Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals

by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

"Prayer is not so much about convincing God to do what we want God to do as it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do." ―from the Introduction Activists Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove show how prayer and action must go together. Their exposition of key Bible passages provides concrete examples of how a life of prayer fuels social engagement and the work of justice. Phrases like "give us this day our daily bread" and "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" take on new meaning when applied to feeding the hungry or advocating for international debt relief. If you hope to see God change society, you must be an ordinary radical who prays―and then is ready to become the answer to your own prayers.

Genres: Christian, Prayer, Christianity, Religion, Nonfiction, Faith, Theology

125 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2008

About the author

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. And now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty.

Shane’s books include Jesus for President, Red Letter Revolution, Common Prayer, Follow Me to Freedom, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, his classic The Irresistible Revolution and his newest book, Executing Grace. He has been featured in a number of films including "Another World Is Possible" and "Ordinary Radicals." His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over one hundred times a year, nationally and internationally. His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame.

Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe.

Reviews

[Adam Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay book. I liked the premise that prayer and action must be unified, which was why I picked up the book, but I didn't find much of that in this little work. Mostly I got autobiographical stories about Claiborne's new monastic communities, a dangerous obsession with the Gnostic church desert fathers and mysticism, and some misinterpretations of the Lord's Prayer. (Claiborne goes on for an entire chapter about the evils of private property and how we ought to give all our stuff away instead, and all based on the "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," when technically speaking the word has a moral and not economic bent and is more faithfully rendered as "forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" - at least according to Strongs). There is a puzzling view of Muslims as brothers in the book as well (I grant that we are all children of God, but outside of Christ we are all disinherited sons and daughters - children is active rebellion who have been taken out of the will, so to speak).

And he strongly implies that to hang onto what we earn but don't need for immediate use is stealing from the other brethren. I am perfectly find\e with him wanting to give his possessions away sacrificially, and I wish him well, but once he makes it an absolute command like that he crosses a line. If I am paid to do a job and of that income I tithe and do mercy ministry and give to the poor and the helpless out of the abundance God has given me to steward, holding it in an open palm, ready to give to others, but also invest some in the market and put some in the bank to store up for later use to take care of my family or whatever, I have not stolen from my brother.

I agree with the "Theses on the Kindness of Christ" statement adopted by Christ Church and Holy Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow in general, but specifically when it states "We deny that the fallenness of the world around us creates any necessary guilt as we receive blessings from God. Our place in the world is to function as the future of the new humanity, and we are therefore called to model a grateful use of the blessings that God bestows. The one who gives sacrificially does so to the Lord. The one who gives generously and remains a steward of the rest does so to the Lord."

http://www.credenda.org/index.php?opt...

Still, though, all things considered, it's the best book by Claiborne I've yet read. The original point of the book, prayer and action must go together, is a point well taken, and in the places the book gets around to talking about that, it is dandy.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I'll be honest - this wasn't a top priority read. I wasn't counting on anything incredibly new, and I'm the world's worst pray-er and probably only a slightly better doer. But I was looking for one of Jonathan's books to read after going to his workshop at CCDA, and this was all the library had in stock.

So yes, there were a lot of stories I'd already heard before. But I still ended up folding a handful of pages with notes I wanted to remember. Here they are:

-You may remember an almost-word-for-word version of this sentence in Vonnegut's Palm Sunday that I highlighted: "Biological family is too small a vision." (23)

-Something I need to be constantly reminded of: "When the options are 'get rich' or 'save the world,' we can respond with, 'I want to become part of the people who ask for God's kingdom to come in their life together.' We can find our identity not in our work or our causes, but in 'Our Father in Heaven'." (32)

-"We must never fall in love with 'the revolution' or 'the movement.' We can easily become so genuinely driven by our vision for church growth, community or social justice that we forget the little things, like caring for those around us...[and quoting Bonhoeffer:] The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community." (51)

-An awesome intentional community t-shirt slogan: "Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes." (69)

-A verse to go with the biblical interpretation of the Dispatch song, "The General": "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still" (Exodus 14:14).

-Another point I need to be constantly reminded of, especially when it comes to prayer: "This is the great paradox and humor of God's audacious power: a stuttering prophet will be the voice of God, a barren old lady will be the mother of a nation, a shepherd boy will become their king, and a homeless baby will lead them home. God works not in spite of but THROUGH our frailty." (118)

So all in all, it's worth the minimal time it takes to digest this little book. It's comforting to see how Shane and Jonathan have grown wiser and gained perspective, especially with respect to community living. I'm probably overly bitter, but I love hearing from those who have done it, seen it through all kinds of pain and chaos, and are still doing it. And it was definitely cool seeing the Bible's classic prayers - the Lord's prayer, John 17, and Ephesians 1 - unpacked for their community visions. Now I just have to start praying them.

[Mark Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for making prayer active without making prayer nothing but action.

I really don't know how to communicate how great this book was for me as someone who struggles with praying: not so much how to do it, but what good it does and even what exactly it is. Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove frame the book around three great prayers in scripture, the Lord's Prayer, Jesus' prayer for the disciples from John 17, and Paul's prayer for the church from Ephesians 1, then fill out the book with stories of saints and sinners who learned how to pray, including the struggles of their own lives. Most of all, they encourage the reader to see the change they can become if they live out what they pray, while not promising perfection and acknowledging the real struggles of life.

The book is extremely well written, easy and quick to read, and offers a number of delightful stories from the lives of both ancient recent people of God. Even were one not struggling with prayer, it is worth reading just for that.

[Isaac Goodspeed Overton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove have done a wonderful and radical thing with this book. Through moving stories and practical wisdom they propose an alternative way of prayer and action that subverts a culture submitting to either prayerful inaction, or agnostic social engagement. I cannot recommend this book enough for a short and engaging conversation about how to be formed by our prayer life into actions for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals” by Shane Claiborne & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
***

Reminding us about the Who and the Why motivating What we are to do, highlighting interdependence, not independence.

All who are willing, all who are able, come join us at the table.
“We have no house, but we homes.” (p22)

Grace leads the dance.

“Borderless familial love” (p26)

“The word 'gospel' that Jesus uses to name his message is a political term, used before the writing of the New Testament to refer to the good news that an emperor had won a battle and extended his reign into new lands. Whatever spiritual readings of “kingdom” we might imagine, it's hard to get around the fact that kingdoms are political. And politics is about how a community lives together.” (p27)

Jubilee, new economy (p36)
Manna, gather much yet not too much, gather little but not too little (Ex 16:18) (p36)

Good news to the poor, year of God's favour. (p37)

Conservatives stand up and than God that they are not like the homosexuals, the Muslims, the Liberals.
Liberals stand up and thank God that they are not like the warmongers, the yuppies, the conservatives.
It is a similar self-righteousness, just different definitions of “evil-doing.” Both can paralyze us in judgment and guilt, and rob us of life. (p48)

Romero's Prayer! (p49)

In his book Life Together, Bonhoeffer observes that the person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community. … And many social activists tear each other up an burn themselves out fighting for a better world while forgetting that the seeds of that world are right net to them. (p51)

Practice the art of selective engagement and sanctified subversion as cultural refugees who seek to save the word from itself.

Justice rolls like water.
Justice without grace leaves us thirsty.
Justice without reconciliation falls short of the good news.
Love fills the gaps. (Psam 85:10)

….
“We once heard a wise elder say prayer is like a little girl playing at the feet of her grandma. She doesn't have to say anything or do anything to please her grandma (who is quite content just watching her play). And the most beautiful moment is when the child starts to grow tired. She just crawls into grandma's lap to be rocked, to hear a lullaby, to feel a kiss on the forehead and the warm embrace of love.”

“Predictably, some will say it’s absurd to assert that we are the answer to our prayers because God is the only answer to prayer. That’s the beautiful mystery: we have a God who chooses to need us. We have a God who doesn’t want to change the world without us. We have a God who longs to cooperate with us, to allow us to fail and founder and who promises to make up for our shortcomings, but nonetheless wants us. It’s the story of our faith. Certainly nothing hinges on our own ingenuity or strength; quite the opposite—God works through weakness.” (p117-118)
- - -

[Jenny Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A passage that moved me:
“This book is about the marriage of prayer and action...We are the ones God is waiting on. When we throw up our hands and inquire, “God, why do you allow this injustice?”...We have to be ready for God to toss the same question back at us...So when we see a problem like the starving masses, is the answer God or is the answer us? The answer is both. None of us are Christ alone, but all of us are Christ together.”

My one major qualm, however, is a section that discusses how the American liberal and conservative cadres view healthcare. Jonathan and Shane detail a story of a small church where the pastor went through extensive health issues. The church raised money and completely covered the medical costs. The church felt so emboldened by this that they began fundraising specifically for the purpose of helping cover medical costs for individuals that are under insured or not insured. Seth and Jonathan describe this as a “political alternative.” To put this quite plainly, no one should have to be affiliated with a local church to get adequate healthcare if you believe adequate healthcare is God’s vision for the world. Saying that something good and holy should only be done by the church is gatekeeping good works, whether consciously or not. If you consider the pooling of people’s money to cover healthcare costs a biblical way to live out your life then let me tell you about Medicare for All. I think Christians can massively miss the boat on what it looks like to bring heaven to earth because they’re too afraid of being “political”...as if political is a derogatory term. Obviously God’s vision for the world can’t fit nicely into one of two modern American political parties, but let’s not be so hell bent on avoiding politics and operating under “political alternatives” that we end up denying individuals the physical manifestation of Christ’s love just because the means of its delivery are “political.”

A great read and I will definitely be telling my friends all about it.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book three times before I tried to review it because I wanted to make sure I was doing it justice. Becoming the Answer to our Prayers works well at the sentence level, and sometimes at the paragraph level, but the paragraphs don't hang together into a coherent whole. Possibly this could have all been solved with the addition of a sentence like "God is many contradictory-seeming things, all at once. For example...." But that sentence is not there. So either God seems contradictory or this book is contradictory, and without that sentence I have to assume the latter.

The introduction starts strong with this line in particular: "Nor are we talking about the kind of prayer that excuses us from responsibility. Any time we ask someone for help and hear 'I'll pray about that,' we know to start on work on plan B." Good, I think, this book will be realistic with a touch of welcome snark.

But that doesn't really seem to be the book SC and JWH wrote, in tone or in content.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claiborne and Wilson-Hartrove share their personal insights of the life of prayer and action. The book focuses on 3 sections of Scripture - The Lord's Prayer, John 17, and Ephesians 1. Walking through each of these passages, they clear reveal the connection between prayer and action. Prayer without action is not really prayer. Action without prayer is doomed to fail. The two must be intertwined, and this is by God's design. Both authors are part of intentional prayer communities, and share many examples from their experiences. They bring unique perspectives to these passages of Scripture that our worthy of our reflection. Ultimately, our prayer and action give us hope for the Promised Kingdom which is not only to come, but which God is trying to reveal in our lives today.

[Adam Bloch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't read a Claiborne book so I picked this one up. I can understand some people's fascination with his works--he has a great way of wording things and provides lots of quotable lines. The danger, however, is that he also keeps making these nearly-heretical statements and using ideas that are OK if you take them this way, but the only reason you don't take them another way is because of the benefit of the doubt. I can't recommend this book because you can get just as many quotable lines and good descriptions of prayer and calls to action without getting a book that keeps making off statements.

[Zane Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work on not just prayers, but also the social responsibility of the Christian set forth by a biblical mandate. Claiborne and Hartgrove deliver an excellent presentation of how the Christian must not only pray for, but also be the instrument of God in the answering of prayer for the downtrodden.

[J. Alfred · Rating 4 out of 5]

We need to pray and work, and in the prayer Jesus taught us, we pray for social and economic justice, and so it makes sense to work for those things, in hopes that the Lord will use us to be the answer to the prayer he taught us to pray.
I am impressed to no end by this book.

"If you will, you can become all flame."

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stuff here on unifying prayer and action. Not too deep, lots of stories. If you like Wilson-Hartgrove and Claiborne, you will like this book, though both these dude-bros get deeper elsewhere. Not that there isn't good theology here, just wanted more.

[Gregory Rothbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those that say this book is not about prayer are missing the point. This book is endowed with the spirit that makes prayer possible. It does not matter how good ones prayer are because the Spirit intercedes for us. Thanks be to God

[Jostin Samuel Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

And that is the beuatiful thing, God chose to use us.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title led me to believe there would be more to this book than what it is about. Still a solid book about prayer.

[Karina Cortes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The importance of putting your prayers and faith into action with lots of stories Of examples. It’s encouraging and motivates me in my work as a CCDA practitioner.

[Brenda Seefeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good re-thinking perspective in this one.

[Sav · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring and tame.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read most of it - basic - not great

[Lynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I keep trying to get something from Shane Claiborne's books. I really do. The same problem always comes up, though, in every one of his books and the books like this:

It just isn't truly a "radical" life when you still have the choice to opt out of real pain and poverty. Those among us (both political and religious) who count themselves "radical" are most often very college educated and moneyed and connected, but when they go into communities of poverty and other forms of oppression they choose to act on the surface as if they have none of those things, or as if they are working past those things. But their lives and work remains just as privileged, even in their "poverty".

For example, when the authors say in the book that they decide to fly to one disaster-stricken place or another, that's not knowing or living with real oppression.

When the authors have faith and financial connections with important and well-known people around the world, that's not knowing or living real oppression.

People living real oppression don't have the kinds of choices these "radical" ministers do. And they aren't really served by those who proclaim a "radical" Gospel that dresses itself up as against Empire - but then continues to live with the privileges that came with full Empire citizenship. In fact, the "radical" nature of what is promoted and self-promoted in this series is simply another version of the same, tired, worldly patronization of the oppressed as practiced by those Empire Citizens who want to count themselves among the rescuers of the world. It's just not real.

What would be a real radical "rescue"? The real boon to the poor and oppressed? Go home, "radicals". Stop hanging out amongst oppressed peoples, "fixing" the brokenness of Gay people, poor people, women, and so on as if there was something wrong with Gay, poor, female, and so on. What actually needs to be fixed - what's really broken - is in yourself, and in the families, friends, neighborhoods, colleges, and culture you came from and still belong to.

In other words, if "radicals" remove the plank from their own eye / family / culture / class / etc, there won't be the oppression they, their family, their culture, their class, and so on continues to cause Gay, poor, female, etc people.

Until then, it's just more self-righteousness (but with a smile and a great band). The world has enough of that in other flavors, already.

[Haiko Eitzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read, with some great reminders, although nothing new if you've read other stuff by the authors, specifically Shane Claiborne in my case.

[Callum Iles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shane Claiborne is a passionate prophet to the modern institutional church and together with his like-minded, but more theologically qualified, co-author Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove has created a practical and inspiring guide to making prayer count. Their call in Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers is for the modern church to live out the prayerful words of their lips and combine them with the works of their hands to see the kingdom of God come on this earth. The authors sum it up beautifully in the epilogue where they exhort us to ‘pray like everything depends on God and live like God has no other plan but the church.’
Claiborne’s manifesto for the modern Christian movement The Irresistible Revolution changed many lives (including my own) in recent years. Through his powerful testimony and fearless faith in God he saw the love of God manifest in places and in bring light to dark lives. Many of the stories in Becoming The Answer were repeated from Irresistible, so it is probably more for newcomers to his school of thought, but the focus on prayer brings a new level of clarity to some questions you may have been left with after reading earlier works.
The conviction of this book is that no-one can rely on another person to do the work of the kingdom.
Giving to a charity is great, but if you don’t live intentionally like Jesus then there is little power in the life you are leading. Going to theological college is fantastic, but if you don’t seek the heart of God there will be no power in your life or ministry. Conversely, when the church is populated by motivated, community-minded, spiritually attentive and prayerful people, the kingdom of God will come.
God only chooses to work through His people, and Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove remind us that love and the good news is created by God, but up to us to demonstrate.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quotes from Becoming the Answer to our Prayers
Pg 51: We have a God who enters the world through smallness – as a baby refugee. We have a God who values the little offering of a single coin from a widow over the megacharity of millionaires. We have a God who speaks through little people a stuttering spokesperson names Moses; the stubborn donkey of Balaam; a lying brothel owner named Rahab; an adulterous king named David; a ragtag bunch of disciples who betrayed, doubted and denied; and a converted terrorist named Paul.
P53: Most of us live in such fear of death that its no small wonder few people believe in resurrection anymore. Sometimes people ask us if we are scared, living in the inner city. We usually reply with something like, “We’re more afraid of shopping malls.” The Scriptures say that we should not fear those things that can destroy the body, but we are to dear that which can destroy the soul. While the ghettos may have their share of violence and crime, the posh suburbs are home to more subtle demonic forces – numbness, complacency, and comfort. These are the powers that can eat away at our souls.
Our mothers have some things to say about safety. As they have watched us move into the inner city and travel to Iraq with God’s hand evidently in the midst of it all, they tell us they have learned a lot of faith, safety and risk. It has not been easy, but Shane’s mom recently said, “I have come to see that we Christians are not called to safety, but we are promised that God will be when we are in danger. And there is no better place to be than in the hand of God. “
69: Everybody wants a revolution but no one wants to do the dishes.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a tough book to read, not a hard read. The book was a call for change in the Christian's life. I am a firm believer in the American system of constitutional republicanism, freedom and liberty. I truly believe capitalism works when there is morality and virtue within the people. As I read and study history I see that government sponsored socialism fails. It tends to break the human spirit to achieve and grow. I did not feel the authors of this book were promoting government systems, but something far more important. They were challenging Christians to be something more. They were challenging people to live out what it means to be a Christ follower. This book, to me, was a reminder not to get caught up in the rat race of life; the quest for the material possessions which will not fulfill our lives. It is a call to responsibility, love and compassion for our brothers and sisters. Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove have challenged me, the Christian, to move beyond my comfort zone and realize, once again, that following Jesus requires more than just words. Christianity should compel us, the believer, to put that love into action. I need to grow as a responsible adult, plan and save for the future, but I also need to share with those who truly need. This is not just about money, it is also about building relationships with the people Jesus loves. Jesus came because He loved people and as followers we too must put our love into action sharing with others and building true community. This is my starting point with this little book. I may not have picked up on everything said, but this is my first step towards change.

[Colin Higbee]

"Jesus doesn't just want to teach us a new kind of love..we also learn a new kind of politics. Conservatives say that the best way to reduce poverty in a capitalist economy is to encourage business with tax breaks and thereby create more jobs. Liberals insist the answer is to use more tax money to fund government programs that both address people's basic needs and alleviate the causes of poverty. People argue a lot about the differences between these two camps. We're not sure who's right, but we have noticed the debate doesn't seem to do much for people in our neighborhoods. What it does, unfortunately, is divide the church. Christians seem to feel more allegiance to the propositions of the political left or the right than we feel to God's people. Rather than share what we have in common we segregate ourselves off into like minded congregations."


"Throughout the history of the church, Christians have recognized that we cannot pray "Our Father" on Sunday and deny bread to our brothers and our sisters on Monday. But we live in difficult days. The hungry are not just hungry. Often they are also our enemies. Drug addiction and mental illness make many who are hungry hard to deal with. They threaten us. Others have been hungry for so long that they are angry, even at those of us who want to help. We worry about how to protect ourselves from them while at the same time feeling guilty for our complicity in their poverty. So we give to charities. And charities become the brokers for our compassion toward the poor....The problem is that we never get to know the poor."

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly familiar ground for anybody who has read other books that Shane Claiborne has written/participated in: faith and action in concert, incarnation rather than incantation. This time surrounding a close reading of 'The Lord's Prayer,' John 17, and Ephesians 1:15-23.

Some of the same stories and illustrative anecdotes told in Jesus For President and Irresistable Revolution get recycled here, but that's largely okay, because they are pretty great stories.

My favorite paragraph of the whole book is in the introduction.

"We once heard a wise elder say prayer is like a little girl playing at the feet of her grandma. She doesn't have to say anything or do anything to please her grandma (who is quite content just watching her play). And the most beautiful moment is when the child starts to grow tired. She just crawls into grandma's lap to be rocked, to hear a lullaby, to feel a kiss on the forehead and the warm embrace of love."

The lack of additional stars may be that the hunt for novelty fell short past that initial nugget. Then again this may speak to my own short-comings rather than the book's. Why should I be hunting around for novelty in books when I should be putting my prayers into action.

[Jacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did not say what I expected it to. But in the end, I'm not surprised. I know Shane Claiborne's background and new monastic ministry and this fits right in.

Some of it was hard to take. I was looking for something a little bit more straightforward about prayer. But I suppose, that misses the point. God is not "straightforward" like we'd want him to be. What Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove constantly point to is the idea of community presented in the Bible as a way that God provides answers for us. This quickly turns into a socio-economic discussion, which is about as controversial as a political one.

You could say, on the one hand, that the book is pushing their economic agenda. But I think that misses the point as well. It's not THEIR economic agenda. God is not to be kept in a box of church time which is separate from life time. God affects everything. So yes, socio-economics are ingrained in this book, just as they're ingrained in God's care for the world and his answers to our prayers.

I'm still figuring out how much I believe or don't believe in the "new monasticism" that shapes this book. But I can't help but agree with their theology. The problem is that it demands an active response that pushes me out of my comfort zone.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't understand why all these modern emergent Christian authors have to rename Christianity. For example, to Donald Miller Christianity becomes Christian Spirituality and is always referred to as such. Claiborne is a Christian but he is also an ordinary radical which is mentioned with far more frequency.

The authors will often cite verses that back up their thesis but they never mention the ones that seemingly contradict them, to the point that sometimes they will stop quoting the Bible directly before one of these problematic verses. I just think it would show a bit more intellectual honesty if they were willing to discuss the counter arguments.

The book is also very anecdotal. I guess this may be fine for some people but it bored me after awhile. There were so many examples that I started to feel as though thats all there was. And a lot of these examples were repeats from Claiborne's other books.

I agree with the central premise of the book but the authors did not present it or argue the point very well.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shorter than most of Shane Claiborne's books, but I really liked what it had to say about community, and how it incorporated so much of what the Bible has to say in the book. I also love that this book is co-written by friends. I think this quote from the book encapsulates what I learned from the book, or what it is about:
"Predictably, some will say it’s absurd to assert that we are the answer to our prayers because God is the only answer to prayer. That’s the beautiful mystery: we have a God who chooses to need us. We have a God who doesn’t want to change the world without us. We have a God who longs to cooperate with us, to allow us to fail and founder and who promises to make up for our shortcomings, but nonetheless wants us. It’s the story of our faith. Certainly nothing hinges on our own ingenuity or strength; quite the opposite—God works through weakness.” P. 117-118