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Listen: Praying in a Noisy World
We live in a world of noise. Everywhere we go, we hear sounds that compete for our minds and hearts. Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around us and focus our thoughts. Listen , by Rueben P. Job, is a 40-day experience created to offer help to those new to prayer, those with a daily prayer routine, and those whose lives seem too busy to pray. With a focus on listening prayer and prayer as a two-way conversation, the experience will assist individuals and groups in building and deepening a personal prayer practice and spiritual discernment. As we learn to listen, we find a new depth and fulfillment in our relationship with God and a new experience of God as guide and companion in our lives. The daily prayer pattern includes an invitation, silence, Bible reading, a story, guided time for reflecting and listening, and practical help for developing six specific prayer practices. Listen is perfect for use by individuals, small groups, or congregations during Lent, Easter, or any time of year.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 7, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 13, 2014
“This is my son, whom I dearly love, LISTEN to Him” (Mark 9:7)
In introducing this book the author uses this verse and then goes on to say, “We, like the disciples before us, sometimes forget that our relationship with God begins and ends in listening.” This is quite a different take on prayer than how we usually see it. We have a tendency to say, “Hi God, here’s what I need today and by the way, thanks for what you have done for me in the past.” The end! Mr. Job helps us see there is a lot more to prayer than just a constant stream of talking or requesting of God.
With this book, the author provides a model that helps in organizing prayer times, as well as, our thought processes regarding prayer. I won’t go into detail about the steps he lists (you need to read the book to get that), but I will provide the headings and I think you will see the logic of the approach.
They are:
Silence
Scripture
Reading
Dialogue & Discovery
Reflection
Response
Prayers of Petition
Blessing
The author does say that any prayer is better than none, but in order to draw closer to God, a more concentrated approach can be a helpful addition.
I would like to share a few statements from the book that made an impression on me. They are as follows:
“Prayer, for Jesus, was not an activity in which he engaged before he did something else. It was a permanent, ever-increasing, state of being turned inwardly toward the Father at every moment in loving trust and self-surrender. Prayer became synonymous with loving surrender based on a childlike trust.”
“Prayer is not meant to be complicated, complex, or left to professionals. Prayer is for all of us.”
“To live in an intimate relationship with Christ is to begin to act like Christ, to think like Christ, and to be Christ-like in all of our living.”
I do recommend this book. Any additional suggestions or models for prayer are always helpful. After all, even the disciples asked Jesus for more instruction regarding how to pray.
I was provided a free copy of this book for review from Abingdon Press and Net Gallery. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review.
In introducing this book the author uses this verse and then goes on to say, “We, like the disciples before us, sometimes forget that our relationship with God begins and ends in listening.” This is quite a different take on prayer than how we usually see it. We have a tendency to say, “Hi God, here’s what I need today and by the way, thanks for what you have done for me in the past.” The end! Mr. Job helps us see there is a lot more to prayer than just a constant stream of talking or requesting of God.
With this book, the author provides a model that helps in organizing prayer times, as well as, our thought processes regarding prayer. I won’t go into detail about the steps he lists (you need to read the book to get that), but I will provide the headings and I think you will see the logic of the approach.
They are:
Silence
Scripture
Reading
Dialogue & Discovery
Reflection
Response
Prayers of Petition
Blessing
The author does say that any prayer is better than none, but in order to draw closer to God, a more concentrated approach can be a helpful addition.
I would like to share a few statements from the book that made an impression on me. They are as follows:
“Prayer, for Jesus, was not an activity in which he engaged before he did something else. It was a permanent, ever-increasing, state of being turned inwardly toward the Father at every moment in loving trust and self-surrender. Prayer became synonymous with loving surrender based on a childlike trust.”
“Prayer is not meant to be complicated, complex, or left to professionals. Prayer is for all of us.”
“To live in an intimate relationship with Christ is to begin to act like Christ, to think like Christ, and to be Christ-like in all of our living.”
I do recommend this book. Any additional suggestions or models for prayer are always helpful. After all, even the disciples asked Jesus for more instruction regarding how to pray.
I was provided a free copy of this book for review from Abingdon Press and Net Gallery. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review.
February 16, 2014
At its core, Listen: Praying in a Noisy World, teaches a very important lesson. Nowadays it's easy to get caught up in all of the day-to-day stresses of life: work, school, bills, getting to appointments on time, etc. It's all rush, rush, rush, and for a lot of people it's easy to push the religious aspects of their lives to the background. Rueben P. Job reminds readers to slow down, relax, and get closer to God. This is important for physical, mental, and spiritual health. I love the idea of it. I especially enjoyed this quote: "If you have the desire to pray, you already have everything it takes to live a life of prayer." Prayer is accessible to anyone, anywhere, at anytime! He's listening, you just need to speak!
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had read the print version rather than the Kindle edition. It was converted rather poorly to its digital version... Many of the images were cut and placed awkwardly throughout the entire thing, sometimes right in the middle of the text. I often spent quite a while flipping through page after page of barely visible images. Capitalization and punctuation were also an issue. Many words at the beginning of sentences were not capitalized and a lot of commas were missing altogether.
Despite all of that, it's still a great book to read. Like I mentioned at the beginning of my review, it has a great lesson that everyone should take to heart. If you're able to though, pick up the print edition!
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for my honest review.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had read the print version rather than the Kindle edition. It was converted rather poorly to its digital version... Many of the images were cut and placed awkwardly throughout the entire thing, sometimes right in the middle of the text. I often spent quite a while flipping through page after page of barely visible images. Capitalization and punctuation were also an issue. Many words at the beginning of sentences were not capitalized and a lot of commas were missing altogether.
Despite all of that, it's still a great book to read. Like I mentioned at the beginning of my review, it has a great lesson that everyone should take to heart. If you're able to though, pick up the print edition!
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for my honest review.
August 11, 2014
Learned some new prayer "techniques" and now have additional "to read" selections thanks to the bibliography!
The study itself was ok; a bit disjointed and lofty at times, IMHO. I didn't always make the connection between the scripture selections and the week's theme and found it very difficult to do the prayer practice in community in the one hour we had allotted for the class.
Still, anytime I gather together with others of faith to explore and discuss God's word and our relationship with Him is a good time! And, I did like the emphasis in this study of "listening" for God's voice; our time with Him does not have to be a never ending stream of one-way babble.
The study itself was ok; a bit disjointed and lofty at times, IMHO. I didn't always make the connection between the scripture selections and the week's theme and found it very difficult to do the prayer practice in community in the one hour we had allotted for the class.
Still, anytime I gather together with others of faith to explore and discuss God's word and our relationship with Him is a good time! And, I did like the emphasis in this study of "listening" for God's voice; our time with Him does not have to be a never ending stream of one-way babble.
April 27, 2020
Our Lenten Bible study. Rather difficult to follow the process.
March 1, 2020
Used this book for a Bible study I taught in church. It is an excellent book and the entire class thoroughly enjoyed it. I will use it again for personal study. It is very helpful for daily devotions and prayer.
October 8, 2016
2.5 stars. This book was okay; it gives a weekly reading (a small story to illustrate a point), a small Scripture reading for each day (which can be used for Lent, if you like), and gives general instructions for praying more contemplatively and journaling.
I am counting this as "a book about prayer" for #vtReadingChallenge
I am counting this as "a book about prayer" for #vtReadingChallenge
April 13, 2014
In this noisy world, deliberate choices must be made. This is a good little book to use when things have gotten loud and out of balance and re-centering is in order.
October 30, 2017
This book offers a helpful weekly prayer pattern that will help the reader to slow down and listen for God's voice and respond to him.
April 10, 2017
My first time reading a book like this with a group of people who met each week to discuss and review. It had a good melding of advice and verse, interesting quotes and topical stories. This was particularly good for a Lenten study. Our group did have a leader guide and the video. I particularly liked how the video excerpts worked so well with the book and helped to encourage thought provoking discussion. As this was my first experience with a book of this kind, I am not sure how great it is really but I know that I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews