Prayer: Conversing With God

Sometimes prayer is perceived as needing to be a high and lofty exercise of religion with flowery language that one must be "trained" in or spend years going to seminary to learn. Rosalind Rinker helps to dispel this perception and shows how easy it can be to have a very real and active prayer life.

The subtitle "Conversing With God" describes the main focus and type of prayer that Ms. Rinker refers to. Prayer is simply a conversation with God and not some formal theological exercise. Just as one would speak with a friend or family member, they can also speak with God. Just as a person might talk about the day with a friend, let Him know what's going on, thank and praise Him for the incredible things He's done and for who He is, and seek His wisdom for their life.

She also helps show how to incorporate prayer throughout the day and not just at designated times. In some Bible studies, people spend more time talking about prayer requests than actually praying. Rinker helps show how to structure prayer time so that it naturally flows like a conversation with the Holy Spirit prompting people to pray as they are led and as things come to mind. By making it more of a conversation, you both talk with the people in the group and with Jesus who is there with you.

She also addresses the risk of praying to impress other people or gain their approval by manufacturing emotion, fervency, or eloquent speech. This completely misses the point of prayer which is communicating with God. If one wishes to be eloquent and have people praise him or her for their great public speaking abilities, they should seek out alternate venues rather than "showing off" during times of prayer.

The book incorporates scripture passages as well as real life examples to illustrate conversational prayer. It also has a short devotional section at the back of the book which can be used to learn this style of prayer and engaging with God one on one.

The book is written in an easy to understand format and can be read very quickly. I recommend reading a chapter at a time to allow time to meditate on the chapter topic. If you would like good tips on improving your prayer life and how to communicate with God in a down to earth manner, this book offers very practical and easy steps to implement.

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