Saturday, October 19, 2013

Praying the Attributes of God by Ann Spangler

Spangler wants us to discard distortions of God and find “a true and deeper vision of who he is as the almighty, everlasting God, who is holy and yet merciful, jealous and yet loving, righteous yet forgiving.” (xi)

She helps us do that by providing studies on the attributes of God in daily readings. She has arranged them as follows:
  Monday: key Scripture passages revealing the attribute, background information and a brief Bible study.
  Tuesday – Thursday: devotions to help us pray Scripture passages that relate to the attribute.
  Friday: relating the attribute to God's promises, key passages are listed for reflection or memorization with additional ones for weekend contemplation.

Spangler covers an attribute a week for seventeen weeks. God is loving, good, infinite, immutable, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, patient, wise, self-sufficient, jealous, righteous, merciful, faithful, holy, creative, and transcendent.

I was impressed with the depth of Spangler's information on each attribute. She reviews Hebrew and Greek terms too. This is a great book to use in a discipleship group or to read privately to stimulate journaling as Spangler asks thoughtful questions. I really like the format too. The theological information is given in daily chunks so we are not overwhelmed.

This is a great book, a very readable introduction to the attributes of God. Every Christian should, in the course of growing in the faith, study the attributes of God. This is a very good book to get you started.

Ann Spangler is an award-winning author, publishing her first book and bestseller in 1994. Her books have sold millions of copies. She and her daughters live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tyndale house Publishers, 307 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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