Prayer Power (and free giveaway)

leave a comment to win a copy of this book -- or possibly the grand prize....


Title: PRAYER POWER
Author: Peter Lundell
Publisher: Revell
2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3263-9
Prayer

When things go wrong – a termination of a job, a diagnosis of cancer, the death of a loved one – some people pull closer to God, and their prayer life becomes stronger. But sometimes, it seems that when we pray, our prayers don’t reach much beyond the ceiling and seem so ineffective.

In PRAYER POWER, Pastor Peter Lundell will help us to learn how to connect with God and receive more direct answers. PRAYER POWER will help you build a more powerful, dynamic life of prayer.

In the pages of this book, Dr. Lundell will teach us about the thirty essential facets of prayer, including, but not limited to: passion, routine, fasting, praying with others, listening to God, handling distractions, and spiritual warfare.

The chapters are brief, and well written. Each chapter can be used as a brief devotional, or it can be used as a prayer guide, or a reference tool.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, my first instinct was to turn to God. He alone knew the extend of the disease, my prognosis, and the number of my days. He alone had the ability to heal me. I turned to Him, begging and praying for healing, and as I prayed and poured over scriptures in the Bible I felt my prayer life becoming stronger. I never want to go back to the relationship I had with God before.

Going through a life-changing event isn’t something you need to wait for to increase your PRAYER POWER. Pick up a copy of this book and read it, while practicing with the prayer starters included at the end of each chapter. As you read, you should feel your spirit quicken, hungering for the fellowship with God. And this will help you transform your prayer life. I highly recommend this book. A kind of test is included at the rear of the book, to help you gauge where you are in your prayer life. $12.99. 233 pages.





About the Book:





In the crazy world around us, our prayers may too often seem ineffective. Do you want to connect with God when you pray and receive more direct answers? PRAYER POWER is the tool you need to build a more powerful and dynamic life of prayer.

Intensely practical and straightforward, PRAYER POWER helps you improve on thirty essential facets of prayer such as passion, routine, fasting, praying with others, listening to God, handling distractions, and spiritual warfare. In each brief chapter you'll be inspired by stories of people whose lives of prayer give us powerful examples.

PRAYER POWER can be used as a month-long devotional, a prayer guide, or a reference for help in specific areas. Whether you're a new believer or think you've heard it all, this book's refreshing and honest insight will guide you to a deeper connection with God.



About the Author:





Peter Lundell, a former missionary to Japan, is a pastor at Walnut Blessing Church in Walnut, California. He has an MDiv and DMiss from Fuller Theological Seminary and is the founder of the Walnut Valley Pastors' Prayer Network. Lundell is the author of two books, and his articles have appeared in magazines such as Guideposts and Pray!



Interview Questions







1. Many Christians don't talk about hardships with prayer. Why do you open up about the struggles you have had drawing close to God in prayer?



My first draft of the book read like an instruction manual of all the things you ought to do to be spiritual like me. I realized that the more spiritual I tried to sound, the less honest I was being. I was hiding behind my words. No reader should have to put up with all that. And besides, it was boring.



So I determined to be totally honest. I rewrote the book and openly shared my doubts, struggles, and failures, because everybody goes through the same things. And if I’m not honest with readers, how can I expect readers to be honest with others or even themselves?



I take sort of an “I mess up and you mess up, but God loves us anyway, so let’s connect with him” approach. Readers often tell me how much they identify with that. And when they read about how God still worked amazing things in my life and in others’, it gives them hope.



I’ve discovered two things: First, honesty is liberating, and I don’t want to live any other way. Second, when we stick with prayer and don’t give up, answers and victories rise from our struggles. Answers and victory never rise from pretending.



I hope to connect with readers so that they’ll in turn connect with me and the victories I’ve experienced—so that they will experience their own victories.





2. What are some of the things God has taught you about prayer over the years - especially from the perspective of your leadership roles?



It’s good to listen before I talk. If I always dive into prayer and never spend time listening, I only dump my own “give-me list” on God. But his word says in 1 John 5:14–15 that when I seek and pray according to his will, my prayer will be answered. So the key is to first get in sync with God.



We’ve got to have a hunger, or thirst, for God. Without hunger, no program or technique or anything we learn will go anywhere. But with hunger for God, we could know almost nothing and still have a great prayer life. Hunger is singularly important—which is why it’s the first chapter.



When I pray with faith and don’t get what I ask for, God will soon show me why. There is always something to learn in unanswered prayer.







3. What do you mean by "praying boldly" and how can Christians learn to do that?



Praying boldly is the opposite of excessively polite prayer and of—I’ll just say it—wimpy prayer. Praying boldly is praying without intimidation, not caring what other people think, expressing ourselves to God without concern for being appropriate or religiously correct but rather with a passion from our guts that pours out, unashamedly. Bold prayer is not arrogant. It’s humble and faithful, because of its self-abandoned focus on God and expectation of what God will do.



People often assume they must be polite or solemn before God. Nowhere does the Bible teach this. Two thirds of the Psalms are complaints, and they are not polite. Most prayers in both Old and New Testaments are bold, expectant, and to the point. When Jesus teaches on prayer in Luke 11:5–10, he talks about an obnoxious guy who bangs on his friend’s door at midnight. Then he says we should bug him the same way by continually asking, seeking, and knocking. I often wonder if God gets tired of diplomatic prayers. Why else would he actually tell us to be bold and persistent—and use examples that, if we were on the receiving end, most of us would say are obnoxious.



There’s no real method to doing this. It’s a mindset that chooses to free itself from previous assumptions and uses the Bible as a model of how to pray.





4. How can we practice the presence of God and include him in everyday tasks?



Practicing the presence of God primarily has to do with developing an attitude, a continual awareness that God is always with us, and that in turn, we always incline our attention toward him.



The first thing most of us need to do is to slow down or cut unnecessary activities from our calendar. Busyness is an enemy to practicing the presence of God. Jesus repeatedly blew off other people’s agendas for him and continually focused on his purpose for being here. Pastors who do the same are always happier, closer to God, and more effective. And when we practice the presence of God, we increase our ability to be intimate with him when times do get busy.



Here are some practices that may help develop that attitude: My last thought before I sleep and my first thought when I wake up is centered on God. When I get mad or stressed, I try to see things from God’s perspective. When I am waiting for someone, I use that time to pray. I do menial tasks with an awareness and love of God. I often have a praise song on my mind as I go through the day.







5. You're a proponent for creating a place of prayer and establishing a time of prayer. Why are these important elements for prayer?



These two disciplines are the most important external helps for maintaining a strong prayer life. Without them, our good intentions eventually drown under the assaults of busyness and distractions.



A place of prayer helps us concentrate in the face of distractions. That place could be the church sanctuary, an empty room in the house, a spot in the back yard, or even a rug laid out on the floor, on which the only thing we do is pray. The physical surroundings of a location devoted to prayer tell our brains, “Focus on God.” And if we ever feel bored or in a rut of over-familiarity with a place, a change of location can be stimulating.



Establishing a set prayer time engrains a habit of prayer into our minds, such that if we miss it, we feel anxious because something is missing or wrong—and it is! A set prayer time is not to force ourselves to pray as much as to create a boundary of protection from busyness. That boundary of time is like a protective fence around a garden, where we give ourselves freedom from intrusions to spend unhindered time with God. Preferably we’ll do this as early as possible in the morning, so we can lay the whole day before the Lord. And unlike a prayer place, I have never found benefit in changing my prayer time, so I highly recommend keeping it sacred, especially if we’re travelling or really busy. Whether short or long, this protective fence of a set time must be intentional, because no one else can do it for us.





6. What advice would you give to people who struggle with God when they pray?



True men and women of prayer will sometimes struggle in prayer, as did many figures in the Bible, like Jacob’s symbolic wrestling with the angel and Jesus’ wrestling over his fate in Gethsemane.



Like anyone else, I struggle with unanswered prayer or major decisions to do something by faith, when tragedy strikes, problems of injustice, and healings that take a lot longer than I’d like. The key is to keep struggling—don’t give up and too quickly assume something is God’s will before you know for sure. The angel commended Jacob for not giving up until he got a blessing. God the Father actually sent an angel to help Jesus wrestle in Gethsemane. Sometimes wrestling in prayer is God’s will for us.



Wrestling in prayer is actually a good thing. It draws us closer to God. And it changes us in the process. And that’s what most of us hope for!




Author Peter Lundell



Bonus Material



Top Ten Reasons Prayer Doesn't Get Answered


Lack of faith --A much-abused idea, but essentially still true.


Effects of sin separating us from God --The Bible says that God sometimes won't listen when we wallow in sin.


Unforgiveness / Emotional wounds / Self-pity --A weird dynamic, but scary in how powerful these emotions are.


Unhealthy lifestyle in disagreement with prayer --Don't pray to lose weight, then eat donuts.


Demonic affliction --Satan and his demons are deceptive and merciless.


Strongholds in the mind --People allow attitudes and beliefs to block out the truth.


God's working behind the scenes --Sometimes God is in a process of answering before we can see it.


God's chastisement --Sometimes people bring punishment upon themselves, and it's for their ultimate good.


God's classroom of testing and faith building --The way God answers prayer may test you and build your faith.


Old age or time to die --Sometimes it's our time to go!



GRAND PRIZE BUNDLE INCLUDES:

(leave a comment for an opportunity to win this great package)




Prayer Power by Peter Lundell



When God Turned off the Lights by Cecil Murphey (Cec is one of Peter's mentors)



Committed but Flawed by Cecil Murphey



Also includes: Prayer Journal, Pen, and Candle