Designs of My Life

Mystically Wired

Mystically Wired: Exploring New Realms in Prayer

By: Ken Wilson

Prayer has always been one of my weaknesses. For some reason it has always been difficult for me. I’m not sure why that is. I’ve never done a whole lot of study on it, and I don’t have near as much personal experience with it as I should.

Having said that, I wasn’t sure how much of this book to take seriously and how much to discard. That is something that I have had to be careful with with these books I’ve been reviewing. Thomas Nelson publishes a lot of religious/spiritual/Biblical titles. I had a teacher in college who had a good policy about reading books like this. “It’s like eating fish. You eat the meat, but spit out the bones.” I’ve had to be on my toes to be able to discern between the meat and the bones. 

There were a lot of things in this book that I disagree with. Lots of talk about “charismatic” prayer and Christianity. Lots of talking about “spiritual experiences” in prayer. Jesus communicating directly with us through prayer. 

But on the other hand, it wasn’t all bones. There was some meat in there as well. Wilson gave some good practical advice for getting into the habit of prayer. Some I had heard before, some I hadn’t And the ones I had heard before, he expounded on further than I had ever heard. Like finding a specific place to pray. He also talked a lot about meditating. I had never thought of meditating as more than just thinking about something. Wilson goes deeper into, giving suggestions of Scriptures to meditate on, and how to actually go about the act of meditating.

One of the ideas that I really liked was the concept of prayer intervals. Sometimes people talk like you’re only a good Christian if you spend at least an hour in prayer every day. For beginning pray-ers, that’s a pretty daunting task. Wilson instead proposes the idea of praying at set intervals throughout the day, for just a few minutes at a time. 

Another thing I liked about the book was the fact that Wilson didn’t assume that just because you are a Christian that you automatically have a good prayer life, or even know how to pray. The few studies/lessons I have heard on prayer tend to assume that. He talks about how when you are first starting your prayer habits, your brain will offer some resistance. Just like it does when trying to develop any other habit. And that’s ok. Normal, even. That was encouraging to me. It helps to know that I’m not the only one who has ever felt like prayer was a chore, the only one who has had difficulty in developing an actual desire to pray. 

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to just anyone. There were a lot of bones to spit out. A lot of tangents to weed through. Although, I would recommend the basic tips that he offered for beginning a prayer habit. I’m definitely planning on trying a few out myself. Maybe you’ll hear some more on that later. =)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://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 Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”