A Hunger for Healing Workbook

To break Sin's shackles, Keith Miller proposes an adaptation of the 12-Step program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. He does this most clearly in A Hunger for Healing: The Twelve Steps As a Classic Model for Christian Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, c. 1991), his sequel to Hope in the Fast Lane. He considers this 12 Step approach fresh and unique, especially in its spiritual sequence: rather than heeding to an authoritative message one begins by dealing honestly with one's illness. The 12 Steps begin without clear Christian affirmations, just a willingness to trust some "Higher Power" of some sort. Yet along the way, Miller argues, those in the program almost always encounter the God preeminently revealed in Jesus Christ. Having listened to lots of folks tell their stories, he says "we hear how they learned to move from trusting vaguely in a Higher Power of some kind to beginning to invite the loving spirit of God into the deepest, most confused, most fearful, most painful, and most practical areas of their lives. The change has usually taken place in a way that was personal rather than propositional. This was not the truth about God they were learning but the Presence of God with which they were inter¬acting. This sense of the presence of God changed the whole atmosphere in their lives--from despair to enthusiastic hope" (p. 180). Some advocates of the 12 Step programs, anxious to eliminate any specifically theistic dimen¬sion to the program, would reject this notion--indeed there are 12 Step groups which deliberately delete religious terminology from their program. But Miller believes there's something deeply spiritual about diligently following the steps, something which leads one to get acquainted with a "Person" rather than a nebulous "Higher Power." That's because "Spiritual has more to do with how much one is in touch with reality--one's own reality and feelings, the reality of other people, and ultimate reality, which is God and his will" (p. 6). For in all addictions, "As Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book) puts it, 'Selfishness--self-centeredness: that, we think, is the root of our troubles." And to get well, 'First of all we had to quit playing God'" (p.8). A Hunger for Healing carefully follows AA's 12 Steps, a chapter at a time, supplying biblical references to support the spiritual dimensions of the process. "The Twelve Steps of Sinners Anonymous" declare: 1. We admitted we were powerless over our Sin--that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and ourselves over to the care of God as we understood him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbl

The book arrived sooner than expected, brand new and packaged very well with no damage

If you have ever gone through the OSL training classes for healing, or even just a good study of the healings of Jesus, you know there is still need for Christians to discuss the particuliars of "how" and "when," etc. This book answers many of these questions, although I have just finished a new book by Tiffany Snow "The Power of Divine" that goes one step better. Nevertheless, this "Hunger" book has points in it that the new Christian healer may need to familiarize with before stepping out in faith to work with God.

This is a powerful book on healing. I came across this book about 5 years ago when my Christian Counselor told me to read it. I have read it numerous times and have bought many of them to share with others. This book embraces the healing process. No matter what your struggle may be, you can gain victory over it through this book's process. It is an excellent book that can be used individually or with a group in a twelve step program.

This workbook coupled with the hunger for healing book really allows the believer to sort through some very deep personnal dilemmas. The bible is the ultimate "tool box" for life but this is an owners guide to all of those tools. It is a real help!