Prayer is more than a mechanical series of steps taken to achieve the goal of an answer from God. Prayer is an emotional, raw, devastatingly frank and spiritually challenging command of God that we must live out in real life. Raybon, journalism teacher and author of My First White Friend
, captures that honesty in her newest book. She offers readers a candid look at her struggle with prayer, as well as the lessons she's learned through the years. She talks of looking for Jesus and loving each other, of forgiveness, confession, intercession, trust and thankfulness. She offers 24 prayer lessons in all, each one a glorious blend of story, tutorial and the words of prayer warriors who have gone before. Raybon can tell a story to be sure; her husband's illness, her childhood, her daughter's change of religions, even a boy's baseball game shine with the emotions of a woman who is schooled in the joy of faith yet struggles with the command to pray. Raybon offers readers hope and empathy because she recognizes her own sin and because she understands more fully what God's command to love one another really means. This is a powerful and personal book about prayer. (Mar.)
