“The Prayer of Jabez” got a bad rap. While many Christian preachers and publications were decrying it as a “bless ME, God” book–a lite version of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel taken to the masses–millions of people inside and outside the church were learning that there is a God who is intimately interested in the details of their lives, who doesn’t only want them to stop sinning, but who wants to use them to do extraordinary things, to bless others and glorify God.

I thought “The Prayer of Jabez” was a fantastic little book, and had a hard time believing that some of the negative reviewers had even actually read it. Had they missed the point entirely? God doesn’t want to bless us so we can have material riches–he wants to bless us with SPIRITUAL riches, to fill us so full of grace that we overflow and spill out into a world that desperately needs more of God.

That’s why I knew I had to read Bruce Wilkinson’s latest book, “You Were Born for This–7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles.” It talks about the “tiny, enormous difference” between living a life of “feeling good about what you’ve done to help others, and feeling astonished by what God has done for them through you.”

See the difference?

I don’t know about you, but I want to live a life that is marked by what GOD has done through me, not by the good works I’ve done through my own power. Good people doing good things can go a long way, but it will NEVER be enough to bring about the healing God wants in the world. The world doesn’t need good people or good Christians, the world needs God. And God wants to work through us, if we’d just set our preconceptions of what God can and cannot do through us aside and give him free reign over our lives.

Since I think this is a point where a lot of us get hung up (myself included!) I requested an extra giveaway book. The first person to call dibs, either in the comments section of this blog or on FaceBook, gets it. 🙂 Email me your address at jennyraearmstrong@gmail.com. If someone else beats you to the punch but you still want the book, you can order it directly from Multnomah here.

If you’re still not convinced, you can watch a video of Bruce talking about his book here. Enjoy!