Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Charles Stanley has a talent for taking difficult material and making it easier to understand, and mostly importantly, apply in every day life. In "Listening to God" Stanley has created a helpful overview of a topic that is usually addressed as a side topic when discussing either Bible study/exegesis or prayer. The book is more of a guided personal reflection than a true Bible study, so if you are looking for a very deep interpretation of various verses you will not find that in this book. However, that is not what Stanley is attempting to accomplish with this book. Stanley covers the following lessons (each is a chapter):
God Has Something to Say to You
Why God Speaks to Us
How God Has Spoken
The Primary Ways God Speaks Today
How God Gets Our Attention
The Hallmarks of God's Messages to Us
How to Tell if the Voice is God's, Not Satan's
Our Predisposition to Hear
How to Listen Actively
Sitting in God's Presence
The lessons are each the perfect length to incorporate in to your personal devotion time in the morning or evening. A lesson will probably take 10 - 15 minutes to read, and contains another 10 - 15 minutes worth of reflection and journal prompts within it. Stanley does a great job of providing a barrage of questions throughout each lesson, especially after he quotes a section of Scripture. Generally, after each Scripture quotation Stanley will ask 2 - 4 questions that are intended to get the reader to interact with the text and to put in to practice what they have learned about listening to God.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 stars was because there are just too many assertions throughout the book about the way God thinks, acts, desires, etc., that were not accompanied by a Scripture verse for me. Even though I knew the point of the book was not to try to prove particular points but to get the reader to think, and even though I almost always agreed with the assertions, it is always a little concerning when you can go for pages without a single reference to Scripture.
One lesson I particularly enjoyed was Stanley's treatment of the way in which God speaks to us today; particularly his discussion of how God does not speak through nature. His treatment of this subject I thought was done thoughtfully and logically, but very concisely (maybe 2 pages). I recommend this section to anyone who is still trying to figure out how they feel about comments on the TV from certain people about natural disasters...
In the end, this is not the deepest work you can find on this topic, but it is a great overview, and is perfect for young Christians. The questions at the end of each lesson, and after each Scripture selection, are helpful and well thought out. It's a nice supplement to your quiet times if you are looking for something new to read at this time.
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TALKING TO GOD IS EASY. IT'S THE LISTENING THAT'S THE HARD PART. Although most of us can talk with ease to our best friend, many of us aren't so good at keeping quiet and hearing what our friend has to say. So it is with God. For true communication with Him, we must learn to listen through understanding His Word. Dr. Charles Stanley's Listening to God, part of the Life Principles Study Series, presents a sound way to explore the Word and hear God's truths. You'll learn to identify with the passages, recognize your emotional response, reflect on the passages' meaning and take steps to apply what you've learned.
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