What do you think?
Rate this book
Pray This Way to Connect with God
Prayer is the singular bridge between you and God. The state of your prayer life is the state of your God relationship. It is as vital to your well-being to develop a flourishing prayer life, as it is to develop satisfying communication with loved ones. If you seek to know God personally, this book will assist you in your seeking, as well as in your finding. If you want to transform your prayers from a monologue with you merely addressing God, to a dialogue with God also addressing you, this book is for you. It will guide you from what prayer is to how to pray, from breath prayers all the way to contemplative prayer.
328 pages, Hardcover
Published January 3, 2023
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 7, 2023
This book is not like you'd guess from the title.
If you're looking for a book to tell you the ways you "must" pray and take all of the personal touches out of prayer ... this book is NOT for you.
The author, Hal Green, finds a way to lead and teach you about different ways to connect with God and engage in prayer, without the patriarcal micromanaging that so many of us are used to in books.
I recommend this book for anyone on their prayer journey: for those trying to start, those looking for something deeper, and those searching for better connection.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received "Pray This Way to Connect with God" from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
If you're looking for a book to tell you the ways you "must" pray and take all of the personal touches out of prayer ... this book is NOT for you.
The author, Hal Green, finds a way to lead and teach you about different ways to connect with God and engage in prayer, without the patriarcal micromanaging that so many of us are used to in books.
I recommend this book for anyone on their prayer journey: for those trying to start, those looking for something deeper, and those searching for better connection.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received "Pray This Way to Connect with God" from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
January 16, 2024
Summary: A book on learning to pray, focusing on God’s initiative toward us to teach us to pray and prayer as focused on deepening our relationship with God.
“Lord, teach us to pray.” That was the longing expressed by the disciples of Jesus. Hal Green encourages us that the “good news is that God will teach you how to pray” and that the journey begins with “speaking whatever is in your heart,” that we learn to pray by praying, and that we pray as we can and not as we can’t. In a collection of readings, generally a page and a paragraph long. Green leads us into praying.
The readings are divided into eight sections
1. About Prayer: a number of reflections on the nature of prayer: why, what to pray, how to tell if a word is from God, on distractions, and more.
2 Breath Prayers: Explained and examples around peace, love, faith, hope, joy, gratitude, forgiveness, etc.
3. Praying the Scriptures: A single chapter on how to pray scripture.
4. Hebrew Scriptures: focusing on the Psalms and Prophets.
5. The New Testament: Numerous passages from Matthew through Revelation
6. Praying With the Saints. Prayers of the saints from Augustine to Henri Nouwen.
7. Meditative Prayer: Resting and knowing God’s touch, breath, and gaze.
8. Contemplative Prayer: The God Hug, Abiding Prayer, The Romance of God and more.
Green advises beginning with the prayers themselves and then going back and reading the “About Prayer.” While each reading is short, to pray the prayer meditatively may take anywhere from five to twenty minutes. This is a book to be taken slowly, taking a day or several days on the prayer in a reading.
Green leads us into prayer that isn’t about getting things from God but about communion with the Triune God of love. He speaks of desire that becomes romance, the love and being loved of lovers, of oneness with God. One senses that for those who experience this, human sexuality is a good but pale shadow of this love. This may be the journey of years. But along the way we learn to pray with scripture, to breathe in God and breathe out what is in our hearts, and to rest contemplatively with God.
There is so much wisdom here, whether it is dealing with the distraction that plagues all our prayers (that’s one of the reasons he encourages praying for five or ten minutes and not fighting oneself) or discerning if we have really heard God’s words (they are generally brief, understated, and concise, yet penetrate to the heart).
I’ve learned the most in prayer by praying along with someone further on the prayer journey, yet such people are rare. Hal Green’s book, the culmination of a fifty year journey and the leading of many prayer retreats offers us a companion who says “pray this way” and helps us to understand as best we humans can, the ways God teaches us and meets us as the lover of our souls.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through Speakeasy for review.
“Lord, teach us to pray.” That was the longing expressed by the disciples of Jesus. Hal Green encourages us that the “good news is that God will teach you how to pray” and that the journey begins with “speaking whatever is in your heart,” that we learn to pray by praying, and that we pray as we can and not as we can’t. In a collection of readings, generally a page and a paragraph long. Green leads us into praying.
The readings are divided into eight sections
1. About Prayer: a number of reflections on the nature of prayer: why, what to pray, how to tell if a word is from God, on distractions, and more.
2 Breath Prayers: Explained and examples around peace, love, faith, hope, joy, gratitude, forgiveness, etc.
3. Praying the Scriptures: A single chapter on how to pray scripture.
4. Hebrew Scriptures: focusing on the Psalms and Prophets.
5. The New Testament: Numerous passages from Matthew through Revelation
6. Praying With the Saints. Prayers of the saints from Augustine to Henri Nouwen.
7. Meditative Prayer: Resting and knowing God’s touch, breath, and gaze.
8. Contemplative Prayer: The God Hug, Abiding Prayer, The Romance of God and more.
Green advises beginning with the prayers themselves and then going back and reading the “About Prayer.” While each reading is short, to pray the prayer meditatively may take anywhere from five to twenty minutes. This is a book to be taken slowly, taking a day or several days on the prayer in a reading.
Green leads us into prayer that isn’t about getting things from God but about communion with the Triune God of love. He speaks of desire that becomes romance, the love and being loved of lovers, of oneness with God. One senses that for those who experience this, human sexuality is a good but pale shadow of this love. This may be the journey of years. But along the way we learn to pray with scripture, to breathe in God and breathe out what is in our hearts, and to rest contemplatively with God.
There is so much wisdom here, whether it is dealing with the distraction that plagues all our prayers (that’s one of the reasons he encourages praying for five or ten minutes and not fighting oneself) or discerning if we have really heard God’s words (they are generally brief, understated, and concise, yet penetrate to the heart).
I’ve learned the most in prayer by praying along with someone further on the prayer journey, yet such people are rare. Hal Green’s book, the culmination of a fifty year journey and the leading of many prayer retreats offers us a companion who says “pray this way” and helps us to understand as best we humans can, the ways God teaches us and meets us as the lover of our souls.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through Speakeasy for review.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews