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The Folly of Prayer - Matt Woodley

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Subtitle: Practicing the Presence and Absence of God.

I found this book to be quite engaging.  My first adjective for this book was 'stimulating', but from other reviews I've read that seems to be a polite way of saying I didn't agree with parts of the book.  While I did question some parts of it the author, Woodley, always seemed to back up his statements with Scripture.
"Jesus, as the one who lived the life we should have lived, shows us how to do prayer: pray honestly, specifically, boldly, passionately; but pray for one thing - God's will."

This book contains 13 chapters including introduction and conclusion and I thought that it would take me about 2 weeks to read it, a chapter a day, but there is so much to ponder that my wife kept finding me with the book in my lap staring of into the distance, while inwardly my mind was furiously racing down various other tracks of  thought.  I also kept pausing to write down notes.

 Throughout the book Woodley kept making comments about prayer which at first seem audacious but when I thought about it and then compared it to what the Bible has to say about prayer I was surprised.  I knew this all along but had never incorporated it into my prayer life.

I would recommend this book as one to read and discuss with some friends, in a book club or just by yourself. 

This book is definitely one which I will have to re-read again, there is so much in it to consider.  I wish I could say that reading this book changed my prayer life, but just reading it will not unless I actively try to incorporate some of these ideas into my prayer life.  This may have to be another project of mine  I will have to add this to my list of resolutions.

Interested? 

Use the link below to get your copy and support WolfsBooks.
The Folly of Prayer: 
Practicing the Presence and Absence of God
by Matt Woodley

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