52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 22

Life is complicated and ugly at times. We are all touched by things like job loss, job searches, a bad economy, cancer, unexplained illness, divorce, addiction, aging family members, hurt, loneliness and so on. It touches all of us. And sometimes we stand at the edge of this chasm and hold hands with cynicism, giving in to the despair that comes with this thing called life. We give up our hopes for the future and let the numbness of not caring set in. 

Overcoming that numbness through prayer is what A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul W. Miller, is about. At this exact time in my life, this was a book that I really needed to read. My natural tendency is to get overwhelmed by life and think that the best solution is to not care, to give up hope. But when I stop caring, I die a little inside.

Instead of shutting down, I should be praying and waiting on God as he weaves together the story that is my life. It won't always be pretty, but it is my story of growth and relationships with God and those around me, one in which I should be an active participant, not just a detached bystander.

Some passages that really stuck with me from this book:

Few of us have {the} courage to articulate the quiet cynicism or spiritual weariness that develops in us when heartfelt prayer goes unanswered. We keep our doubts hidden even from ourselves because we don't want to sound like bad Christians. No need to add shame to our cynicism. So our hearts shut down.

If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details in my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life for good. If he is all-wise, the he's not going to do everything I want all of the time because I don't know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all of this.

If we think that we can do life on our own, we will not take prayer seriously. Our failure to pray will always feel like something else - a lack of discipline or too many obligations. But when something is important, we make room for it.

Many Christians stand at the edge of cynicism, struggling with a defeated weariness. Their spirits have begun to deaden, but unlike the cynic, they have not lost hope.

Cynicism creates a numbness toward life. {It} begins with the wry assurance that everyone has an angle... the cynic is always observing, critiquing, but never engaging, loving and hoping.

It's a short trip from determination to despair, when you realize that you aren't going to change the situation, no matter what you do. It hurts to hope in the face of continued failure, so you try to stop hurting by giving up hope.

Gospel stories always have suffering in them. American Christianity has an allergic reaction to this part of the gospel. We'd love to hear about God's love for u s, but suffering doesn't mesh with our right to the "pursuit of happiness."

I don't buy many books. This is one that I plan to purchase.