ECPA BESTSELLER • CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD FINALIST • The beloved Bible teacher and daughter of Billy Graham shares a rich treasury of her personal prayers to guide you into deeper, more intimate daily conversations with God. Why is it that as soon as we bow our heads to pray, we start thinking of other things we need to do? How do we make time to pray in the middle of our busy lives? And how do we … busy lives? And how do we know what to say and how to say it?
Like many of us, Anne Graham Lotz has struggled with prayer. Over the years, she discovered that writing out her prayers draws her into deeper, more intimate conversations with God. The Light of His Presence offers forty of these tender, honest prayers for real-life situations as an invitation to deepen your own prayer life through worship, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. You’ll be encouraged to lean more fully into God’s promises through this power-packed devotional resource, which includes inspiring quotes from Christians throughout the ages and also has space to journal your own words to God.
As Anne writes, “My prayer for you . . . is that God will use my struggle with prayer to help you overcome yours. And that, as a result, you will be drawn nearer to the heart of God.”
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As I opened Ann Graham Lotz’s book The Light of His Presence I didn’t realize that I would be met by God even as I read the first prayer – a prayer for the weary. With all going on in the world and daily life I am weary and worn. Ann’s prayer for the weary had me in tears as she cried out to God who understands our weariness and struggles then prays for encouragement for others and to be an encourager herself. Ann states in the introduction that she struggles with prayer- she tells how she struggles with prayer and provides a template to use in praying- worship, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. After the introduction Ann has quotes from various sources before each prayer. These prayers are written by Ann and are based on Scripture covering various themes we may encounter in our lives – from being weary, strength, wisdom, worship, and more. Ann uses the template of worship, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession in her prayers. She prays Scripture back to God and earnestly seeks God. Her prayers are relevant to the situations going on in the world today and in individual lives. Two appendixes are included; one of the believers birthright (blessings) and another on preparing your heart through confession (a list of sins). A note section is also included with the resources for the quotes and also references for the Scriptures used in each prayer.
I enjoyed this prayer book a lot and loved the heartfelt, honest prayers written by Ann even when confessing her sins to God. I would prefer the Scripture references in the prayers or at least at the end of the prayers instead of at the end of the book. I can see how others may find including the references in the prayers distracting though. I love this book and can see it as a guide to connect with God and for helping my prayer life, which I struggle in praying also- getting distracted, not knowing what to pray, feeling hurt and not wanting to pray, and wondering if my prayers are even heard. I recommend this book for everyone but especially those seeking guidance in praying or wanting heartfelt prayers to pray in their circumstances.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
The Light of His Presence: Prayers to Draw You Near to the Heart of God by Anne Graham Lotz is a deeply moving book of prayers. I immediately felt drawn in by this book, which surprised me. I expected a book of disjointed topical prayers. Sometimes those kind of books feel awkward and stilted, like you are reading something that is an example of a prayer to emulate. I did not find anything like that in this book. Instead, I found prayers that touched my heart with their sincerity and deep felt emotions. I felt drawn in and could immediately relate as my heart prayed the same. It is a wonderful book to pick up and draw nearer to God and feel His Presence. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.
This is a book of prayers and her prayers are so deep and at times gut wrenching. Very inspirational.
EXCELLENT ENCOURAGEMENT!
I find it somewhat comforting to know that even someone like Anne Graham Lotz finds that she, too, has struggled with prayer at times. She lists her three main areas of struggles as concentration, consistency and content. I do not know about you but I could not agree more! She offers her latest book as an encouragement to guide readers in what she has discovered works for her. She also suggests readers to write their prayers out. Lotz’s book also includes two of my favorite things which are inspiring quotes from Christians throughout the ages and a section for journaling, I highly recommend this book!
#The Light of His Presence# by Anne Graham Lotz is a Christian living book. Anne Graham Lotz is the daughter of Billy Graham. She has spoken on seven continents. She has spoken in prisons, churches seminaries. She openly shares how she finds prayer difficult. She wrote this book of prayers to help others with their prayer life. She has written ten best selling books. Her prayers are personal and apply to different situations. This book is a wonderful way to teach the reader how to pray. Thank you to netgalley, the publisher, the author for allowing me to read and review the book. I hope the book is really successful.
In the introduction of this book, the author admits that she has trouble with prayer and it’s as if she knows me personally, because I often face these same problems. Concentration, Consistency, and Content are the “C problems” and Anne Graham Lotz has a solution. The Light of His Presence has “prayers to draw you near to the heart of God” and these prayers speak to people of all ages, in all stages of life. Lotz examines a multitude of subjects and the Bible scripture and quotes sprinkled throughout provide much needed encouragement and comfort.
The Light of His Presence is filled with inspirational prayers and it’s the perfect book to keep nearby. It would also be a great gift for others!
I received a complimentary digital copy from Waterbrook Multnomah. A favorable review was not required and no compensation was received. These thoughts are my own.
Anne Graham Lotz is someone I have always looked up to as a model for teaching, and her writing is material I have relied on to inform my walk with Christ. I can’t think of a better person to write a book like this one. Her tone of voice and her word of truth is exactly what we need in our generation.
This book is constructed with 40 prayers that address various themes such as a prayer for the weary, a prayer for stormy days, a prayer for peace and protection, and a prayer to trust in God’s provision among many others. Anne says in the introduction that these are prayers that she has written, and she hopes that the reader will find these prayers to be a helpful resource to refresh their own conversations with God.
I wish I could pick out just one favorite prayer from the book, but I’m afraid that I love all of the prayers in this book to set one up as more of a favorite than the others. If I had to narrow my choice down, I would say that the two prayers at the end of the book were most dear to me. They are the prayer of adoration for the bridegroom, and a prayer to experience holiness. Each prayer is separated by a page with a quote from a well known teacher or theologian from history. I enjoyed reading those as well and gaining encouragement from those trusted voices.
This book is useful for anyone and everyone. It is easy to read, and the chapters are short. If you would like to supplement your devotional time with meaningful prayer or you are in search of prayers that give you the words to say during seasons of danger, weariness, or difficulty, then you will find this book very helpful.
I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any way. All opinions express are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.
I resonate with what Ann Graham Lotz says about struggling at times for the words to come to pray to the Lord. This year especially has been hard on where to even start.
This book of prayers aids win getting that dialog started that we so desperately crave. And on those days when the words don’t come, one of these prayers can minister to you as you read it.
Not only is this book a great one to keep and reread for yourself, it would be a great gift to give to someone else. This year, more than ever, I believe we need that extra encouragement to go to God in prayer – and this book has certainly helped me with that.
Disclaimer: I have received this digital book with no expectation in return from the publisher. The words and opinions are my own.
If, like me, you struggle with praying, you are not alone! This wonderful, scripture-centered book is for those of us who have a hard time praying, want to learn to pray better, or may be in life situations in which the words just don’t seem to come out. The author shares briefly in her beautiful conversational style how she has worked through challenges she has faced when praying. Included is a collection of some of Anne Graham Lotz’s own prayers for many occasions, quotes from scripture or from other Christians, and places to include one’s own prayers. As she writes in the introduction,
“The purpose (of prayer) is to develop an intimate, personal relationship with the One who loves you, gave Himself for you, and longs for you to live in the light of His presence.”
These heart-felt prayers can be starting places for our own prayers or complete in themselves. I could learn from each of the prayers and the helps she includes at the back. The prayers include many circumstances, such as prayers for our country, the body of Christ, salvation of family members, wisdom, personal and national confession, and repentance. They are honest and open, humble and worshipful.
This is not a book to simply take home and put on the shelf. It can be used, over and over, as I see many prayers that I will use repeatedly. It is a book to keep an extra copy or two of, as there are people in our lives we will want to share it with. If one purchases an ebook version, I would suggest bookmarking the list of scripture references in the back to have it readily available.
Prayer is one of the absolute greatest privileges we have as Christians! I see this as a prayer book, as a gift from a woman who wants us to grow closer to Our Father, one that is destined to become a modern classic. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates relevant prayers, prayer suggestions, and all who want to live “in the light of His presence.”
From a thankful heart: I received an eARC of this excellent book from the publisher and NetGalley, and this is my honest review.