Book Review: The Mercy Prayer by Robert Gelinas
Book Review: The Mercy Prayer by Robert Gelinas
The One Prayer Jesus Always Answers
What is the most prayed prayer? “Lord, have mercy.” God is merciful and has great mercy and He seems to delight in answering a request for mercy. This seems to be one point the author is trying to make.
This book will challenge your definition of mercy. Here’s an example, “mercy is God’s grace in action” (from page 34). The true definition of mercy may also help to explain the oddity of what we sometimes view as the goodness of God in the Romans 8:28 passage that can be sometimes seemingly unexplainable. Perhaps if we tweaked our definition of mercy it would all make sense. (food for thought at the very least)
In order to agree with all of his points you simply must tweak your definition of mercy.
The author uses personal, biblical and historical stories to illustrate his points which also helps to keep it very interesting.
I found lots of valuable nuggets. Here are some sample ones:
- “True change begins with God.” p. 41
- “Our recognition for our need for mercy only intensifies the closer we get to God.” p.57
- “Asking for mercy…is not about admitting who we are but admitting who God is.” p. 60-61
- “It’s not about coercing God but about recognizing what God already desires to do.” p. 62***
- “To request mercy from God is to request nothing less than a miracle.” p. 90
- “To receive mercy is to receive pity and the active, engaged love of God.” p.110
I did “stumble” just a bit on the quote on page 62 (with the asterisks above) because in my view God has already given us His mercy (as opposed to desiring to do it–future tense). It’s already been done. It is finished. We already have it (as believers). Yet at the same time there seems to be a place for this prayer still, and that view is partly by my own experience. Several years ago I was greatly impacted by listening to Michael W. Smith’s song, Lord Have Mercy. I listened to it over and over and over and wept my eyes out. There is something to that prayer of mercy!
This book is wonderful food for thought and if you think your definition of God’s mercy needs to be tweaked and even if you don’t you will benefit from reading this book!
To purchase your own copy of this book go here:The Mercy Prayer: The One Prayer Jesus Always Answers
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from publisher through the Booksneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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