There is more to prayer than meets the eye; it can be hard work. In Prayer: A Force that Causes Change, author David Williamson analyzes how to pray and what to pray and provides a thorough discussion of prayer and effective faith-filled prayers. In this, his fourth volume, Williamson shares a series of articles previously published in the weekly online newsletter Voice of Thanksgiving. The articles promote power in prayerprayer that accomplishes Gods plans and goals here on earth. In this collection, Williamson continues with themes leading to power in prayer: Partnership of God and man in prayer Dealing with faith killers: doubt, fear, and unbelief Breaking down barriers to prayer Components of effective prayer Breakthrough in prayer The articles in Prayer: A Force that Causes Change illustrate how a life of effective prayer is one of a close relationship to God and a life filled with answers to prayers. Effective prayers can lead to changes in peoples lives, family, church, neighborhood, cities, and nations. It shows how prayer opens doors that have previously been closed.
This book is a call to prayer, a call from lethargy and apathy that is so common today, to effective prayer. This is a call to unlimited prayer; prayer that has great power and obtains wonderful results. Christian prayer is a source of great blessing and it is a means of focusing God's power and might on our needs and problems. It brings great answers, if we will pray. Why limit prayer, when God gives breathtaking answers, when we pray. Prayer has great power and brings wonderful results. It is like unleashing a dam of water, the pent up power rushes out of the reservoir and the power affects everything it contacts, it brings change. This book is a series of articles on prayer. A Call to Prayer is the first of four volumes on the prayer life. These articles were originally published in the online newsletter Voice of Thanksgiving. The articles are intended as lessons in prayer; written to promote thinking about prayer and to encourage further exploration of an effective prayer life. They were also written to foster a growth in devotion to God and the Christian life of faith. These articles are intended to encourage going to the Holy Spirit School of Christian life and prayer, where we learn to pray, not just prayers, but effective faith filled prayers.
In our ever-changing world, people are grasping for answers. The customs and traditions that have served people and nations well in the past are failing. God can bring much-needed change to awful situations; He offers assistance, deliverance, provision, and peace. God works through prayer, but who will honor is call to prayer? In Time for Prayer, the fifth volume in the series Prayer: A Force That Causes Change, author David Williamson issues a call to use effective, fervent prayer to talk with God and find the answers to cope with the challenges of today's world. Although we live in an age of disappointment and frustration, God's light shines out of the darkness. He continues to be true to His promises and faithful to His word. God's answer to disappointment and frustration is bringing His kingdom and His will to the Earth. Consisting of articles included originally published in the online newsletter Voice of Thanksgiving, Time for Prayer will challenge your current prayer practices and encourage you to flex your prayer muscles. Presented as a series of lessons designed to aid in developing a powerful prayer life, this collection encourages prayer that avails much.
There is more to prayer than meets the eye; it can be hard work. In Prayer: A Force that Causes Change, author David Williamson analyzes how to pray and what to pray and provides a thorough discussion of prayer and effective faith-filled prayers. In this, his fourth volume, Williamson shares a series of articles previously published in the weekly online newsletter Voice of Thanksgiving. The articles promote power in prayer-prayer that accomplishes God's plans and goals here on earth. In this collection, Williamson continues with themes leading to power in prayer: Partnership of God and man in prayer Dealing with faith killers: doubt, fear, and unbelief Breaking down barriers to prayer Components of effective prayer Breakthrough in prayer The articles in Prayer: A Force that Causes Change illustrate how a life of effective prayer is one of a close relationship to God and a life filled with answers to prayers. Effective prayers can lead to changes in people's lives, family, church, neighborhood, cities, and nations. It shows how prayer opens doors that have previously been closed.
When a Christian prays, does it make any difference? Does it change anything? Though our prayers do not change God's mind, He ordains prayer as a means to accomplish His will. We can be confident that prayer does change things--including our own hearts. In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul argues that prayer has a vital place in the life of the Christian and calls us to come before God's presence with joy and hope. Dr. Sproul shares practical wisdom and helps us understand the purpose, pattern, practice, prohibitions, and power of prayer. The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.
Hurting people ask heart-felt questions about God and suffering. Some "answers" they receive appeal to mystery: “God’s ways are not our ways”. Some answers say God allows evil for a greater purpose. Some say evil is God's punishment. The usual answers fail. They don't support the truth that God loves everyone all the time. God Can't gives a believable answer to why a good and powerful God doesn't prevent evil. Author Thomas Jay Oord says God’s love is inherently uncontrolling. God loves everyone and everything, so God can't control anyone or anything. This means God cannot prevent evil singlehandedly. God can’t stop evildoers, whether human, animal, organism, or inanimate objects and forces. In God Can't, Oord gives a plausible reason why some are healed, but many others are not. God always works to heal everyone, but sometimes our bodies, organisms, or other creatures do not cooperate with God's healing work. Or the conditions of creation are not right for the healing God wants to do. Some people think God causes or allows suffering to teach us lessons or build our character. God Can't disagrees. Oord says God squeezes good from the evil God didn’t want in the first place. God uses pain and suffering without willing or even allowing it. Most people think God can overcome evil singlehandedly. In God Can't, Oord says God needs cooperation for love to reign now and later. This leads to a better view of the afterlife called “relentless love.” It rejects traditional ideas of heaven, hell, and annihilation. Relentless love holds to the possibility all creatures and all creation will respond to God’s love. God Can't is written in understandable language. As a world-renown theologian, Thomas Jay Oord brings credibility to the book’s radical ideas. He explains these ideas through true stories, illustrations, and scripture. God Can't is for those who want answers to tragedy, abuse, and other evils that make sense! What They're Saying... “If conventional notions of God make less and less sense to you, you’ll find Thomas Jay Oord’s new book a breath of fresh air. Simply put, “God Can’t” presents an understanding of God that thoughtful, ethical people can believe in.” -- Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration "I did not want this book to end. I wish Dr. Oord had written it 100 years ago, or 1000 years ago... To find your understanding of life and your love for God renewed, read this book." -- Dr. Karen Strand Winslow, Ph.D., Biblical and Jewish Studies Professor of Bible, Azusa Pacific University "As a clinical psychologist working with people in trauma, I owe Thomas Jay Oord an enormous debt of gratitude for recasting the so-called problem of evil in terms that are conceptually satisfying, theologically consistent, and pastorally liberating.” -- Dr Roger Bretherton- Principal Lecturer at the University of Lincoln (UK), Chair of the British Association of Christians in Psychology “Victims of trauma sometimes hear theological responses that imply their suffering is somehow “God’s will." A more careful theological reflection on the nature of the power of a God who is love can help. Oord gives us a clear and compelling alternative in this profoundly insightful and admirably concrete and accessible book.” -- Dr. Anna Case-Winters, Professor of Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary “I know of no book that speaks to suffering with the depth of theological sophistication and psychological sensitivity as God Can’t. This book is a rare combination of depth and accessibility, truly written for the wounded. I recommend it to my students, parishioners, and therapy clients.” -- Dr. Brad D. Strawn, Professor of the Integration of Psychology and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
This book contains powerful warfare prayers and decrees taken from Scripture that will break the powers of darkness and release the blessings and favor of God.
Miryam T. Brand explores how texts of the Second Temple period address the theological problem of the existence of sin and describe the source of human sin. By surveying the relevant Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the works of Philo and (where relevant) Josephus, the study determines the extent to which texts' presentation of sin is influenced by genre and sectarian identification and identifies central worldviews regarding sin in the Second Temple period. The analysis is divided into two parts; the first explores texts that reflect a conviction that the source of sin is an innate human inclination, and the second analyzes texts that depict sin as caused by demons. The author demonstrates that the genre or purpose of a text is frequently a determining factor in its representation of sin, particularly influencing the text's portrayal of sin as the result of human inclination versus demonic influence and sin as a free choice or as predetermined fact. Second Temple authors and redactors chose representations of sin in accordance with their aims. Thus prayers, reflecting the experience of helplessness when encountering God, present the desire to sin as impossible to overcome without divine assistance. In contrast, covenantal texts (sectarian texts explaining the nature of the covenant) emphasize freedom of choice and the human ability to turn away from the desire to sin. Genre, however, is not the only determining factor regarding how sin is presented in these texts. Approaches to sin in sectarian texts frequently built upon already accepted ideas reflected in nonsectarian literature, adding aspects such as predestination, the periodization of evil, and a division of humanity into righteous members and evil nonmembers.
