Prayerless people cut themselves off from God’s prevailing power, and the frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around, defeated. Surprising numbers of people are willing to settle for lives like that. Don’t be one of them. Nobody has to live like that. Prayer is the key to unlocking God’s prevailing power in your life. – Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray, p. 16
Last night, I began a new summer small-group. We will spend the next eight weeks reading and discussing Too Busy Not To Pray by Bill Hybels. Our Sunday School and small-group schedule has been thrown out off because of our transition to a new location this year. So, while we usually "go dark" during the summer months, this year we some new small-groups and Sunday school classes during the months of July and August. Anthony, one of our associate pastors, and I are leading a small-group on prayer. Last night was the first meeting, in which we do get to know each other and over the study material, schedule, and expectations. And the group got off to a great start last night.
I read Too Busy Not To Pray when it was first published some ten years ago. In fact, read may not be a good word. I devoured the book. It caught me at the right place at right time. And I have cherished it ever since, reading through it again four or five times over the years. Now, I do not agree with Hybels on every subject. And I am not one of those "seeker Church dudes." But those qualifications aside, Too Busy is a good book. It is a clear, compelling, and challenging book that casts a large and high vision of God. And it teaches the importance, discipline, and power of believing prayer in practical terms. I just plain like this book. It is one of my favorite books on prayer, even though I have a rather long list of 'favorite" books on prayer. And I have and do recommend it to those who want to jump-start their prayer lives.
