriptures and classical writings are powerfully woven into a life changing fabric. Also, the monthly retreat models offer a framework that is easy to follow and spiritually enriching.

A wonderful book of daily Bible readings and excerpts from the spiritual classics. The readings for each week are devoted to a theme; this week of October 4 is "Faithfulness". This is a book I dearly love and depend on...it's wonderful.

This might be the only product on Amazon that I've ever seen with 20 5-star reviews and nothing else. I hate to be the grumpy one, but I'm just not tracking with these other reviewers. I found this to be one of the least helpful devotionals that I've ever used.

I was assigned to use this devotional for a seminary class and was fully prepared to appreciate it. I was excited about the daily Scripture readings, the collected quotations, and the weekly hymns, all tied to the same theme. This seemed like a perfect format. Unfortunately, it turned out to be dreadful.

My one primary complaint was that the Scriptures and the quotes were difficult to connect thematically. Though there was a category for each week like "Forgiveness" or "Wise Stewards," I often found myself completely perplexed as to how a particular Scripture reading was supposed to relate to that topic. I'm not suggesting that reading the Bible should be an inherently intuitive process, but if I'm going to be sent flying across the entire Bible from one day to the next, I would really prefer to understand the relationship between the passages.

I also found the "Readings for Reflection" to be a struggle. Though other reviewers raved about the authors who were represented, I found many of them to be extremely obscure (and for good reason). Many of the readings were very wooden, probably somewhat indicative of the time when they were written. I do enjoy reading the classics, but I did not find these selections to be especially enlightening and more often left me scratching my head.

Finally, I found the organization of each week to be extremely frustrating. I was constantly flipping back and forth from one page to another, and the binding of the book is so tight and its pages so narrow that it would frequently snap shut and leave me hunting to find my place. I realize that many will laugh at my focus on such minor details, but they really affect me. I'm distractible to begin with, and the last thing that I need when spending devotional time with God is one more thing to distract me. I really wished that the Scriptures and readings had been better integrated to allow for a more natural flow when using this book.

Upon rereading my critique, I probably paint myself as some sort of lazy idiot. I am not looking for a mindless devotional book. I am willing to invest in intellectual reflection when I study the Word and read what others have to say. Maybe "A Guide to Prayer" will work for other folks, but this guide left me disappointed and even frustrated. I will keep looking for a devotional guide that flows more naturally and makes more sense to me.

Provides a wonderful outline and schedule for getting into or maintaining the habit of daily prayer and devotions. The themes that permeate this book are Worship, Forgiveness, and Servanthood. This is a great tool to grow with!

I was given this book in 1984, shortly after it was first published. Since then the bible and this book have been the foundation of my daily prayer life. I have given countless copies to family and friends. Each of the men I meet with each week for prayer all use it as the foundation of their spiritual reading. There is hardly a week goes by that one or the other of us begin our sharing with the words, "I was reading THE BOOK this week and came across...."

As a retreat leader, I have used this book as the source of readings for reflection and sharing on many retreats. I've built whole retreats around one week's scripture and reading selections.

A must for all seekers.