Handle With Prayer by Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley's book Handle With Prayer: Unwrap the Source of God's Strength for Living, originally released in 2000 is a great book for any believer. He write this on the back cover, "Prayer is essential to the life of every believer. It connects us with our heavenly Father and opens the door for Him to move in our lives, to impact our circumstances, and to help us make wise choices. Yet few of us would claim to enjoy a satisfying prayer life. So how can we begin to cultivate a prayer life that truly makes a difference?" Personally this is an area that I struggle with. The concepts and insights that Charles Stanley has definitely come from a life that is cultivated by prayer. Stanley tackles multiple areas in this book, including 1) How to pray with authority, 2) How to receive answers to prayer, 3) Why prayers can seem to go unanswered, 4) How to pray in God's will, and 5) How to pray for others. It's definitely not an easy book to go through, and it's one I'm sure I will come back to. A lot of times I find myself reading fast through some of these books and then feeling like I didn't get a lot out of it when I'm done. I once again felt that way with this book, but it's not because of the book but because of me. I can say though that throughout reading this book, I was constantly thinking about how my own prayer life was stacking up to what Stanley is talking about. I can tell you that I've been convicted that my prayer life is not where it should be. This book can and I believe will serve as a catalyst for people to take a long, hard look at their prayer life and act on it; either continuing in their life of prayer or like me, learning how to cultivate a life of prayer. In the back of this book, Charles Stanley has provided a resource for large or small group settings. Prayer is private and corporate and as this book affects those who read it, the chance to gather with others and continue to grow together in community will further cultivate a life of prayer in the lives of those in the study.

Special thanks to The B & B Media Group, Inc. and David C. Cook for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.