Pivotal Praying: Connecting with God in Times of Great Need

John Hull and Tim Elmore’s book entitled Pivotal Praying is full of illustrations about the power of prayer.  It also tries to direct prayers in specific situations.

Here’s a few of my favorite takeaways:

  • “Pivotal praying means we learn to pray at higher levels…Our prayer becomes mission driven not maintenance driven” (9).
  • “I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf…One day, I told the Lord I would rather die than merely tread water throughout my career in ministry” [Jim Cymbala] (24).
  • “I have never met a person who has made a difference, regardless of his or her agenda, without putting forth a lot of effort” (51).
  • “However, there’s a world of difference between ‘Lord’ and ‘Rabbi.’  You don’t surrender to a good teacher” (66).
  • “The problem is that most Christians don’t really believe that life is war and that our invisible enemy is awesome.  How are you ever going to get them to pray?  They’ll say they believe these truths, but watch their lives.  There is a peacetime casualness in the church about spiritual things…all is well in America, the Disneyland of the universe” [John Piper] (109).
  • “When I invited Jesus into my life, I thought he would put up some wallpaper and hang a few pictures.  But he started knocking out walls and adding rooms.  I said, ‘I was expecting a nice cottage.’  But He said, ‘I’m making a palace in which to live'” [C. S. Lewis] (119).