The Power of Simple Prayer

by: Joyce Meyer

Published by: Hachette Book Group

Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton

(Read by Joyce Meyer and Sandra McCollum)

Author Joyce Meyer is a rising star on the charismatic horizon with a weekly program on cable TV and the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Prayer is sometimes approached as a "means to an end"--how can God meet our needs, how can He ease our burdens? Sometimes also, people think that they have to spend designated hours hiding in a prayer closet, using King James style language or God won't hear our prayers. And others think that praying to God is the same as wishing upon a star. It's nice to have that bit of backup out there, but we really can't believe that He'll really answer.

Joyce Meyers takes these thoughts and others and uses five different applications so we better understand the different aspects of prayer:

-- Praise, Worship, and Thanksgivin
-- Consecration and Commitmen
-- Petition and Perseverance
-- Intercessio
-- Prayers of Agreement

In addition to this, Joyce Meyers guides us through the building blocks for a richer, more interactive prayer relationship with God, by addressing:

-- unanswered prayer
-- hindrances to effective prayers
-- knowing how to use the Bible in praye
-- how prayer can help you remain strong in life

The Power of Simple Prayer comes in five CDs in a handy case, making it easy to select the CD you're ready to listen to. My only complaint about the audio book is that although Joyce Meyer's strong voice that we know from her TV show was dynamic, the other reader has very little voice inflections, making it sound obvious that she is "reading from a cue card." Her reading voice is almost a monotone.

Otherwise, it is very easy to "read" this book while traveling and the CDs don't really last a long time. Just driving around the small town where I live I easily listened to one CD. On a long trip or a long commute to work, one could easily listen to the whole thing without spending major amounts of time, and she goes over the points enough so that even if your attention strays some, you will still be able to understand what point they are making at that point.

Five CDs. Abridged. Total playing time: Six hours for $29.98.

Armchair Interview says: Easy listening, important message.

Author's Web site: http://www.joycemeyer.org