God, Do You Hear Me?: Discover the Prayer God Always Answers

Derwin Gray is my pastor and in his book, God, Do you Hear Me? his writing focuses on how to pray the way Jesus taught us in the Bible through the Lord’s Prayer. What’s powerful about this book is that as I read, I realized how selfish I was in my prayer life. I was treating God like a vending machine asking for the fulfillment of my own desires vs praying for God’s Will for my life. Derwin reminds us that the key to intimacy with Christ is a strong relationship and in order to have that we must spend time in His Word and in prayer. The practical application of the Lord’s Prayer not only teaches us to pray God’s Will for our lives, but it helps us develop a deeper love and intimacy with Christ that He longs to have with each of us.

I’ve been a Christian my whole life. Born and raised in church. And yet reading this book has completely changed my life. Thought provoking, convicting, truth filled words on every page. Prayer has always been a struggle for me, and for the first time in my life I feel like I have a thriving prayer life. A must have book, and my top recommendation for 2021.

There were several good quotes, even entire sections, one of which I plan on reading to my kids. I also appreciated the organization of each section being about the corresponding section of the Lord's Prayer. And the discussion questions and ending prayers at the end of each chapter were great.The principles in the book and the general theme of praying the Lord's Prayer were applicable, but there was a lot of fluff that wasn't. There were some great eloquent nuggets and "sticky statements," but many of them were merely alliterative or imagistic language without being very practical.There was no real problem this book solved. If the felt need was that someone didn't think God listened to their prayers, the book really didn't address that need much. If you do buy the book, you will glean enough nuggets to make it worthwhile. I felt it was more motivational but not very helpful.I was not happy with three major things:1. the changing of names for God between Father and Abba and Yahweh;2. the fact that he went to a Mormon college. It sounds like he didn't become a believer until after that, and everything he spoke of doctrinally sounded correct, but I have lived among a Mormon community, and they often use the same Christianese words but with different meanings. I don't remember him actually saying that Jesus is God -- though I could be wrong -- but He used Messiah Jesus often as one of the Trinity. But it wasn't clear.3. It was a lot of fluff and very little practicality. It was more trying to change our mindset as we pray the Lord's Prayer. I really didn't get much out of it that I can take away with me. In fact, I had to slog through just to get to the end.Favorite quotes:“When we compare what we have with what others have, we detach ourselves from having a heart of gratitude. It is impossible to appreciate what you have when your eyes are lusting for what others have. A heart of gratitude is like having a horse blinder on. Horse blinders are leather squares that are affixed to a horse’s bridle to prevent the horse from seeing behind and beside her as she pulls a wagon. The horse blinders keep the horse from being distracted from what is around them.Jesus does not blind us to keep us from being distracted. Jesus opens our eyes so we can gaze upon his light of salvation. Jesus enlightens our hearts so we can see the wealth of our eternal inheritance and so his mighty power can be experienced.” (God, Do You Hear Me? by Derwin Gray, p. 193-194)“There is the fake gospel that I call American Political Jesus Gospel. American Political Jesus can come in the guise of a left-leaning progressive or right-leaning conservative. The progressives want God’s kingdom without a bloody cross and supernatural resurrection, and conservatives want to save souls without remembering that Jesus saves the whole person. The left wants justice without Jesus. The right wants moral order without grace. American Political Jesus is all about who is in the White House or Supreme Court. Politics is the new religion of America. This is 'fake news,' not Good News.” (God, Do You Hear Me? By Derwin Gray, p. 220)(I received a copy for free. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own, as was the decision to write this review.)

I've recited and read the Lord's prayer many times before, but this book added such depth and understanding to it. I appreciate Derwin's authenticity and biblical insight. He brought this prayer to life and inspired me to make it a part of my daily life. My prayer life won't be the same.