Contemplation

Book Recommendation: “Prayer – 40 Days of Practice”

Books, Kingdom of God, Poem, Prayer, Solitude, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Growth

Back in April, I was browsing through a bookstore and found a book with an interesting-looking cover. The title was Prayer – 40 Days of Practice.

Because prayer has been a subject of great interest to me, I picked it up and began thumbing through it. I discovered that this was quite a unique book, indeed.

Each page includes a thoughtful one-sentence prayer with an accompanying illustration on the opposite page. The prayers are written by Justin McRoberts and the illustrations are created by Scott Erickson.

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What I’ve Been Reading in 2018 (first batch)

Books

My goal going into this year was to read 52 books. So far, I’m halfway to that goal – a bit ahead of pace. But I already know I won’t be doing this again next year. Every so often I find myself pushing forward too quickly rather than slowly absorbing what I’m learning.

Anyhow, I thought I’d go ahead and share a brief snippet about the 26 books I have read so far in 2018. For space reasons, I will only include the first thirteen of them in this post, and then wrap it up in a couple weeks. As you’ll see, I tend to read a lot of theological books, however, there is a little variety sprinkled in.

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Nothing Else Matters

Solitude, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Growth

Somewhere along the Jordan River (probably just north of the Sea of Galilee), among a crowd of people Jesus is baptized by his famous cousin, John the Baptist. He emerges from the water and begins to pray.

And as he was praying, heaven was opened22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

Notice to whom this statement is directed. It is not spoken to John or to the crowd. The statement is addressed to Jesus. It is spoken primarily for his benefit.

It is vitally important to understand that this event occurred at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. At this point he hasn’t yet preached a single sermon. He hasn’t yet healed a sick person. He hasn’t yet driven out a single demon. He hasn’t yet performed a single miracle. There has been no public ministry performed whatsoever.

And yet the Father gives him this amazing affirmation. “You are my Son. Whom I love. With you I am well pleased.”

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