Just Ask by J. D. Greear

 

The sub-title of Just Ask by J. D. Greear is "The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer." Wow! That is a lot of adjectives and a lot of expectations. Along with that great sub-title, I was drawn to this book on prayer by the fact that the forward was written by Paul E. Miller. I took a class on prayer based on Miller's book a few years ago at my church and was thoroughly drawn in to pray more because of it. Then the last couple of years, with all of the changes in the world, my habits changed. Just Ask has once again reminded me of the importance of prayer in my life at a time when I haven't felt like I have made much of a difference with it.

Just Ask is divided in to two parts: Why We don't Pray and How to Pray. I like how easy this book was to read. Greear writes in such a way that I find him easy to understand and he is almost conversational through the book. At the same time, I confess that I did have to use a dictionary for 2 words that I hadn't heard before so I also learned something new in my vocabulary. Even with that fact, he writes conversationally and he doesn't seem to be above me. In fact, throughout the book, I felt like he was write in the thick of the prayer discussion with me. He talked about some of his own mistakes and he also talked about his prayer successes. I have always struggled with God as Father because my father doesn't care if he has a relationship with me, which has messed with my thinking. In Just Ask, Greear encourages people with father struggles to look at the situation a little differently and I did find that helpful. He invites readers to look at their father through the lens of God instead of looking at God through the lens of their father. Through it all, I did feel encouraged in my prayer life as a result of reading this book. .

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, The Good Boo Company. All opinions within this review are my own.