While I Was Praying: Finding Insights about God in Old Testament Prayers [Paperback]

Ralph K. Hawkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

From Abraham's prayer of protest to Habakkuk's struggle to understand terrorism to Jesus’ tradition-bound words of the Lord's Prayer, readers of While I Was Praying: Finding Insights about God in Old Testament Prayers will uncover new insights into how the ancient Hebrews understood their God.

In their prayers to God, the ancient Israelites expressed what they believed to be the nature, characteristics, and attributes of God. Often, it was through prayer that they received profound insight into the nature of God.

As a part of this study, each chapter not only explores an Old Testament prayer in its historical and scriptural context but also includes "Connections" to the experiences and needs of today's readers. Written for use in both personal reflection and small group study, each chapter also provides discussion questions to provoke deeper reflection into the nature and continued potency of Old Testament prayers.

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About the Author

Ralph K. Hawkins (D.Min., University of the South; Ph.D. cand., Andrews University) is an Associate Faculty in Bible at Bethel College, Mishawaka, Indiana, and has been involved in pastoral ministry for almost fifteen years. He speaks often to church study groups.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Smyth & Helwys Publishing (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157312463X
• ISBN-13: 978-1573124638
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Ralph Hawkins served as a pastor for almost fifteen years before joining Kentucky Christian University as an assistant professor in Biblical studies. He completed the Doctor of Ministry degree in 1999 with a dissertation on the hermeneutical processes in churches within the Restoration Movement, published as A Heritage in Crisis (University Press of America, 2001, 2008). More recently, he published While I Was Praying: Finding Insights about God in Old Testament Prayers (Smyth & Helwys, 2006). Hawkins' Ph.D. work in Near Eastern Archaeology focused on the study of the Central Hill-Country, the primary area in which the early Israelites first appeared in Canaan. He completed his dissertation in 2007, entitled, An Analysis of the Mount Ebal Excavations, 1982-1989, which he is revising for publication. He has recently completed writing When Israel Became A People: The Early Israelite Settlement in Canaan, which proposes a dynamic new model for understanding early Israel's emergence in the Canaanite hill-country. Dr. Hawkins is currently under contract for two new volumes, including The World of Abraham (Wipf & Stock) and a new translation of and commentary on the book of Joshua, which will appear in the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary series (Bellingham: Logos Bible Software). He is a member of the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, and is a Fellow of the Institute for Biblical Research. He and his wife, Cathy, have been married twenty years and have three daughters, Hannah (12), Sarah (11) and Mary (7), and a son, Adam (4).