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LAST DAY to get $250 of teachings on prayer for $2.99

By Jeremy Myers
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LAST DAY to get $250 of teachings on prayer for $2.99

What is PrayerMy book on prayer came out last week. Right now, you can get the eBook version for $2.99 on Amazon.

If you buy the book today (December 19, 2017) I will send you an additional $250 worth of teaching materials about prayer.

Bonus Materials on Prayer

Here is what you get:

  • 4.5 Hours of teaching about prayer (from my course on prayer) – Value: $197
  • 4 Hour audiobook recording of the book – Value $30
  • PDF version of the book – Value $10
  • Several Videos of me answering questions about prayer – Value $5
  • The ability to receive further instruction about prayer via email – Value $10

To get these additional resources about prayer, just follow these two steps:

  1. Buy the book at Amazon
  2. Send an email to prayerbook@redeeminggod.com saying you bought the book.

That’s it! I will send you the bonus materials later this week.

Questions about Prayer

What People are Saying about the Book

There have already been some great reviews of the book. Here are a few:

I highly recommend this book to help anyone wanting to learn how to comfortably pray and actually enjoy prayer time. -Jim Maus

The book appears to be too simple but as you progress Jeremy covers many aspects of prayer in a way that is like a breath of fresh air. -Pete Nellmapius

I especially enjoyed section on praying before a meal, always felt something wrong about that in the back of my mind, good to see expressed on print for first time. -Jon Albeanu

It is a book that can change your life. J.D.Myers has the gift of making Jesus and his teachings very simple for every man in any christian denomination. -Nikos Varalis

This is a must-read! People make prayer out to be something mystical, hard-work, and even frustrating. After reading this book you might even stop using the word prayer. You might just tell people that you are “talking to my very good friend, God.” -Michael Wilson

If you wonder what praying means, if you wonder what praying should be like, or even if you wonder why on earth people should even pray, READ THIS. This is, so far, my favorite Jeremy Myers book. -B. Shuford

This is not your typical book on prayer. Jeremy has written something truly helpful that bypasses the religious mumbo jumbo we have attached to prayer and made it something simple, joyous and easy to do. -Wesley Rostoll

Each chapter has some great ideas that can put us on the path to exploring how praying can be more natural and less confusing or frustrating. -Mike Edwards

Always stressing God’s love for us, he shows us how we can have honest, meaningful conversations with God. While he doesn’t claim to have all the answers, with humor and compassion, Myers instructs and inspires. -Imani42

Have you ever wondered how Paul can tell us to pray without seizing? Do you think it is possible? I challenge you to read this book and find out for yourself how easy it is. -Wickus Hendriks

Don’t expect to pray and stay the same, as most of the time you are the answer to your prayer. -ThePilgrimm

J.D Myers presents a practical and very clear understanding of who God is ,who we are and how life looks in prayer. Easy to understand concepts with shackle breaking power this book is a must read. -David DeMille

You too can experience what these reviewers are talking about above. You too can gain freedom and confidence in your prayers, and also begin to see more answers to your prayers.

Get this book today for $2.99, and then receive $250 in additional teaching on prayer absolutely free.

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: answers to prayer, Books I'm Writing, dangerous prayer, impossible prayers, Lord's Prayer, questions about prayer, unanswered prayer, What is prayer

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My new book, What is Prayer?, is now available

By Jeremy Myers
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My new book, What is Prayer?, is now available

My new book is out! It is titled, What is Prayer? You can get the book on Amazon as an eBook or Paperback, or at Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Here is the cover:

What is Prayer?

What is Prayer? seeks to answer some of the main questions that Christians have about prayer. It does this by providing one key suggestion about how to pray, and then answers the various questions you might have about prayer through the lens of this suggestion.

Here is the Table of Contents to What is Prayer?

Foreword by Mark Karris

1. How to Talk with God
2. What Should You Pray For?
3. How Did Jesus Pray?
4. How to Get Answers to Prayer
5. 10 Dangerous Prayers
6. Praying Powerful Prayers
7. What About Unanswered Prayers?
8. Other Questions About Prayer

The Foreword to the book by Mark Karris

I was blessed to get Mark Karris to write the foreword to What is Prayer? He has an EXCELLENT book on prayer coming out in January (I think). Here is what he wrote for the book:

I remember when I was new to the Christian faith. I was unable to wrap my head around the sacred practice of prayer. Others had God on speed-dial while God’s number always seemed to be changing for me. Over the years, doubts and questions kept piling up.

I didn’t understand why we had to be so loud. Is God deaf? Does God consider us more spiritual if we are passionate and yell our prayers to Him? I didn’t understand why we repeated God’s name over and over again as if we were going into a trance-like state. Or did God forget His name?

I didn’t understand what posture I needed to take for God to accept my prayers. Would God hear me better if I were on my knees? Would God like my prayers more, or even be fonder of me as His child, if I raised my hands?

And why did friends’ prayers for God to give them parking spots at malls and convenience stores get answered, but not mine for my ailing and addicted mother? Is God cruelly selective in answering prayer?

I had tons of questions. Those haunting questions kept me stuck, stagnant, and stale in my prayer life. Where was J. D. Myers’ book What is Prayer? when I needed it?

I consider it an incredible privilege and honor to write a few words in support of this superbly written and enlightening book. J. D. Myers tackles the complexity and conundrum of prayer with a pastoral and prophetic heart, a brilliant and wise mind, and a courageous spirit obviously in touch and in tune with both God and God’s people.

The good news is there is no conundrum in how to pray to God—at least not anymore. J. D. Myers sheds the religious and superstitious garb off of prayer and makes a simple, provocative, and liberating claim: Prayer is talking to God as you would talk to a friend.

I highly recommend this book not only to new Christians who want to learn how to pray but also to the experienced and inquisitive God-lover who still has many questions. Thank you, J. D., for such a gift to the Christian community!

Mark Karris
Author of Divine Echoes: Reconciling Prayer with the Uncontrolling Love of God
MarkGregoryKarris.com

If you have questions about prayer, I think you will really enjoy the book. There are several reviews of the book already, and people really seem to appreciate what the book teaches them about prayer. Go here to read the reviews on Amazon to see if you might benefit from the book as well.

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Writing, how to pray, prayer, What is prayer

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How to talk to God for REAL

By Jeremy Myers
40 Comments

How to talk to God for REAL

what is prayerHow do you talk to God? How should we talk to God?

I often hear Christians who have picked up a really bad habit of saying “Father God” at least once every 5 words. I am not making this up. You have probably heard something like it yourself.

Such prayers sound like this:

Father God, I thank you, Father God, for being here, Father God, and for allowing us, Father God, to study Scripture today, Father God. And Father God, may you bless our minds, Father God, with your Spirit, Father God, so that, Father God, we may become more Christlike, Father God, and in your name, Father God, bring others to you, Father God.

And on and on it goes. I have written about this before here. Such a way of praying certainly develops a good rhythm, but is that really what we are going for in our prayers? Rhythm? No. I think that when we pray, our goal should be communication with God.

So how can you do that?

Talk to God like you Talk to Others

When people say “Father God” over and over in their prayers, I imagine God does not mind as much as I do … but please, when you pray, learn to talk to God like you talk to anyone else. You do not need fancy words, fancy language, or lots of repetition.

And God definitely doesn’t need to be reminded of who we are talking to.

On a recent Facebook Post, Vicki Manera shared this image with me:

talk to God

Let’s start talking to God the way we talk to anyone else. God does not need to be reminded that we are talking to Him.

In fact, you don’t even need to start your prayers with the word “Dear” and end them with the word “Amen.” Do you do this when talking to anyone else? Nope. So just talk to God like you talk to any other friend who is standing right next to you. Because that is exactly where God is.

The Lord’s Prayer for Today

Here is “The Lord’s Prayer” which follows this way of thinking about God and about prayer:

Hey Dad, I know that you want people to know who you are, and so help me learn to follow your ways here on earth just as they are followed in heaven. Help me do this by trusting you for my needs today and avoiding the way the world wants me to live. Hopefully as you teach me to live this way, others will come to know you through me. I’m serious about this, okay?

Now really, that prayer is quite generic. It doesn’t say much. But it’s a template for how our conversations with God can go. You don’t need to memorize this prayer or recite it. After all, do you memorize a conversation you want to have with your wife and recite it to her every night at dinner? I hope not…

The point is this … God is a real person who wants to have real conversations with you. So talk to Him that way!

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

If you have these (and other) questions about prayer, let me send you some teaching and instruction about prayer to your email inbox. You will receive one or two per week, absolutely free. Fill out the form below to get started.

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Login here.

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God is Redeeming Life, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: how to pray, prayer, talk to God, The Lords Prayer, What is prayer

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What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?

By Jeremy Myers
35 Comments

What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?

Jesus says that whatever you ask for in his name will be given to you (John 14:13-14). But what does that mean?

In an attempt to follow Jesus’ instructions, many parents and churches teach (usually by example) that every prayer should conclude with the words “…in Jesus’ name, Amen.” But is this what Jesus meant?

In Jesus name

Sometimes you hear people take this idea to an extreme, and they say, “…in Jesus’ name” over and over throughout their prayer such as this:

Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus, to ask  you, Father, that you bless our time together, in Jesus’ name. And we bring forward our needs to you, Father, thinking of Ruth and her ingrown toenail, that you would heal it, Father, in Jesus’ name. And we lift up to you the sick cat of Carol. You know, Father, how the cat has been throwing up all night, and how Carol loves the cat which you gave her, and so we ask that you reach down out of heaven and touch her cat in Jesus’ name, Father, and deliver her cat from this malady that is causing the cat and Carol so much problem, in Jesus’ name…

And so on. (And while you might think I am trying to be funny with requests about toenails and sick cats, if you have been in many prayer meetings, you know that these sorts of requests are not uncommon.)

Even when Christians are able to root out of their prayers all the repetitious mentioning of “Father” and “in Jesus’ name,” it is still quite common for most Christians to end their prayers with the word, “… in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I admit I do this. It is a habit I just cannot break.

in Jesus nameBut why would I want to break it?

Doesn’t Jesus tell us to pray in His name?

Well, yes, He does. But His instruction does not mean that we liberally sprinkle our prayers with the magic words “in Jesus’ name” or that we even close out our prayers with these words.

When we do this, we are treating the words “in Jesus’ name” like they are some sort of magical incantation by which we will get whatever we ask for in prayer. But that is not at all what Jesus meant, and in fact, mindlessly repeating the words “in Jesus’ name” to get what we ask for in prayer is actually the exact opposite of what Jesus meant when He invited us to pray in His name.

What does it mean to pray “in Jesus’ name”?

To pray “in Jesus’ name” means to pray as if Jesus Himself was praying our prayers.

When an ambassador visits another country “in the name of the king” (or president) it is as if his king (or president) is speaking the words that the ambassador speaks. The leaders of these other countries are to assume that whatever the ambassador says, it is as if the king (or president) himself said them.

Obviously then, the ambassador had better be certain that what he says is exactly what the king himself would say. If an ambassador says something foolish or insulting, he could easily start a war or ruin a trade agreement or destroy a treaty. To be a good ambassador, the ambassador needs to know the mind and heart and will of his king so intimately, that the two minds are nearly one.

This is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name.” They are not magic words to get what you want, but are a mind frame we must adopt when praying to God. We must so intimately know the mind and heart and will of Jesus in whatever situation we are praying about, that the words we speak are the same exact words Jesus would speak if He Himself were the one making the petition to God.

How to Pray in Jesus’ Name

So to expand a bit on what Jesus said in John 14:13-14, I think His words could be paraphrased this way:

But when you pray, spend time thinking about what I value, what I have instructed you, how I lived my life, the kind of example I provided, the people I hung out with, the goals I sought to achieve, the relationship I had with God. Take careful notice of what I taught and what I prayed for. Then, offer your requests to God in light of these things. And when you do, make these requests boldly, knowing that the words you speak are the same words I am speaking. And when you pray this way, know that your prayers will be answered.

in Jesus name amenIf you are not completely confident that what you are praying is what Jesus Himself would pray, this is when it is best to add the little caveat to your prayers of “if it is your will.” This way, in your conversations with God, you can tell Him what is heavy on your heart and weighs on your mind, but you are telling Him that you trust Him to make the best decision since you yourself do not know what is best.

In my opinion, most of the prayers we pray will be of this second sort, where we recognize that our hearts can be deceived and our minds darkened, and so we leave judgment and decision up to God.

To “pray with faith” is not to summon up so much “confidence” that God is somehow “forced” to do what we ask. No, to pray with faith is to offer our requests to God, knowing that He loves us and will do what is best for us, even if this involves not giving us what we have asked for.

So let us stop praying with magical words by which we try to coerce God and manipulate Him to do what we want. Stop using magic words in your prayers.

Instead, let us spend time learning the heart and mind of Jesus so that our prayers can match His prayers, and then, when we pray, pray with the humility of faith, knowing that God will do what is best for us.

Do I need to say ‘Amen’ at the end of my prayers?

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

If you have these (and other) questions about prayer, let me send you some teaching and instruction about prayer to your email inbox. You will receive one or two per week, absolutely free. Fill out the form below to get started.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
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God is Redeeming Life, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: answers to prayer, how to pray, Jesus name, John 14:13-14, prayer, What is prayer

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Watch out! The Lord’s Prayer will ruin your life

By Jeremy Myers
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Watch out! The Lord’s Prayer will ruin your life

A while back I wrote about the 8 most dangerous Christian prayers. Afterwards, I realized that one of the most dangerous prayers of all was the Lord’s prayer, which we have also looked at briefly before.

Let us now take a closer look at the Lord’s Prayer and see why it contains several dangerous prayer requests.

the Lords Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is full of dangerous prayers which can destroy your life.

Each line of the Lord’s prayer is designed to invite God into your life to overthrow, upend, and destroy your life. When you pray the Lord’s prayer, God enters your life like a bull in a china shop.

Afterwards, however, God takes all the shards of crystal and glass that He left behind, and makes the most beautiful mosaic you have ever seen.

If you pray the Lord’s prayer, get ready for destruction … but the beauty that rises from the ashes will be incomparable to whatever plans you had for your life previously.

Here is a quick run-through of how each line in the Lord’s Prayer will upend, overturn, and destroy your life as you know it.

Hallowed be thy name

In praying this, we announce that we want God’s name to be glorified. Sounds good, right?

Yes, except that usually, when we pray this, what we mean is “Hollowed be they name in and through me.” We want God to be gloried, and we want to ride His coat tails to some glory of our own.

But the prayer doesn’t say this will happen. It is a prayer for God’s name to be glorified; not our name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

This seems fairly safe, right? Haven’t many of us been taught to close out our prayers with “Not my will, but thy will be done?” Don’t we want God’s will to be done on earth?

Sure!

… Just not in our lives.

When it comes to our own lives, we want our own will to be done. God’s will for our lives usually looks much less enjoyable than our plans for our own life.

And besides, God’s will often seems to lead into death, slavery, obscurity, and suffering. Who wants that? Not me.

So this prayer is dangerous when we include ourselves in it.

Give us this day our daily bread

Daily bread means “enough food for today.” It means barely scraping by. But who wants that? I need a full fridge and a growing retirement account. I need a new car, a shinier cell-phone, a faster internet connection, and maybe an Apple iWatch.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgiven those who trespass against us

Of course we want God to forgive us, but are you ready to forgive the person who has wronged you?

… Um, maybe not yet.

Enough said.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

God doesn’t actually lead anyone into temptation, so this phrase probably means something closer to “Help us resist temptation when it comes.”

But regardless, we don’t really mean it. We like our pet sins. We don’t want God to point them out to us, nor do we want to get rid of them.

Instead, what we usually do, is invent other “sins” that we “struggle” so that we can make ourselves feel better about the small victories we gain over these fake sins while completely ignoring the bigger sins we harbor in our lives every day.

What sorts of sins? Oh, greed, pride, anger, and judgmentalism to name a few.

The Lord’s Prayer is Dangerous

So be careful about praying the Lord’s Prayer. Every phrase is a minefield just waiting for you to step on it so that your life can get turned upside down.

Here is a video in which I teach a bit more about the Lord’s Prayer:

The Disciple’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

If you have these (and other) questions about prayer, let me send you some teaching and instruction about prayer to your email inbox. You will receive one or two per week, absolutely free. Fill out the form below to get started.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

God is Redeeming Life, Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: answers to prayer, Books I'm Writing, Discipleship, how to pray, Luke 11:1-13, Matthew 6:9-13, pray to God, prayer, What is prayer

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