Alone with God: A Practical Plan for Dynamic Devotions (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

"God intended us to use the Bible to get to know Him more. We are not simply seeking facts about God; we are seeking to know Him personally."

From the Back Cover

If you've--broken your resolution to spend time with the Lord every day, felt guilty because your time with God is getting shorter and shorter, wished you could recall in the middle of your day what you read in your Bible that morning--this book is for you!

Whether it is with the daily or the devotions in "daily devotions," many Christians experience repeated failure and guilt. Jason Janz has been there. In Alone with God, he shares the simple plan that has helped him and others see personal Bible study and private worship become what they are meant to be--the basis for a vibrant, personal relationship with their heavenly Father. Used with the Alone with God Daily Journal (ISBN 1591666767), Janz's program contains the structure and substance to help even the busiest teens and adults live deeply.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: JourneyForth (June 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591666252
• ISBN-13: 978-1591666257
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #494,284 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Only Read One Book This Year..., January 2, 2007

By	James John Hollandsworth, M.D. "lightalongthe... - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

If you only read one book this year, read Alone with God.

Why do I say that?

Well, for starters, if you currently have a consistent daily time with God which is incredibly rich and truly transforming your life, then you can stop reading right here; you don't need this book.

What, still reading? I thought so. Me too.

There are usually 2 classes of books: books of deep insight and impeccable doctrine which I enjoy reading, but 2 months later if I was asked how the book actually changed my life I would be stumped. The other class of book is one which is a great read and contains a lot of practical tips which I can incorporate into my life, but which merely contains human wisdom (even if it is wrapped in a Bible verse), and never really approaches the level of life transformation that true teaching of the Word should.

Alone with God belongs to that rare 3rd class of book which starts with the word of God accurately taught and then applies it in concrete, practical terms that can truly transform the life.

Chapter by chapter, Jason lays it out: Chapter One: It's All About a Relationship, introducing how important investing ourselves in time with God is. Chapter Two: The Foundation-- salvation, the Holy Spirit, prayer, the Bible, and the goal of a growing relationship with God. Chapter Three: The Need, opens up our need for inner renewal, to seek God, to depend on God, to find satisfaction in God, to realize the work of the Spirit, for immersion in the Word of God, for focused prayer, for spiritual discipline, for quality time, and for planning. In Chapter Four he next confronts the myths, such as "I'm the only one who struggles with daily devotions" and "I don't have time."

After laying the groundwork, he then launches into a planned eight step approach for spending either 20 or 30 minutes with God each day, broken down into confession, revelation, adoration, transformation, communication, meditation, and application. There are also chapters on meditation, friendship, and several helpful appendixes.

So, what's the bottom line? First, this is well written stuff, bringing together a lot of diverse teaching and wisdom about time with God organized in one book, and is great to help prime the pump of our eagerness to spend time with God. Any guy that quotes Bonar, Sanders, Boice, Grudem, Piper, Pierson, Mueller, Edwards, Packer, Horton, Lewis, Murray, Tozer, & MacArthur all in one book gets an A+ from me.

Second, although it is easy (at least for non-regimented types like me) to reject seemingly artificial constructs for spending time with God, there's wisdom here. Although it seems constricting to say I'm going to spend 5 minutes praying then 10 minutes reading then 5 minutes meditating, what it really boils down to is a personal liturgy, a personal order of worship. If any of us attended a church worship service with no structure whatsoever, not knowing for sure how long or if there was going to be singing or preaching or praying, we would immediately realize we were in trouble. So why is our "daily personal worship service" with God any different?

To change the metaphor, if you went to a gym every day with no plan of what machines you were going to work out on or how long you were going to spend, there's not much reason to believe that you would end up accomplishing much. Jason says we should not think any differently of spiritual growth, and he's right. We have to have a structured plan, and we have to execute it. If reading Alone with God stimulates you to come up with a different plan than outlined in the book, that's great. But plan you must, and act you must, to produce real growth in your life that will transform you and advance the Kingdom. Why not make a daily, structured time with God, either with help from Jason's book or else on your own, your #1 New Year's priority?

5.0 out of 5 stars A definite help - good resource, August 12, 2008

By	M. Parks "iamparks" (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jason Janz does and excellent job with the topic of creating and maintaining a fruitful devotional life. I will be using this as the textbook in a seminary course on the subject of the believer's devotional life. Thank you for this good resource.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's a keeper!, January 3, 2007

By	R. Page (New England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was so well reviewed by the previous reviewer I will only add this one thought. This book is incredibly valuable even if you already have a regular time with God using another method. I personally use an idea outlined by Jim Berg in Changed Into His Image; but this book is a treasure even if you "skip" the chapter using his particular methodology. You want to own this book - it's rich enough to re-read often. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book.