Jesus Calling?

[Josh]

So I was flipping radio stations the other day and came across some Christian preacher/ teacher alarmist decrying the popularity of the devotional "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.  I don't have a lot of familiarity with it, maybe some of you do?  Anyway, he was criticizing the devotional on a host of fronts, none of which impressed me.  First was the classic line that the devotional was replacing the Bible (heard that so many times before, you'd think some evangelicals would see the hypocrisy of criticizing books which expand on biblical themes while they are doing the very same thing themselves).  Then there was concern about the author's encouraging of visualizing techniques in prayer (such as envisioning God's arms holding us, etc..)  as some kind of veiled New Age trick (in fact, "contemplative prayer" was spoken of in disparaging simplistic terms).   Then there was the claim that the author was using flattery to entice her readers.  The icing on the cake was when the he cited Daniel 11:32 as referring to the "fact" that since the Anti-Christ (never once actually mentioned by name in Daniel, btw) would use flattery to attain his kingdom, then the spirit of antichrist must be at work in books like "Jesus Calling". 

Just another reason I cringe at most Christian radio.

[onthe3dge]

I haven't read it, but I have looked into "contemplative prayer" and believe it to be suspect at best. If it is no different from ordinary Christian prayer it hardly needs its own name, and one certainly doesn't need to assume postures or perform physical disciplines in order to be filled with the Spirit. But I don't intend to debate the topic and will just leave a link for your consideration: www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/contemplative-narloch.htm

[Josh]

If it is no different from ordinary Christian prayer it hardly needs its own name, and one certainly doesn't need to assume postures or perform physical disciplines in order to be filled with the Spirit.

But just as there isn't just one kind of teaching or one kind of service, there needn't be just one kind of prayer.   I'm not saying that some forms of prayer are more spirit-filled than others, but there are different ways of approaching prayer that achieve different ends.  Just as Jesus indicated that Fasting + Prayer is a good prescription for certain prayer objectives (Mark 9:29), we might expect that different approaches to prayer might suit different occasions.    All prayer has certain things in common (communication with God), but different kinds of prayer have different objectives (intercessory, thanksgiving, contemplative, simple communication).

[stevekimes]

I've read portions of Jesus Calling and the worst I can say about it is that it's pretty dull.  I didn't find it challenging or encouraging, but I know that it's pretty popular, so it must be doing something for someone.

As far as contemplative prayer, that isn't hugely different than receiving a vision, a practice even Peter participated in.  Only those who are frightened of our imaginations should fear contemplative prayer.  God speaks to different ones of us in different ways, and God understands all of our languages looks past our words and methods of communication to our heart.  Including our imagination.