Prayer: A Holy Occupation (OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY) [Hardcover]

Oswald Chambers (Author)

Book Description

Series: OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY | Publication Date: January 1, 1993

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives (James 4:3). What might the right motives be? In Prayer: A Holy Occupation Oswald Chambers shares his hearts desires in prayer to help you: know Jesus better, to discern His will, and to make Christs will your own. This is not merely a pray harder book, but editor Julie Ackerman Link has carefully selected a collection of Oswald Chambers insights to enrich your prayer life. As the author of the all-time bestselling devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers brings you a treasure-trove of wisdom and insight.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland. He came into a personal relationship with Jesus as his Savior in his teen years under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and studied art and archeology at the University of Edinburgh before answering a call from God to the Christian ministry. He then studied theology at Dunoon College. From 1906-1910 he conducted an itinerant Bible-teaching ministry in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In 1910, Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen. In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to troops from Australia and New Zealand as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix. Although Oswald Chambers wrote only one book, Baffled to Fight Better (since updated and titled Our Ultimate Refuge), more than thirty titles bear his name. Mrs. Chambers, a court stenographer, compiled the rest of her husband's published works from her verbatim shorthand notes. For half a century following her husband's death she labored to give his words to the world. My Utmost For His Highest, his best-known work, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic. The Oswald Chambers material is published and licensed exclusively by Discovery House Publishers through arrangement with the Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Discovery House Publishers (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929239598
• ISBN-13: 978-0929239590
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oswald Chambers was converted in his teen years by the ministry of Charles Spurgeon. Chambers studied art and archaeology before answering the call to Christian ministry. Author of the bestseller My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers has more than thirty other titles to his credit, all but one compiled by his wife, Gertrude.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great complilation from a great writer, May 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Prayer: A Holy Occupation (OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY) (Hardcover)

This book is composed of gems on the topic of prayer from Chambers' various books --- regrouped for concentrated study of various "requirements" of prayer: Obedience, Simplicity, Communion, etc. All the excerpts are conveniently indexed back to the original source. Questions are interspersed throughout the text to provoke deeper consideration of each subject. Every turn of the page brings another profound insight, and it's a book that can be referred to again and again.

Chambers really knows how to get to the heart of the concept of prayer as a relationship --- one that changes us, not through answers to prayer, but simply through the act of prayer as communion with God. He challenges us to take charge of our prayer life as "our only business." He reminds readers that prayer isn't about getting what we want from God, it's about God drawing us to Him through our obedience.

Chambers writes, "Prayer is the outcome of our apprehension of the [true] nature of God, the means whereby we assimilate more and more of His mind, and the means whereby He unveils His purposes to us." In this process our priorities are properly aligned with His, we can more accurately intercede in prayer for others, and we see answers to prayers we might otherwise perceive as unanswered.

Anyone who has read or considered reading "The Prayer of Jabez" especially needs to get this book for the balance it brings to the topic.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You might be disappointed with this book...., August 29, 2004

By 

Jeffrey E Ellis (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Prayer: A Holy Occupation (OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY) (Hardcover)

I enjoy Oswald Chambers and typically review his books very highly (My Utmost for His Highest, Studies on the Sermon on the Mount) but was disappointed with this particular book.

I eagerly purchased "Prayer" expecting to sit at the feet of this great man and listen to his wisdom on the topic. Instead, I found a compilation of what is contained in his other books - cut-and-pasted together in such a way as to frustrate the reader.

Sad to say,this book is simply a crude attempt to "remarket" Chamber's other works. The student of Chambers will be enormously more pleased to purchase a volume of his other books like: Utmost, Baffled to Fight Better, Christian Discipline, Sermon on the Mount, or many others, all based on his singular teachings and collected by his widow.

If you buy and read his great books, you will have no need to buy this compilation.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tool for helping every Christian grow in his/her walk with the Lord., March 13, 2006

By 

Christine, searching for Truth - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Prayer: A Holy Occupation (OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY) (Hardcover)

Mr. Chambers writes with "user-friendly" language and speaks to your heart. The format is easy to read and is set up to be completed easily by those with busy schedules as well as for those with more free time. Furthermore, beginning with page 1, I wanted the truths from the book to become a part of me, which I to attribute to the author's genuine and sincere concern for every reader's spiritual growth. In short, I was inspired to become more for the Lord through studying Prayer: A Holy Occupation.