Dear Doris,

Thanks so much for this.

I'm getting this right ow.

Thanks.

Lovingly,

Pat Ferguson


At 11:11 PM 8/5/2013, you wrote:
>This is the book Chris and I are currently 
>reading together. It is a wonderful book that 
>really challenges but speaks to and from the 
>middle at the same time. Please find download 
>links for just the etext in .rtf format or the 
>audio in mp3 recorded with Neospeech Paul.
>
>
>CBN.com
>  -- Prayer is my passion. Although I am not 
> good at it and don’t fully understand it, I am 
> growing in that discipline. So is Larry Crabb. From the first
>page of his latest book
>The PAPA Prayer,
>the reader connects with Crabb’s personal 
>struggle with prayer over the years. As a 
>self-proclaimed “relentless realist”, Crabb shares his journey from
>lifeless praying to a new way of relating to God.
>
>Reading his book is like talking to a safe 
>friend who, without condemnation, shares where 
>he came from, the journey, and how God has and is changing him.
>
>
>The PAPA Prayer
>  is centered on knowing God and building a 
> relationship with Him. The goal is not praise 
> nor thanksgiving, and certainly not petition, for which we evangelicals
>are famous. Many of our personal and corporate 
>prayer times are often a list of wants and needs 
>as if we are sitting on Santa’s lap as a child before Christmas.
>Sure there are a few sentences praising God and 
>thanking Him, but the majority of time is spent 
>listing off requests. However good and needed these requests
>may be, Crabb suggests that prayer is not about 
>that at all. It is not about making our life on 
>earth as comfortable as possible, nor praying for everything
>to go right; it is about us coming to God as we are and relating to Him.
>
>Relational Prayer is us communicating in a real 
>way with the God of the universe where we speak 
>and we also listen. Not only that, but we learn to hear,
>not in a mystical way, but in a practical way. 
>We learn that knowing God has so much more for 
>us as Christians then any blessing here on earth. The blessings
>on earth are referred to as “second things” -- 
>second to knowing God, which should be our “first thing”.
>
>How do we keep first things first? In the second 
>part of the book Larry Crabb explains in more 
>detail how to pray the PAPA prayer, which includes Presenting
>yourself to God; Attending to how you think of 
>God; Purging yourself of anything that blocks 
>your relationship with God; and Approaching God as your “first
>thing”.
>
>The first step in the Papa prayer is presenting 
>yourself to God, not in how you think that you 
>should be, but in how you really are, authentically. Crabb
>suggests that you make a pattern of looking at 
>where you are, to your very core, and telling 
>God just that without holding anything back. You are to find
>your “red dot” -- the exact point that you are at that very moment.
>
>Once you have presented the real you, then you 
>attend to your present picture of God. Many of 
>us grow up picturing God in an inaccurate manner, perhaps
>as a buddy or a stern father. It is important to 
>unpack how you are thinking of God and then correct it with Scripture.
>
>Crabb states: “When we see Jesus as He really 
>is, today, right now, we don’t casually pray … 
>Instead, we’re silenced. We dare not speak till spoken to.”
>
>
>At this point, we need to clear out anything 
>that is blocking our relationship with our 
>Heavenly Father. We should see how we can be obsessed with ourselves
>when we should be with God. Then we are free to 
>approach God and allow Him to fill all of our empty places.
>
>Throughout his book, Crabb shares examples of 
>how the PAPA prayer might be worded in real life 
>situations and ends the book with a four-day plan to help
>the reader delve into himself. He also ends with 
>a note to women and one to men to personalize 
>how we each relate to God differently.
>
>The final paragraph ends the book the very way 
>Crabb could have also started it: “I offer the 
>PAPA prayer to return the body of Christ, and all its lonely
>members, to the center of their privileged 
>position, to a close relationship with God. I 
>offer this book to restore prayer to its highest purpose.”
>
>If you are ready to be challenged to a new way 
>of thinking about prayer and perhaps a new way 
>of looking at the Christian life, pick up a copy of
>The PAPA Prayer
>  and see how Crabb’s new way of praying can 
> also change your life. Prepare to begin a new journey.
>
>
>
>download link for audio (tts2audio Neospeech Paul + .rtf etext)
>
>http://www.sendspace.com/file/po2amz
>
>
>Just the etext in .rtf format:
>
>http://www.sendspace.com/file/5b7yct