A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Paul Miller (Author), Arthur Morey (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Headline: Draw closer to God in the ordinary moments of your day.

Through lyrical anecdotes, Southern wit, and scriptural reflection, Pastor Thomas Steagald offers this sprawling oak of a work, rooted deeply in a life of prayer. This sepia-toned memoir takes you on Steagald's daily pastoral rounds from pre-dawn rising to a rest found only in the assurance of Christ's mercy. In between is a richly- textured account of little moments seized for consecration - prayers in the shower, coffee at Hardee's, choir practice and the surprises that test our perception of what in our lives is God's business. "It is our faith, and by faith I really mean trust, that no person, no situation, no circumstance exists without Him, or devoid of Him, or apart from His grace." So it is that Steagald dismantles the strict compartments of our ordinary" lives and invites us to offer our entire beings to Christ.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I know there are a million, zillion books about prayer out there -- but this is really one you should sit with for a while, a long while. I learned an awful lot from it -- but more importantly, it actually motivated me to stop reading and start praying --Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Real Sex

What a refreshing book! If you're tired of religious prayer games and rote prayers that stop at the ceiling or if you have suspected that God was on vacation somewhere, this book will change your life. And if you're thinking about giving up on prayer, don't! At least not until you've read this book. When you have, you'll thank me for recommending it to you. --Steve Brown, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary; teacher on the syndicated radio program Key Life

About the Author

Thomas R. Steagald is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Stanley, NC. His work has appeared in numerous publications including Circuit Rider, Preaching, and The Abingdon Preaching Annual. He is the author of two other books, "Devotionally Yours, Philippians" and "The Birth That Changed by Life." In "Praying for Dear Life," he draws on decades of his pastoral work and personal study. He lives with his wife Jo in Gastonia, NC.

Paul Miller is director of seeJesus.net, an organization that develops interactive Bible studies for small groups. He is the author of Love Walked Among Us (NavPress), The PrayerLife Study, The Person of Jesus, an interactive study of the wonder of Jesus and his love. He also travels widely and teaches Jesus Weekends, Person of Jesus seminars, and PrayerLife seminars. Paul and his wife, Jill, have six children and live near Philadelphia.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Hovel Audio; Unabridged edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596448458
• ISBN-13: 978-1596448452
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #635,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gospel Prayer, April 15, 2010

By 

William E. Turner Jr. (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World (Audio CD)

Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World reviewed for Christianaudio; [].

During college I received some good advice from one of the professors: read at least one book on prayer a year. Since that time I confess that I haven't always followed his advice, but nonetheless I have read a variety of books on prayer. Paul Miller's A Praying Life is the first book on prayer that I have read and has actually motivated me to pray. Usually, after reading books on prayer there is guilt accompanied by a rigorous praying schedule only to be followed a few days or weeks later by abject failure.
Miller's book is different.

Here's why: Miller ties prayer together with the gospel. Prayer is placed within the spectrum of our sin and absolute need for a savior. Our dependency and need for Christ is the proper starting point for developing a praying life. Because of Christ's life, death, and resurrection we now have a relationship with the Father. Now we have the freedom to pray. Now we have the motivation to pray. We are compelled to talk to our Father because of the beauty of the gospel.

A needy heart is a praying heart. When we recognize that we are sinners saved by grace we will be constrained by the love of Christ to converse with our Father. In many respects we don't need a better understanding of prayer as much as we need a fuller, deeper, and more glorious understanding of our sin and God's magisterial grace. The gospel is impetus toward a praying life.
Miller's book is also unique in relating our praying life to our suffering life. He does not shy away from the hard reality of suffering or the mystery of "unanswered prayer." Miller's own life stories provide a window into a normal, everyday praying life. The stories of his family, especially the challenges with his daughter's autism offer a real, honest, and encouraging look at prayer.

On a purely practical level, I really appreciated his idea of the prayer cards. Prayer lists are mechanical and often depersonalized. This is the way I used to pray; working my way down a list checking off things as I have completed my moral duty. Miller suggests using prayer cards that implement praying scripture and specific requests for individual people and circumstances. I believe this is a better alternative to prayer lists.

Arthur Morey narrated the book. His reading was okay. It seemed to lack a bit of verve and passion. Nonetheless, it was the book itself that kept me coming back, not the presentation.

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Book, May 30, 2011

By 

Ryan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World (Audio CD)

This book will inspire you to grow closer to Christ in your prayer life. The author gives you practical examples of problems which, if we're honest, we can very readily identify with. He also gives some really good, unique examples of tools to help you develop/enhance your own prayer life. If your prayers feel like they're bouncing off of the ceiling or you don't have a prayer life but want a good practical example of one, I highly recommend this book!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great on prayer, bit harsh on the enlightenment, June 9, 2011

By 

T. G. S. Hawksley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World (Audio CD)

Three things have stuck in my mind about what this book teaches about prayer. The first is to really be like a kid in God's presence. To call him daddy. Not to worry about pulling at his sleeve. Not to fuss if your mind wanders. Just be as you are, like kids. Of course we Christians know this, but it's so easy to adopt a religious tone when you pray. I am grateful to Miller for drilling this point home. The second is to pray for small things - his disabled daughter pouring milk, parking spaces....everything. It's worth trying. Nothing to lose. I've found it's making a difference. And the third is his system of prayer cards for people. It makes you think carefully about what you want to see happen in the lives of those you love. And when the answer comes,there's the card with the request to remind you that you prayed. The book is a great encouragement. So much so that I definitely hope to read it again.

There was also an excellent chapter on the grim impact of cynicism. The author then went on in another chapter to argue that its roots are with the enlightenment which divides the world into `facts' and `feelings'. As religion is in the `feeling' section, it is by definition not real. This paradigm in the mind then inevitably breeds cynicism towards religion. There is surely much mileage in this argument, but the way the author dealt with the origin of the enlightenment was a bit hash. He writes, `leading thinkers decided they didn't need God anymore.' It would have been fairer to say that any thinker, let alone leading thinkers, faced with a medieval Christianity had sent thousands of women to be burnt alive for allegedly being witches, and which in the 17th C had shattered Europe with a war that had killed about a million had sanely come to the conclusion that the world would be a safer place if religious dogma - not God - was kept to the sidelines. He could have then gone on to explain that when Christianity fused herself with the enlightenment principles, or became Erasmian, it was then incredibly successful, especially in the land founded by those escaping medieval Christianity, America.

Miller is absolutely right to point out how seed thoughts in the Enlightenment can undermine a fresh faith in God's world, but he gives the impression he is writing off the whole of the Enlightenment which is regrettable. A great part of the enlightenment was the belief that individuals are not tied to fate or feudalism, and our lives can change a situation. And that ironically is what Miller's book is all about - that as individuals we can make a difference to situations through our prayers. I suspect this teaching can make much more headway in people who have been impacted by the Enlightenment, than in those which haven't.