"whispers of hope" by beth moore

About the book (from the back cover): Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing, but how in the world do we do that? In fact, how should we effectively pray to begin with?

Best-selling author Beth Moore addresses these practical and pervasive matters in Whispers of Hope by walking readers through an easy to remember and apply method of prayer, coupled with seventy daily devotionals and followed by prompts to put this prayer method into practice.

Indeed, Whispers of Hope teaches the manifestation process of powerful Word-saturated prayer in response to a daily Bible reading. In turn, you will better understand how devotional reading and prayer are central to a stronger relationship with God.

My take: Whispers of Hope is a 10-week devotional that helps the reader to focus her prayers and encourages her to spend more time with God. The focus is on prayer, so each scripture reading and devotional is short, and it's followed by two pages to record prayers. Beth encourages the reader to follow the P.R.A.I.S.E. format—Praise, Repentance, Acknowledgement, Intercession, Supplication for Self, and Equipping. In the introduction, she explains what each of those categories means and why she chose them. There's also a section at the back for recording answered prayers. This is basically a prayer journal with focused teaching along the way.

I've only been doing this devotional for a short time, but I can already see its benefits. If you're looking for a deeper prayer life, then I highly recommend this book.

My rating: 5 stars

Buy the book.

About the author: Beth Moore is a writer and teacher of best-selling books and Bible studies whose public speaking engagements carry her all over the United States. A dedicated wife and mother of two adult daughters, Moore lives in Houston, Texas, where she is president and founder of Living Proof Ministries.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review through Icon Media Group.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

sometimes, the answer comes sooner

I've come to expect answers to prayer (at least answers in the affirmative) to come slowly. I've been praying for a husband for the last 11 years. Still waiting on that one. I've been praying for a friend's salvation (though not as consistently as I should) for six years. About a year ago, she told me she had been reading the Bible I gave her, but as far as I know, she hasn't become a Christian. I've been praying about a health insurance issue for several months. I may know the result by the end of the month.

It's not that I think God can't answer "big" prayers soon, but I often think He won't. In the last week, God has answered two of my recent prayers, and I must admit that I was surprised by both of them.

The first answer to prayer came the day after I asked my Bible study group to pray about it. One of my classes, an advanced reading class, is made up of 10 international students, all juniors and seniors. I absolutely love teaching the class, and I've sensed that my relationship with some of the students might be poised to go outside the classroom. So I asked the girls to pray that I'd have wisdom and opportunities to get to know some of the students on a deeper level. The next day, one girl walked into class talking about how much she wanted a Pooh Bear Latte. And I thought, "Here's the opportunity you've been praying for!" I snagged her after class and asked if she'd like to get coffee after school. Coffee turned into over an hour of really good conversation.

The other answer to prayer took a little longer ... three whole weeks! I asked my Bible study group to pray about my relationship with a girl I've known pretty well for a few years. I had a really good talk with her sometime last month, and I asked her if she'd like to get together on a fairly regular basis. Other than mentioning it in Bible study, I did nothing--I just wasn't sure what we should do; I've never seen myself as a mentor before. Last week, she cornered me in the hallway (she goes to NC) and said we needed to talk ASAP. She came over on Sunday night, and we spent four hours together--drinking coffee (do you see a theme???), watching country YouTube videos, and talking about some really serious stuff.

In both cases, I found myself stunned that God would answer my prayers so immediately ... and humbled by my lack of faith. This experience has taught me that I need to pray believing that God will answer, whether it's with a "yes," "no," or "wait"!

he wants me to pray, to give, and to go

That song, which we used to sing at my church during missions conferences (I've tried to find it online to no avail), has been running through my head recently. I'm not sure about the "go" part yet, but let me tell you about a couple "pray" and "give" opportunities that have been in my heart recently.

One Girl
One Girl is a prayer initiative of Tiny Hands International, a humanitarian organization. Their mission statement reads: Tiny Hands is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the church in the developing world to help the poor overcome poverty and become lights of the world.  We are committed to finding the greatest injustices in the world, and working towards relieving them however possible.  We are particularly called to orphans, street children, and the victims of the sex-trafficking industry. We want to find those who are already doing the work, who are called and faithful, and help them do it in greater ways and with more efficiency. We do it all in obedience to, and for the glory of Jesus Christ. 

One Girl focuses on the 10,000 girls who are trafficked from Nepal to brothels in India each year. One Girl asks people like you and me to "spiritually adopt" one of these girls. For $10, they'll send you a bracelet that was made by one of the girls that has been rescued from sexual trafficking, and the bracelet serves as a reminder to pray. Of course, you can commit to pray without buying a bracelet, but I've found that my bracelet continually brings these girls back to my mind. The bracelet also gives me an opening to talk to people about trafficking; whenever someone comments on my bracelet, I tell him or her why I wear it.

A coworker first told me about One Girl last fall, and a local Christian radio station spotlighted the ministry during April. More than 1100 people signed up to pray!
 
Pray for Kate
Kate McRae is a little girl who is battling brain cancer. I first heard of her through Stuff Christians Like. I read SCL every day, but normally I get it through Google Reader and don't actually go to the website. One day, though, I went to the site, and I saw the "Pray for Kate" banner at the top. Curious, I clicked on the link ... and I "met" an amazing little girl and her family.

Kate is currently undergoing proton radiation treatments in Houston. Though I read the Caring Bridge journal that Kate's mom Holly updates, I can't even begin to fathom what this family is going through. All I can do is pray ... and ask you to also pray.     

changing my prayer

I'll be the first to admit that I don't pray as often as I should. Last summer, I read an excellent book on prayer,and for a while, I applied several of the principles in that book to my prayer life. Right now, I couldn't tell you a word that the author wrote. All too quickly, I lapsed back into my self-centered prayers.

I think we all go through seasons where one particular thing is weighing on us, and our prayers focus on that--a health concern, a relationship, a job, an unsaved friend, etc. For me, while each of those things has been the focus of my prayers for a time, the one overarching prayer that I've prayed more than any other prayer in the past ten years has gone something like this: "Lord, you know how much I want to be married. How much I want to be a mom. Lord, could you please allow me to get married soon? Help me be patient and trust you. But, PLEASE???"

It has become my default prayer--the one I go to first. It varies, of course: sometimes, it's not that blatantly pleading. But other times, it's worse.

This morning, as I was driving to a family get-together, I started to pray. "Lord, please . . ." And I stopped. I didn't audibly hear a voice or anything like that, but this thought came to me: Isn't it more important to fall more and more in love with Jesus? Isn't it more important to fully trust Him?

Then and there, I amended my prayer. I'm now praying that 2009 will be a year in which my faith is strengthened. A year in which I find myself experiencing a deeper relationship with my Savior than I could have imagined.

When you think of me, I ask that you would pray those things for me, as well.