I have learned to lean on prayer as an anchor in seasons distress and as a soothing habit in times of calm. And although prayer and prayer journaling are a normal part of my life, I am always on the lookout for ways to enhance that experience and go deeper with God.
John Snyder’s book Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God is a wonderful tool for strengthening a prayer life. I highly recommend it. It is designed to be used as one prays about a single big issue over the course of 100 days.
At first that stymied me. I have so many things in my life that need prayer — intense prayer — how can I choose just one? But as I have worked through the book, I realize that you don’t necessarily have to choose a single issue. You can let the ideas for each day bring to mind a different need and pray about that. After all, time in prayer is never wasted.
Nevertheless, I like the premise of praying concerted prayers for 100 days over an area that needs a breakthrough. Jesus praised persistence in prayer (Luke 18:2-8), and this book gives you a clear guide for sticking with it.
The format is 100 short devotions that take up a two page spread. (I want to thank the layout designer for starting each devotion on the left side so that the entire day’s devotion can be seen without flipping pages. Smart.) Despite being short, the devotions are meaty. I almost always find a nugget to chew on in meditation.
Each devotion is grounded in an introductory scripture and ends with a prayer suggestion and blank lines for journaling. The prayer is not a verbatim prayer to repeat, but a nudge in the right direction as you personalize your need before God.
I am truly enjoying reading through Your 100 Day Prayer during my daily time with God. It is a book that I will be sad to see come to an end.
thanks for the review. i know what you mean about it being difficult to choose something specific to pray… but i have been thinking quite a bit about praying things through… i think i’ll give this book a try.
I agree with your comments especially when you write that, “Jesus praised persistence in prayer (Luke 18:2-8), and this book gives you a clear guide for sticking with it,” in short P.U.S.H …pray until something happens!