Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Couples Who Pray ~ Book Review



Let me start by saying that I am completely on board with the fact that praying with your spouse can be a marriage changing experience. It just makes sense to me. If a couple truly desires God to be central in their relationship, praying together should be a no brainer. Easier said than done. That’s why I was pretty excited to review this book.


The official book promo states “takes readers step by step through the 40 day prayer challenge”. Um, no, actually, it doesn’t. The book takes the reader through 150 plus pages of celebrity stories ... and that’s about it. While some of the stories were inspiring, it just got, well, old. No where does it actually talk about anything step by step, although there is a brief “commercial” to visit their website to sign up for support (for a cost). The end of the book has an appendix with questionnaires for husbands and wives to help them, I guess, get started. I don’t know because no where does it outline what to do with the questionnaires.

Except for another appendix in the back of the book, the text has little to no scriptural support. Indeed I think I was about 1/3 of the way through the book before I found a scripture reference. The book also rarely focused on the ONE who answers prayer and just on the prayer itself. Less mature readers will probably walk away with a “if I just do like these famous people do God will give us exactly what we want.” God often does give us our wants. More often, however, He gives us what we need and very often that’s in the answer of “NO” to a specific prayer.

It seems to be just another example of “famous” people touting their expertise just because they are famous. To be sure, several of the stories were touching and inspiring, but this book could have been a lot shorter and much more effective for couples really wanting to develop a habit of praying together.

I was very disappointed with this book, and wouldn't recommend spending your money on it.


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I received this book free from the Thomas Nelson Publishers through their Booksneeze Blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review (obviously). The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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