Wrestling With God: A Book of Uncommon Prayer

by Fry, Stanley A.

• ISBN13: 9781475963274
• ISBN10: 1475963270
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-27
• Publisher: Author Solutions

Summary

Family man Jason Corliss is a small-town banker who is making every attempt to stay sane despite his rat race through life. Seemingly self-assured, Jason is good at putting up a front. Deep inside, he knows he is unhappy, but he has no idea how to make it better. But when a traumatic personal experience forces him to question his rather unenthusiastic views about God and his church, Jason embarks on an unorthodox prayer journey in an attempt to uncover meaning in his life. With guidance from his pastor, Jason begins praying every night. While seated in a leather chair in his den, Jason closes his eyes, opens his heart, and pours out his questions, fears, and hopes to a spiritual being he is not even sure is there. As God gently places new thoughts, ideas, and understandings in his mind, Jason asks God to help give him a new start, to fill the emptiness in his soul, and to help him find the purpose of his life. In this compelling spiritual story, a man desperate to confront the issues in his life turns to faithful prayer for the answers, ultimately remaking not only his life, but the lives of those who love him.

Excerpts

Is prayer real? Of course prayer is real. Millions pray every day. They pray in every language under the sun. They pray whatever color their skin may be. They pray whatever language they speak. They are of any religion you can name. They pray because they wonder, they doubt, they yearn. They pray because they need what they do not yet have, what they are missing. They pray because there is more out there than meets their eyes. In truth, they pray because there is more deep inside them than they can fathom. And there are questions for which they do not know the answers. They pray when they find no words for their wonderment, no words for their yearning. In fact, “prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed, the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast.”  So prayer is real; it happens. But does it work? Does it produce results? Can you count on it? Or perhaps your question is: Does God hear our prayers? Does he care? If he hears them, can he do anything about them?  The answer is: It depends! It depends on what you expect. And what you expect depends on what kind of God you believe in. If you think of him as the almighty one who can do anything he chooses to do, then you’ll just try to persuade him to do what you want him to. And you will be disappointed if he doesn’t do it. But if you think of him as your father or mother, or even as your parent, who is in the business of rearing his children, that will make your expectations a little different. In that case, prayer will be a conversation with God. And it will be a transaction that takes place right there in the middle of your soul where God is always present, waiting for you to recognize him, speak to him and share with him what’s going on in your life.  A good father listens for his own sake as well as for ours. He may suggest ideas; he may express doubts about some of our ideas. He may prod us, encourage us. But he will not run our lives for us. He will not make our decisions for us. Because he is our parent, he loves us and respects our integrity as human beings, made in his image. He gives us our freedom and he is ready to listen and encourage whenever he can get our attention.  If you think of God as someone at the other end of a telephone line then you miss out on a relationship that can be so intimate and beautiful that you will never want to be without it. His purpose is to enable us to grow into the fullness of our humanity through our conversations with him. That is his answer to our prayers. That is the whole point of our lives. He can’t do that by filling our orders. That is not what we should expect of him. From the Prologue