Is God Listening?: Making Prayer a Part of Your Life

Andrew Steinmann is a professor of Old Testament exegesis at Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois (now known as Concordia University Chicago). "Is God Listening?" is a book that is intended to help the reader develop a more healthy, active, and Biblically-based prayer life. Steinmann wrote this book during a period of unemployment, when he felt that his prayer-life had become stagnant and God seemed far away. His faith and studies convinced him that God was indeed hearing his prayers and he did now withdraw, yet prayer seemed increasingly difficult and frustrating. Therefore, Steinmann went to the Bible with the intent of studying others' prayers (as recorded in Scripture) and drawing new insights from them. These insights are presented in "Is God Listening?"--a collection of principles that are intended to guide the believer's prayers and give him comfort. This book is divided into seven chapters; each begins with an emotional state, describes the state, and examines prayers that relate to that feeling. Chapter titles include: "When God Seems Deaf," "When Evil is Winning," "When Sin is Recognized," "When Health Fails," "When Family Provides Support," "When Prayer Becomes True Prayer," and "When God Receives Praise." While not all-inclusive, Steinmann presents a wide array of emotional states, and especially the emotions that prove detrimental to a Christian's prayer-life. Most of the time, one or more of the Psalms is the particular-of-focus, but prayers are also drawn from the books of Ezra, 1 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, John, Matthew, Luke, and Revelation. The prayer is broken, down, closely examined, and various over-arching principles are presented. These principles are drawn from God's clear words and promises and have proved solid and comforting to this reader. The final concluding chapter of this book is "Making Prayer a Part of Your Life" which gives the reader ideas and suggestions for further study on Biblical prayer. This book is intended for the lay-reader. Thus little technical jargon is employed. It is easily understandable, well-structured, and sticks to the main points. This is not to say that the book is simplistic in nature. Quite the opposite. Steinmann provides excellent insights that are applicable to new/weak Christians just as equally to the stalwarts of the faith. "Is God Listening?" is an exceedingly practical book on a subject that receives too-little scholarly attention. Highly recommended for all Christians as an important foundational resource.

Written by an associate professor of theology and philosophy at Concordia University, Is God Listening? Making Prayer a Part of Your Life is a simple guide to discovering the awareness that God is always listening, even when prayers seemingly go unanswered. Chapters address how to properly set one's mind and focus upon prayers concerning sin, failing health, praise to God, and other situations, some dire indeed. Further discussions shed light on God's reception of praise, drawing heavily from the psalms for better understanding, and steps for incorporating daily prayer into one's life. Penned from true faith, Is God Listening? is a spiritual resource especially intended for Christian readers but offering spiritual insight to all believers.