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Cries of The Heart: Bringing God Near When He Feels So Far
In this profound message from one of the great thinkers of our generation, Zacharias explores the inner feeling of futility that can overwhelm a human heart and helps us to see a reason for our suffering, be comforted in loneliness, and experience an abiding faith in our daily lives. Cries of the Heart is a book that both inspires and reassures…a search that uncovers our hidden sentiments and reveals God's continual inescapable presence in every moment of our lives.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
234 people are currently reading
1034 people want to read
About the author
Ravi Zacharias
255 books1,657 followersFrederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias was an Indian-born Canadian-American Christian evangelical minister and Christian apologist who founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). He was involved in Christian apologetics for a period spanning more than forty years, authoring more than thirty books. He also hosted the radio programs Let My People Think and Just Thinking. Zacharias belonged to the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), the Keswickian Christian denomination in which he was ordained as a minister. After his death, allegations of sexual harassment against him emerged, were investigated, and found to be true.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 4, 2012
This book was first recommended to me by one of my spiritual mentors, at a turbulent time when my entire world came crumbling down. A time when I began to wrestle with God with serious questions day and night, and night and day. The Bible before me would be wet with my tears in my attempt to unearth answers.
I began this book, with the hope that all my queries would be answered 'specifically'. In fact it did. This book led me to the discovery of God's own heart - not mine!! All the while, I had been foolishly focusing on my bitter and battered life. Not for one second had my heart rested on God or His opinion. It dawned to me that the cries of God's own heart must be allowed to echo through in my life,believing that He knows me too well to jeopardize my life!! Every child He loves must be chiselled and bent for a purpose, far too wonderful for the human mind to comprehend at the spur of the moment. I must say, that God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours! Profoundly humbled by this heart-opening piece of work.
Today,I have received all the answers I needed to know then. Thank you for this book. Be blessed...
I began this book, with the hope that all my queries would be answered 'specifically'. In fact it did. This book led me to the discovery of God's own heart - not mine!! All the while, I had been foolishly focusing on my bitter and battered life. Not for one second had my heart rested on God or His opinion. It dawned to me that the cries of God's own heart must be allowed to echo through in my life,believing that He knows me too well to jeopardize my life!! Every child He loves must be chiselled and bent for a purpose, far too wonderful for the human mind to comprehend at the spur of the moment. I must say, that God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours! Profoundly humbled by this heart-opening piece of work.
Today,I have received all the answers I needed to know then. Thank you for this book. Be blessed...
June 1, 2010
Read the Bible... then read this.
May 14, 2017
I wanted to love this book, really, and judging from the many favorable reviews of it many people do love it. However I found myself lost and bogged down by long chapters that frequently read like a dissertation. Personally I think the author could have made each of his points more succinctly in fewer pages. That being said, this book is not without merit and worth reading for anyone seeking God in the various trials and joys in life.
September 27, 2017
يحتاج الى عمق وترابط اكثر للافكار
جميل فى الامثله والقصص التى استخدمها لتوضيح افكاره فهى واقعيه وكتابيه ايضا
جميل فى الامثله والقصص التى استخدمها لتوضيح افكاره فهى واقعيه وكتابيه ايضا
December 15, 2014
Because both my heart and my mind say YES in response to whatever Zacharias has written or presented orally since I first heard him in the late 1980’s, I have eagerly read his books. I agree wholeheartedly with Max Lucado, who wrote the forward to this volume: “What others do with the golf club or operas or chemistry, Ravi does with Christian thought. He presents lucid answers to tough questions and makes the problems look simple.”
In this book he addresses the emptiness and ennui that can often overwhelm us emotionally as he addresses the BIG cries of our hearts: to know God, to feel in relation to faith, to see and understand a reason for suffering, to break through the guilty conscience, and to experience pleasure. He also addresses the “cry of a lonely heart” before he presents the cry of the heart of God as He longs for His people to turn to Him—a cry that is revealed from Genesis through Revelation. God is the God who sees, who inclines toward us—and responds. RZ says, “When God speaks there are no ploys, no gimmicks. Only life-defining truth. When He speaks we will be soothed by His touch, and we will rest in His comfort, knowing that He has heard our cries and has come near in our need.”
One of RZ’s goals is to help believers think and questioners to believe. He writes with clarity and coherence, helping his readers think logically, “without thinking for us.” And he does so with respect, allowing dignity and grace to prevail.
This book challenged me to assess the cries of my heart—and to seek answers from the One who is Truth. Once again my heart and my mind said YES to what I read.
In this book he addresses the emptiness and ennui that can often overwhelm us emotionally as he addresses the BIG cries of our hearts: to know God, to feel in relation to faith, to see and understand a reason for suffering, to break through the guilty conscience, and to experience pleasure. He also addresses the “cry of a lonely heart” before he presents the cry of the heart of God as He longs for His people to turn to Him—a cry that is revealed from Genesis through Revelation. God is the God who sees, who inclines toward us—and responds. RZ says, “When God speaks there are no ploys, no gimmicks. Only life-defining truth. When He speaks we will be soothed by His touch, and we will rest in His comfort, knowing that He has heard our cries and has come near in our need.”
One of RZ’s goals is to help believers think and questioners to believe. He writes with clarity and coherence, helping his readers think logically, “without thinking for us.” And he does so with respect, allowing dignity and grace to prevail.
This book challenged me to assess the cries of my heart—and to seek answers from the One who is Truth. Once again my heart and my mind said YES to what I read.
May 8, 2008
Did not like this nearly as much as Jesus Among Other Gods. In fact, the only reason I read it is because a friend handed it to me. It was too abstract for me at this time in my life - it appeals more to feelers than thinkers. Once I made it to the second half of the book it became much more intesting and coherent and I was able to finish that part in less than a week. The first half took over 2 months for me to wade through.
Ravi Zacharias is an extremely intelligent man; I just prefer different subject matter I guess.
Ravi Zacharias is an extremely intelligent man; I just prefer different subject matter I guess.
July 26, 2014
الكتاب هو اول لقاء مع الكاتب رافى زاكارايوس وقد اعجبنى كثيرا على الرغم من ان كل قسم من الكتاب يستحق كتاب بمفرده ولكن الكتاب مكتوب ومترجم بلغة رشيقة جيدة ومفهومة
وقد اعجبنى فلسفته وادلته وقصصه التى تبرز واقعيتها لكل قارئ
وعلى الرغم من ذلك احسست ان الكتاب يجتاج الى عمق وتركيز اكثر فهو جيد ولكنه ممكن ان يكون اكثر جودة وتنميقا وترابطا للافكار
عموما هو كتاب جيد سترجع اليه حتما لكى تجتر افكاره
وقد اعجبنى فلسفته وادلته وقصصه التى تبرز واقعيتها لكل قارئ
وعلى الرغم من ذلك احسست ان الكتاب يجتاج الى عمق وتركيز اكثر فهو جيد ولكنه ممكن ان يكون اكثر جودة وتنميقا وترابطا للافكار
عموما هو كتاب جيد سترجع اليه حتما لكى تجتر افكاره
November 14, 2011
A very, very good book. It's deep--I actually read it through twice in a row, because I knew I didn't get much out of it the first time. My favorite of the Ravi Zacharias ones I've read so far.
3rd reading: fall 2011
3rd reading: fall 2011
November 22, 2020
Ravi Zacharias can make irrefutable arguments but do so with such compassion that he doesn't offend. His biblical understanding and his brilliant logic make this book both an amazing Bible study as well as study in reasoning.
He tells of an interesting interchange between Malcolm Muggeridge and Mother Theresa, before his conversion. He wrote to her saying that he had no interest in church or in the Christian faith because of all the duplicity he had seen there. Mother Theresa responded, "Your problem is a finite one. God is infinite. Let the infinite take care of your finite struggle." When Muggeridge came to Christ he said it was the most fulfilling step he had ever taken in his life.
Ravi states that without God there is no moral anchor, no standard for holiness, and no source for love. So the skeptic that doesn't believe in God because of the evil he sees really has no argument. The very standard he uses comes from God.
We come to God as Job did, as " Creator and Designer, Revealer and Comforter, Mediator and Savior, we find that he is also the Strengthener and Restorer." We cannot know right and wrong without God and His law. "On the basis of what we know, we can trust his character for what we do not know."
A great book!
He tells of an interesting interchange between Malcolm Muggeridge and Mother Theresa, before his conversion. He wrote to her saying that he had no interest in church or in the Christian faith because of all the duplicity he had seen there. Mother Theresa responded, "Your problem is a finite one. God is infinite. Let the infinite take care of your finite struggle." When Muggeridge came to Christ he said it was the most fulfilling step he had ever taken in his life.
Ravi states that without God there is no moral anchor, no standard for holiness, and no source for love. So the skeptic that doesn't believe in God because of the evil he sees really has no argument. The very standard he uses comes from God.
We come to God as Job did, as " Creator and Designer, Revealer and Comforter, Mediator and Savior, we find that he is also the Strengthener and Restorer." We cannot know right and wrong without God and His law. "On the basis of what we know, we can trust his character for what we do not know."
A great book!
June 4, 2020
Really awakening. Very good book
July 26, 2018
Ravi does an impressive job of taking this book in a direction I did not foresee. Looking into the heart of our pain and turning our eyes to our creator, Ravi shows what all of our hearts long for.
February 1, 2012
This is a good book. I'm consistently fascinated by the mind of Ravi Zacharias. I was particularly intrigued with his take on the Christian church's loss of reverence for God. He shared a story about how in the Hindi language the words for Mom and Dad are Mata and Pita but you would never call your Mom or Dad just Mata or Pita because it doesn't reflect the respect that they deserve. In Hindi you add the suffix -jee to those names to reflect that respect (so those become Matajee and Pitajee). He reflects that the closest thing in English would be "Yes, Sir." His extrapolation was that since we've made our relationship with God so informal and personal that God might ask, "What about the, Sir?" (Obviously I'm not saying this as eloquently as Dr. Zacharias and I don't have the book in front of me to copy it exactly.) While this was a strong word for me personally, I thought instantly about the verses, "Come just as you are..." and "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted...". The closeness of God the relational aspect of our interaction are so incredibly important to me...but they do not negate the fact that He is God and He is holy. I'm realizing that I know God as approachable, someone I can be myself with, and someone I have regular conversation with. I know so much less about how His holiness needs to pervade my life and my respect for who He is. This one point alone would be cause for much healthy conversation in the church today. It is a healthy dialogue that this book, though written a good number of years ago now, resurfaced for me this week.
March 26, 2010
"Cries Of The Heart"
Seandainya ada bintang 6 maka saia akan berikan 6 bintang pada buku ini..biar puuasss :)
Ravi Zacharias dengan gaya bahasa ilmiah berpadu dengan teologi melalui buku ini menguak dengan tuntas jeritan-jeritan yang terjadi dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, dengan seluruh pertanyaan yang sepintas penuh dengan logika untuk tidak meyakini DIA.
“Saya telah mencoba segala sesuatu tapi saya tidak dapat merasakan Allah” Dimana Allah??
Buku ini mengeksplorasi kembali Karakter Allah, bagaimana kita bisa sungguh-sungguh mengenal Allah, mengekplorasi jawaban tentang apa sih sebenarnya perasaan itu??kekosongan yang menguasai hati manusia, melihat alasan di balik penderitaan kita, menghilangkan perasaan bersalah kita,menemukan kebebasan dalam kesenangan,merasa nyaman dalam kesepian kita,dan akhirnya memiliki iman yang kuat.
Sungguh memuaskan.
October 16, 2008
This book navigates you through your own tragedies or teaches you how best to support someone going through tragedies you can't even begin to imagine. Overall, the insight given here can prepare you for pain or help you heal afterwards. But if you don't expect life to be painful, well, maybe you should read more Shakespeare...
March 12, 2015
Books by this author are usually wonderful - I use them to keep myself sharp and grounded in a society where truth is blurred and absolute values are frowned upon. When I chose this book, though, I was looking for something soothing and devotional, and this book disappointed me.
July 5, 2015
I would highly recommend this for any believer to read as Ravi explains, in some amount of paraphrasing, how we should legitimately respond from our heart a desire to understand ourselves and our identity in Christ as we experience pain, suffering, guilt, and loneliness.
May 17, 2007
Talbot Course: Personal Foundations of Ministry
Although I LOVE Ravi Zacharias' work, he's more of an apologist than a "counselor". A Must READ from Zacharias is "CAN MAN LIVE WITHOUT GOD?"
Although I LOVE Ravi Zacharias' work, he's more of an apologist than a "counselor". A Must READ from Zacharias is "CAN MAN LIVE WITHOUT GOD?"
December 8, 2007
This is the best book I've read to date.
February 1, 2008
I'm reading this again... it's really good.. very deep. =) but i get some of it. =P
January 6, 2009
Anything Ravi writes is excellent.
November 5, 2010
Just starting reading this book from preface part, has fascinated me. It sounds interesting and not regret buying this book to be my reading.
January 30, 2011
An outstanding work.
April 5, 2013
It took me some time to read this book. Ravi Zacharias has presented intensely disturbing and tough thoughts.
March 24, 2013
He can just see things the Way God does and explain them in such a brilliant way!!! You don't finish a book like this you read it again and again it is so encouraging!
May 29, 2014
If He be God, and died for me,
No sacrifice too great can be
For me, a mortal man, to make--
I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.
No sacrifice too great can be
For me, a mortal man, to make--
I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.
February 4, 2015
Ravi is one of my favorite authors. So few people write to depth of the heart, this book does. Are you concerned with how a believer should deal with evil, problems? This book is for you.
February 27, 2015
Deep thinking but understandable.
Want to read
September 16, 2016قرب الله عندما يكون بعيد شدنى التعبير
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2019
Like true Ravi fashion, the title had very little to do with the contents of his book. Someone should really notify his publisher.
Overall, Ravi is a very skilled writer; his talent best shown through his ability to communicate complex theological ideas in a couple of concise paragraphs. However, I often find his lack of organization frustrating. He often transitions to another subject without warning and sometimes with little explanation of how the first topic related (if at all) to the second.
That being said, I think this book is worth reading from an apologetics standpoint. He often answers common oppositional theology questions with a perspective very different from my own which I greatly appreciate. Due to Ravi growing up in India, he brings an eastern worldview that stands in stark contrast to western thought. This is especially true when it comes to the topic of suffering and faith.
If you don't have the time or patience to read the whole book, may I recommend just chapters two, three, and the postscript to chapter three. Those are his best work.
Overall, Ravi is a very skilled writer; his talent best shown through his ability to communicate complex theological ideas in a couple of concise paragraphs. However, I often find his lack of organization frustrating. He often transitions to another subject without warning and sometimes with little explanation of how the first topic related (if at all) to the second.
That being said, I think this book is worth reading from an apologetics standpoint. He often answers common oppositional theology questions with a perspective very different from my own which I greatly appreciate. Due to Ravi growing up in India, he brings an eastern worldview that stands in stark contrast to western thought. This is especially true when it comes to the topic of suffering and faith.
If you don't have the time or patience to read the whole book, may I recommend just chapters two, three, and the postscript to chapter three. Those are his best work.
March 17, 2019
Cries of the heart
RZ exposes the limited ability of the sensual to meet our utmost spiritual need. When the church focuses on feelings rather than God’s law or will expressed in his word she stumbles on and becomes ineffective in a world that needs to find meaning and direction. As a believer my heart cries or struggles to integrate God’s express will or Law and Grace and reading this book helps me see how I must pay attention or obey everything God has commanded in faith. It seems to me that because GOD LOVES ME HE GIVES ME HIS WORD OR LAW for his namesake or glory for which I am. Praise be to God!
RZ exposes the limited ability of the sensual to meet our utmost spiritual need. When the church focuses on feelings rather than God’s law or will expressed in his word she stumbles on and becomes ineffective in a world that needs to find meaning and direction. As a believer my heart cries or struggles to integrate God’s express will or Law and Grace and reading this book helps me see how I must pay attention or obey everything God has commanded in faith. It seems to me that because GOD LOVES ME HE GIVES ME HIS WORD OR LAW for his namesake or glory for which I am. Praise be to God!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews