| Title | : | Prayer and the Will of God |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 |
| Publication | : | First published August 27, 2009 |
Dom Hubert van Zeller knows why.
“Prayer,” says this beloved Benedictine monk who taught scores of souls to pray, “comes from God, is kept going by God, and finds its way back to God by its own power.” Prayer is not something we do, but something God does in us.
Which means that all these years, most of us have approached the problem of prayer we’ve struggled to pray instead of working to remove obstacles to prayer from our hearts — obstacles that prevent God from praying in us and through us.
Sound mystical? Perhaps. But living in accordance with this single truth, elaborated in these pages, not only will make regular prayer possible for you; it will transform your prayers into a source of joy.
Here you’ll discover the true meaning and the proper ways of prayer. You’ll learn the secret of prayer from the example of Christ in the Gospels and from the prayers of the saints. You’ll find out how to overcome distractions in prayer and how to deal with disappointment when your prayers seem not to have been answered.
Finally, you’ll learn how to accept God’s will, no matter how puzzling it may seem; and even — yes — to love it.
Never forget that prayer is your lifeline to heaven. These pages will help you grasp it firmly and never let go. What more could you ask of any book?
Prayer and the Will of God Reviews
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I was greatly impressed by Dom Hurbert van Zeller's work Approach to Penance. Dom Zeller's work uses mainly the Holy Scriptures, as opposed to many other Catholic works on spirituality which also draw from the lives of the Saints, the teaching of the Fathers and doctors, but this is just his style and it is not used to advance dubious doctrine or theological novelty.
If you want a book on understanding prayer in its relationship to goes immutability and the fact that God knows everything that is going to happen before we ask Him for it in prayer then this is a decent choice. He presents modern examples when discussing different aspects of prayer and the will of God for example: the author will propose the situation a rich man who feels inclined to build a Church and ask the question is this God's will or just a moment of religious sentimentality, and offer a succinct an easy explanation. His discussion is very practical and is suited well to the types of questions of discernment that people face in todays world.
The author does seem to take some pot shots at other catholic authors and attitudes from past ages, and while they are not over the top,they were not necessary or helpful. Also the last chapter, Apostles of Gods will, their is a big emphasis on being right with God , and how without being at interior peace with God we will not have peace in society all points I agree with, but then he uses this as a launching point to start talking about opening up, encounter, ecumenism and the importance of peace and harmony, but did not highlight directly the need for salvation in the same manner.
There are many great books on prayer: Augustines Homily on Prayer in the will of God also presents this doctrine in a very eloquent and charming way also using parables, St. Alphonsus work Prayer the Great Means of Salvation and Perfection is a spiritual classic that covers everything the author did here and more. If you prefer modern works, I found Prayer for beginners by Peter Kreeft to also be an excellent book full of sound doctrine and memorable pithy statements. While it is overall a good book, this is not a great book, but if reading something written by a Monk living in the 20th century on prayer with an emphasis on Gods immutability is enticing to you, it is not a bad choice.
