Moving Mountains (Thomas Nelson, 2016)
Moving Mountains: Praying with Passion, Confidence, and Authority is the latest book by John Eldredge, director of Ransomed Heart. Ransomed Heart is a ministry dedicated to restoring men and women in the love of God. The foundation of this book is prayer that works. In fact, the recurrent theme, or a suitable subtitle, would be: “There is a way things work.”
God understands where you are in your spiritual journey and is committed to growing you up. Part of growing up is developing a mature- as opposed to naïve- view of prayer. God wants to push you through to real, solid answers. As Augustine once said: “Without God, we cannot, and without us, he will not.” Until you learn to pray, you won’t know what breakthroughs are possible. Because you come to the Lord as a partner in a shared mission, faith plays a critical role- maybe the critical role- in effective praying.
When we pray “In Jesus’ name” we are using His authority to enforce the power of what we just have prayed. Mr. Eldredge emphasizes that authority is one of the essential secrets to prayer that works. Our greatest need is for God’s kingdom to invade our life and our world. God is not a reluctant participant in our existence. We must not go by the look of things, but by the reality behind the look. Before praying, it is important for us to align ourselves with God, because it takes a whole heart to do effectual praying.
In order to be open to what God has to say as well as to seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit, it is essential that we let go of our constant attempts to figure things out and agonize at the lack of response. If you are not sure how to pray, ask Jesus what you should pray. At the same time, be careful how you bring your emotion or experience to the task at hand. John states that you should not ignore your emotion and experience, yet you cannot allow them to dictate what you are praying. Oswald Chambers notes that “identification with God is the key to intercession.” Praying the promises of Scripture gives you the assurance you are praying in the center of God’s will.
We ache to be made whole again. Only Jesus can do this for the heart and soul. Mighty victory is staying true to God- where God means everything to you- in the midst of terrible affliction. John concludes:
“For we are his sons and daughters, and he is maturing us to love all that he loves, to do all that he does. To move mountains, and more.”
