In God's Presence

by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki

Book Overview

Suchocki explores the dynamics of prayer. "If," she says, "we regard prayer as a partnership with, not a manipulation of, God, we can find whole new dimensions in our prayer life." This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0827216157
• ISBN13: 9780827216150
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Christian Board of Publication
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Prayer for our times

Hi First some background. I'm a retired United Methodist clergyman. Because of a preaching assignment this summer (which I knew about in December) I have spent the last months in a rather disciplined study around questions such as How do we image God? What is our image of the character of God? How do we think seriosly about God? This journey has led me to Ms Schocki's book "In God's Presence." She is not a new author for me. I read her "God, Christ, and Church" when it first came out and it too was most helpful for me. With this background, let me just say this. If you only have one single helpful book on prayer, this is the one! what else can Iadd. Perhaps just this. This reader finds it interesting that her thoughts are not only in harmony with some of the other modern scholars I read such as Crossan and Borg' but interestingly enough her writings have much in harmony with classic Christian mysticism, particular that found in the Christian Celtic tradition and the writings coming from Iona Community in Scotland. This is a rich but relatively little known tradition within the Church. And its imaging is so compatible with our understanding of the universe and The Reality in which we live. Instead of God being pictured as out there or up there, among some almost as Jane Russell said years ago, "God is The Man Upstairs", what if instead of that picture,we were to picture the universe, the planet earth, you and I as being IN GOD? I findit exciting. It's a new OLD idea. See Psalm 139. See Paul in Acts: "God is not far from anyone of us. IN God we live and move and have our being." If you want to experience a new old way of thinking about prayer, read this book. Ned

Learning how to become part of the co-creation

Ms. Suchocki has delivered a potent message about prayer that illuminated quite a few dark corners for me. As a 61-year-old cradle Episcopalian, I had become more and more depressed about my feelings of inadequacy in prayer. Most especially, I was beginning to believe that "prayer doesn't work," and that the best we could ever do is to snuggle up close to our Creator and experience the love that abounds from that source. Suchocki offers that the Creator voluntarily constrained the omnipotence to which this Creator is entitled. By doing so, the Creator gave us free will; if God could (or would) just step in whenever we've decided to mess things up, our free will would not be free, at all, and the consequences of our actions would be subject to an irrational, undependable Mr. Fix-it. Consider all the prayers offered during Holocaust. Mr. Fix-it would have leapt right in. The Creator, with us as limited partners, co-creators, let us exercise our free will. Until the violence was over, God must surely have shed more tears than all the rest of us, combined; and hopefully, we learned from all the errors we made during that awful period, so that as we progress in co-Creation, we will be more the kind of partners that God desires. I was struck by the idea that God always wills the best that can be for anyone, and that our prayers are part of a tapestry woven in the Creation that tilt Creation toward the goodness that we and God desire. Suchocki's description of the connected-ness provided by the millions of Christians praying the Lord's Prayer, down through the millenia, was an epiphany for me. The first chapter was very clearly written by an academic! I recommend that it be read through quickly and then deeply. After that, the rest of the book is illuminating on several levels, depending on how deeply the reader is willing to take herself or himself. I read it as part of a four-session summer book study, and would recommend doing so to others. Many minds can bring out the best of Suchocki's work. Highly recommended!

REFLECTIONS ON PRAYER

What is this "thing" called prayer? At sometime or another in our lives we have asked that question. Is it possible that the God of creation actually listens to and answers our prayers or are we having a monologue with ourselves? For those of us who have struggled with these and other questions concerning prayer, "In God's Presence" offers invaluable insights about this wonderful gift of communication. Majorie Suchocki shares with us her reflections about prayer from both a theological and personal perspective. She leads us through the various conceptions of what we think prayer "is" and shows us another view that moves beyond our well worn myths of communicating with God. We are challenged to look and examin every facet of prayer from the way we view God to offering prayers of thanksgiving and praise. This is not a "how to" book on prayer with pat formulas to communicate with God. The strength of this work is its insistence on urging us to reflect upon just what we are doing as we pray and the impact it has on us, God and the world. In that reflection prayer becomes more meaningful and alive. I highly recommend this work for those who want to move beyond the mundane babblings that we call prayer and establish a coherent and interdependent conversation with God who cares.

Reasons for Relationships

This is a mind-opening book that gives a real reason to pray, placing prayer in the context of our active relationship with God. The first few chapters also offer a clear but simple exposition of "process theology" --- a sometimes daunting way of looking at God and our relationship with God, but here built up in words of one or two syllables. The chapter on death and the dying is among the best essays on this subject I've ever encountered, and it makes profound pastoral and spiritual sense, and speaks to both mind and heart.

In God's Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer

This book is the perfect text for someone who is ready to move beyond the common definitions of prayer. Prayer is more than simply conversing with God, according to Suchocki. This book was a fantastic challenge for me. I have been a Christian over 30 years, and this book helped me see prayer in a new way. The chapters on intercession and prayers for healing were exceptional.