Tag: Book Critic

Book Review: Power Through Prayer

“This man must be a Christian Philosopher or a poet,” those were my first thoughts after going through the initial pages of Power through Prayer by E.M Bounds. It’s not surprising to know he was an attorney (they have some background in philosophy) and a member of the Methodist Church. The man played with words in this 75-page book, which also carried a strong message and is very relevant for the period that we find ourselves in.

Power through Prayer admonishes readers/preachers/Christians to adopt a lifestyle of prayer. E.M Bounds, in the book, established the importance of spending quality in prayer, particularly, for preachers who have the mandate to propagate the gospel and win souls for Christ. He provided the likely effects of relegating prayer into the background and bemoaned the current practice which has been adopted by preachers – spend more time to research and less time in prayer when preparing to preach. The 20-short-chapters’ book challenges ministers of the gospel to spend long and quality time with God and see how that translates to the congregation. Bounds provided examples of past preachers who spent quality time with God and how that affected their ministries.

This is one of the most pertinent messages that the church needs currently. The book’s content reminds me of a Christian broadcast I listened to where the preacher also challenged Christians, especially, Charismatics to stop hiding behind tongues-speaking and ‘pray properly.’ In the broadcast, the preacher defined prayer as talking to God and knowing you are talking to Him. In other words, our mind should be fixed on the activity that we are indulging in. He made emphasis on the duration, which shouldn’t be as important as the quality and when Christians genuinely pray to God, we become conduits for the manifestation of miracles and the power of God. I could detect hints of E.M Bounds’ Power through Prayer in that broadcast.

The book was undoubtedly exquisitely written and if you a lover of poetry then this book is just for you. In my opinion, it could have easily been simplified into fewer pages but the flowery nature of the content did not permit that but it is still a great book and the message, very strong. The book is highly recommended for preachers or anyone playing a role in the Christ-ministry and for which, Christian bloggers are not an exemption. We can’t do away with quality prayer and expect to flourish in our various callings.

There were several amazing quotes in Power through Prayer and below are three of them:

  • “The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, unwashed flow.”
  • “Prayer is not to the modern pulpit the mighty force it was in Paul’s life or Paul’s ministry. Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God’s work and is powerless to project God’s cause in this world.”
  • “A prepared heart is much better than a prepared sermon.”

Have you read this book? What are your opinions about it? Do share!

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Book Review: In Pursuit of Purpose

What is your purpose in life? This is one question which we have all encountered at certain points in our lives. For instance, in a job interview, you may be asked where you see yourself in five years and before one gets married, couples are asked if they know each others’ purposes, hence, making this subject a very important one to both Christians and non-Christians.

Myles Munroe’ In Pursuit of Purpose, did a remarkable job to unpack this popular question, particularly, in making his readers understand why it is very important to know one’s purpose and pursue it. This 149 page-book was easy to read and had some of the most amazing quotes that made the reader pause, think through and meditate upon. It was also written in the simplest language and made use of relateable scenarios to emphasise on some of the basic points. If you have ever listened to any of Myles Munroe’s lectures or sermons, this book actually felt like you were listening to him while he spoke – in the same style to ginger you to get up and find your purpose. He also used biblical references to situate his point in scriptures.

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Since this subject is a very important one, as a reader, I wished Myles Munroe had delved deeper in revealing the ‘how’ to finding ones’ purpose. What the book did, generally, was to let readers know the importance of finding their purposes and pursuing them. The author did drop hints on how to identify your purpose and like most books on this subjects, he directs the reader to go back to the ‘manufacturer’ who has the ‘manual.’ Subtly, he mentioned that assessing one’s uniqueness, special abilities, talents and potentials would eventually lead us to finding our purpose but what I really yearned for, while going through those pages, was a more comprehensible insight into how to identify all which makes a person unique. This was very important to me, as a reader, because there are people who are more than four decades old, and are still clueless on what makes them unique, not to talk of having knowledge of their purpose.

Nevertheless, In Pursuit of Purpose made a great read, particularly, in motivating the reader to search for what their purposes were and not to follow what the world described as ‘success.’ The world’s definition of a successful person is measured by the amount of wealth they have accumulated or their fame or accomplishments. If you mistakenly follow these and gradually get to the top, you are likely to face some penalties which have been listed in the book.

As stated earlier, there were so many beautiful quotes in this book but my favorite three include:

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  • Be what you are. Capitalize on the natural skills and talents with which you were born, and don’t lose them. When others belittle your special gifts and try to remake you according to their plans and purposes, refuse to yield to domination.

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This book is a great tool for individuals who have identified their purposes or unique talents and are looking for that push to pursue them. In Pursuit of Purpose is also useful to readers who want to understand the importance of pursuing their call.

PS: For those still searching for their purposes, here are five tips on how to go about that:

  1. Read books on this subject – Myles Munroe’s In Pursuit of Purpose will ginger you to find those special abilities of yours.
  2. Pray about this subject – In Pursuit of Purpose has that prayer which can help you identify that which is your purpose. God ‘manufactured’ you and has your ‘manual’ and He has the ability to reveal those special potentials of yours to you.
  3. Volunteer your services – One way to identify what you are good at is to volunteer your services and the church offers those grounds for you to experiment. You can join the prayer team and if you do not enjoy that, you can go and teach, if you still do not find your place in that team, perhaps, your calling is with children – join the children’s department. Through that you can find that which you do that gives you joy and fulfillment.
  4. Keep praying – Some people are fortunate to have prophets declaring their purposes to them. Others have had people, through visions, confirming their purposes. You may be in that category.
  5. Be Introspective – Look for that thing within you that you enjoy doing and when you are not paid, you still do it anyway. That thing that you do which other people have commended you on could be your special ability – and in there, lies God’s purpose for your life.

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