Happy Thanksgiving, readers! I hope that you are enjoying the recipes and traditions of this wonderful holiday and that you get to spend some time with loved ones. Click here for all of our Thanksgiving favorites!
Today I want to tell you about a fantastic, compelling, refreshing new book that I’m reading called Talking to Jesus, A Fresh Perspective on Prayer.
This book is written by Jeannie Blackmer who says that when her boys became teenagers she realized she was only praying for herself and was desperate for a way to pray for her boys. She found inspiration in the New Testament when she discovered other parents coming to Jesus on behalf of their children. The prayers of these parents expressed Jeannie’s own feelings of desperation. She realized that when they came to talk to Jesus, they were in a sense “praying” because they were, well… talking to Jesus! She realized that she had the same privilege to approach him at any time or any place.
Jeannie has taken the stories of Jesus answering prayer through the book of Matthew and added character names, sights, sounds, and smells to really make the stories come alive. And I love that Jesus’s words are never altered, nor is the dialogue from the person to Jesus. I can empathize in a new way with the leper cowering behind a stone and the Centurion who is so worried about his faithful servant. I can understand why the rich man MUST get to Jesus to ask a question that is burning in his heart, and I can relate to Peter when he asks Jesus, “How many times must I forgive?” Really, the stories are so beautifully written and intriguing, and I am pulled right in. And then I am learning so much about Jesus’ compassion, love, and power.
Something that has really challenged me in this book are the sections where I am asked to pray for someone else by specifically writing their name in a prayer section. And I want to ask you to join my in this challenge. For one week or one month (or how ever long you’d like to commit), take this challenge: pray for yourself, someone else, and a child. And then come back and tell us:
- How does focusing some of your prayer time onto someone else change your perspective?
- How have you seen God answer some of these prayers?
I’d absolutely love to hear about you experiences! You can comment on this blog post, or you can send an email to us here.
And I’d absolutely love for you to experience this wonderful book, Talking to Jesus. It is changing my life, and I think it will change yours, too.
We are giving away one copy to one lucky (well, I don’t really believe in luck!) reader. Enter below! Please answer one of these questions in the comments below and on November 29th, I’ll draw a random winner. Can’t wait to hear from you!
- Where is your favorite place to go to pray?
- If you would like to join me in my prayer challenge listed above, how long would you like to commit to praying for others?
- What is one prayer that God has answered in your life that you’d like to share?
I like to pray in bed.
My favorite place to pray is out in nature. There is something about being surrounded by the beauty He created that makes me feel closer to Him.
On the trails behind my neighborhood and in my yellow chair in our living room!
Any place quiet so that my time is with Him and not disturbed.
Annie, thank you for reviewing Talking to Jesus. I love the challenge you are encouraging. It’s my hope this book will enhance readers prayer lives, either for their own intimacy with Jesus or for others. Keep talking to Jesus!