Product Description"Oh, how hard it is in praying to reach the Amen." Soren KierkegaardDo you feel guilty about your prayer life? Do you find yourself plagued by boredom when you pray? Does your mind wander off track--say, from your prayer list to your "to do" list? Is it hard for you to reach the Amen?Many Christians experience frustration and disappointment with prayer. You want to pray. You want to experience God's presence. Maybe your spirit is willing, but your body is weak. Or maybe your spirit is too easily distracted. Don't despair. In Long Wandering Prayer pastor David Hansen reminds us, quoting J. R. R. Tolkein, that "not all who wander are lost." Hansen himself writes,Long wandering prayer involves leaving our normal environment for the express purpose of spending several hours with God alone, but not secluded. It involves walking, or at least moving, so that we can stop at any time and consider a lily for an unpredictable length of time. Long wandering prayer uses the fact that our minds wander as an advantage to prayer rather than as a disadvantage.Hansen's helpful, insightful and encouraging book will cause you to take a fresh look at your prayer habits. As you practice long wandering prayer, turning your "weaknesses" into strengths, you'll find refreshment, peace and joy. And along the way, you'll deepen and strengthen your relationship with God.From Publishers WeeklyEasily distracted Christians who pray in fits and starts should abandon the misconception that prayer is only done on their knees, writes Hansen (The Art of Pastoring and A Little Handbook on Having a Soul). As a pastor who has engaged in "wandering prayer" for over 30 years, Hansen argues that most Christians do not understand the essential relationship between their physical bodies and their ability to pray over long periods of time. For Hansen, movement, action and even distraction are all vital components of wandering prayer. He admits that his best praying is done while fishing: Intermittent thoughts rise to God while a fish is reeled in, and prayers for his congregation reach the heavens as another line hits the water. After hours of such walking, fishing, thinking and praying, Hansen claims to gain fresh perspective, new peace and a ready sermon for Sunday. He discusses key aspects of wandering prayer, such as bringing down the barriers to long prayers, acknowledging the positive relationship between physical activity and mental wandering, recognizing that long prayer brings new introspective insight and learning how the Bible applauds the courage of persistent petitions. Each chapter also includes a lengthy prayer narrative written by men and women who have discovered the life-changing secret of wandering prayer. Hansen convincingly instructs fellow Christians on the spiritual joys they will encounter by embarking on wandering prayer journeys. (Feb.)Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.From the Publisher"A few hours with Dave Hansen in this book expands our sense of prayer exponentially. The time and space and will to pray that we always thought we lacked, suddenly are there, here." Eugene Peterson, author of The Message"In the Middle Ages the church was blessed with wandering scholars and wandering saints who shaped the Christian faith by walking along hidden pathways and untrodden trails. Now comes a perambulating evangelical pastor, Dave Hansen, who teaches us to pray as we walk and listen as well as talk to the God who meets us in silence as well as sound at every turn of life's road. This is a handbook for the soul's wandering journey to God. 'Take it and read!'" Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford UniversityAbout the AuthorDavid Hansen is pastor of Kenwood Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also the author of The Art of Pastoring and A Little Handbook on Having a Soul.

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