Living Close to God (When You're Not Good at It): A Spiritual Life That Takes You Deeper Than Daily Devotions

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Living Close to God (When You're Not Good at It): A Spiritual Life That Takes You Deeper Than Daily Devotions

by Gene Edwards (Goodreads Author)

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 28 ratings · 15 reviews

Have you tried harder to have a consistent time with the Lord—but failed?
Does your mind wander during prayer, and do you run out of things to say?
Do you question why it is so hard to fellowship with the Lord?

Stop feeling like a failure at daily devotions and start walking every day with the Lord who loves you.

Gene Edwards faced these same questions and struggles. And he fo...more

Paperback, 192 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by WaterBrook Press

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Aug 17, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Living Close to God When You’re Not Good At It” offers the promise to help you experience a “spiritual life that takes you deeper than daily devotions”. Through several best practices, Edwards offers a handful of basic steps to encounter God on a daily basis.

Edwards begins by sharing about his own frustrating search for a deeper Christian life. He begins in the second chapter saying that he did not find help by reading of the lives of great Christian leaders (John Wesley, Adoniram Judson, Charl...more “Living Close to God When You’re Not Good At It” offers the promise to help you experience a “spiritual life that takes you deeper than daily devotions”. Through several best practices, Edwards offers a handful of basic steps to encounter God on a daily basis.

Edwards begins by sharing about his own frustrating search for a deeper Christian life. He begins in the second chapter saying that he did not find help by reading of the lives of great Christian leaders (John Wesley, Adoniram Judson, Charles Finney, Hudson Taylor, etc). I have to question how deeply he read of their lives because there are wonderful spiritual disciplines to learn from men such as these. Anyway, he decided that the search did not end there.

So still on a quest, he shares that he struggled to maintain a consistent quiet time, to keep his mind from wandering when he came before the Lord, of not having anything to say to God, experiencing one-way conversations with God, and also forgetting about God through the day. And so Edwards seeks to establish himself as “one of us” who has struggled with a deeper Christian life.
But as Edwards closes “The Search” chapter, he suggests that the reason our devotional lives ought to be simple is because “God is simple”. While the premise that we do not have to come before the Lord with programmed and difficult times of Bible study and prayer, I do not believe most would agree with the idea that the God of the Universe is “simple”. In fact, one can study about Him for a lifetime and just begin to grasp the great God of Scripture!

That being said, Edwards uses this idea of a “simple God” to pitch the idea that a deeper Christian life is as simple as reading the Bible. Thus, he offers a method of reading/praying to accomplish this goal of reading the Bible with a purpose. The method is essentially reading Scripture slowly, praying and contemplating each verse as you read. In all likelihood, most readers will not find this practice as a revolutionary and innovative new approach.

Edwards then challenges the reader to build upon this Bible reading with the practice of loving God in a new way. He suggests that the reader must go beyond doing by simply loving. For Edwards, the practice of loving is described as simply “breathing” words of affirmation to the Lord. He offers an example of speaking a repetitious phrase of love to God.

As Edwards moves towards the daily application of this practice of encountering the Lord, he urges the reader to, as some may suggest, essentially lower the bar by not striving for extended daily devotions, but focusing on shorter breath prayers and times with God. But for his intended audience of discouraged and frustrated followers of Christ, this more focused and shortened time will be a welcomed relief. The focus is the quality of the time, not a legalistic quantity of time.

As Edwards moves forward in the day, what expands on these shorter times is the encouragement to seek out opportunities throughout the day – in down times in the day. So what Edwards is calling for is not a once a day token time with God, but a day long encounter with God.
As a summary, the core of the book focuses on four core “handles” for spiritual growth:
1. Praying through the Psalms. 2. Taking walks to talk with God. 3. Focusing on short times with God in the morning. 4. Look for times throughout the day to talk with God.
Edwards offers an insightful chapter on the “dangers” of growing close to Christ. From conflicts with other Christian friends to conflicts in the church, a maturing believer certainly can face opposition.

Summary: Overall, I believe this book offers some helpful insights for busy believers to begin finding time and making time to encounter God daily. At the same time, I see this book as a “beginner’s guide” which will lead the maturing believer to seek out longer times with God, a more developed prayer life, and more inductive-style Bible studies. Edwards offers hope to those discouraged by their current relationship with God by using Scriptural principles and practices. In my opinion, some church-goers would benefit from this book using the methods that he encourages, but many will be left looking for something much more in depth.

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."
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Jun 04, 2012 Laverne Ombadykow rated it 3 of 5 stars

During all of my Christian life I have often felt that I fell short of where I should have been in my relationship with God. So, when I saw this book offered by WaterBrook Multnomah for review, I agreed to read it and write a review.

Gene Edwards, the author, openly admitted that he wasn't good at drawing close to God. He wrote about putting aside the legalistic rules about how long to pray and how much to read every day and how long to spend in quiet time. What he offered was a guide to what he...more

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May 14, 2012 Jeff Randleman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-living

Book Review - Living Close To God by Gene Edwards

Gene Edwards has recently released a new book that is described as a way to grow into a spiritual life that takes you deeper than daily devotions.

Edwards is a self-proclaimed doer. As such, he has always had a tough time with the various methods of "being" a Christian. In order to deepen his relationship with Christ, he had to figure out a way to do this that matched his personality.

In Living Close To God (When You're Not Good At It), Edwards desc...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Marcus Lynn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: discipleship

Gene Edwards’ book “Living Close to God…when you’re not good at it” is the perfect title for a book to hook people in who may be struggling with their day-to-day walk with God. I saw it and thought, “Exactly what I need to jump-start my one-on-one relationship with God.” The book promises that “you will find many practical helps, even if, like me, you are a Christian who is not endowed with a natural spiritual aptitude.” But for this reader, I didn’t find it true.

And that’s what I find dangerous...more Gene Edwards’ book “Living Close to God…when you’re not good at it” is the perfect title for a book to hook people in who may be struggling with their day-to-day walk with God. I saw it and thought, “Exactly what I need to jump-start my one-on-one relationship with God.” The book promises that “you will find many practical helps, even if, like me, you are a Christian who is not endowed with a natural spiritual aptitude.” But for this reader, I didn’t find it true.

And that’s what I find dangerous with some “Christian life” books on the market. They promise something they can’t deliver for everyone. As someone who has worked on my daily times with God over 20 years there are a few things that I know: 1) there’s not one way to spend time with God; 2) the same things don’t work for everyone. So I don’t disregard Edwards’ method of fellowshiping with Christ. It may help a lot of “spiritually handicapped” people as he calls himself. It just didn’t help me.

Fortunately, the book isn’t long and drawn out. If you spend some time I think you’ll learn quickly if it’s for you or not. The question is whether to spend your hard-earned money on a book you’re not sure will be helpful. The answer to that will depend on your desperation of connecting with God. If you’re really struggling, like the author was, then try it. It’s hard to describe exactly what “it” is but the best I can do would be to call it “slow reading of meditative biblical texts as a call and response to God, listening carefully for Him. The key is “slowing down.” And in Edwards’ defense, maybe I didn’t do that enough.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through Blogging for Books book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This book’s title is correct, it’s about living close to God, not learning how to relate to Him intimately. After completing the 120 or so pages of widely spaced text I felt as empty as a college math teacher playing soduku with a third grader.

I'm not trying to degrade Gene Edward’s book. For the person who isn't interested in wading through the messy baggage of personal relationships this book is for you. It starts and ends without any narrative context. Why would you desire to live closely wit...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Seekingmylord rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian

Living Close to God (When You're Not Good At It) is a good introductory book for those who want to get past religion and find God. The first part of the book describes the author's journey starting with his own lack of spiritually. Then it engages you to try what he did. Using Psalm 23 as his foundation, he simply asks that you pause, wait, and slow down as you say the words as God would say them to you and you back to Him. It was the beginning of his spiritual awakening. I felt it was powerfull...more Living Close to God (When You're Not Good At It) is a good introductory book for those who want to get past religion and find God. The first part of the book describes the author's journey starting with his own lack of spiritually. Then it engages you to try what he did. Using Psalm 23 as his foundation, he simply asks that you pause, wait, and slow down as you say the words as God would say them to you and you back to Him. It was the beginning of his spiritual awakening. I felt it was powerfully moving also. He suggested taking 30 minutes to go through this exercise; I found I had taken an hour and most of it was in tears.

The author suggests not to spend quantity time with the Lord but highly quality time. This is not to replace prayer, devotions, or scripture reading if these are part of your routine, although I suspect it will enrich them. It is about connecting with God even if you do not have a devotional routine. It is also about giving God a loving hug without asking for anything for just a few moments at a time. Just saying "I love you" in a still and quieted mind a few times a day. It is a spiritual-life changing book.

That said, it was the last chapter, "Getting to Know Christ Can Be Dangerous," that grabbed me because it is both illogical and profoundly true:

"Many believers who have come to a deeper relationship with Christ get into trouble. There are reasons for this.

First, they get into trouble with other Christians, even friends, who no longer understand them.

Second, they get into trouble with the church, because a deeper relationship with Christ conflicts with church as it is practiced in their generation.

Third, they may cause trouble, which in turn means they get into trouble.

Most Christians do not want to accept that growing closer to Christ would put them at odds with the church....It is even possible you might lose friends and become a byword among believers."

In the last part of the book is a seven-session small group study guide and also a seven-week personal guide. Both basically question the reader and reiterate the information. Some may find these parts of the book redundant and some might find them very helpful in supporting the few and very simple principles presented. This book is definitely worthwhile to give you ideas about how and when to take special moments with the Lord and just love Him.

I received this book from WaterBrook Press in exchange for my honest review.(less)

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Jan 02, 2012 David Santos rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book annoyed me. I was very excited when I received it in the mail. Because I, at times feel like I lack that relationship with God. I wanted to read this book in hopes to find the answer to the question "How do I live closer to God?" What I got were "sermons" about things I don't understand. Again I have A.D.D so if the book isn't straight to the point, I get bored easily.

This book should be titled "How I Lived Closer to God" because it just talks about the authors relationship with God an...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Joel Jackson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality

Gene Edwards offers a concise guide to the spiritual life, a guide that seeks to help each Christian who is bogged down in this busy world to find the moments to commune with the Savior. In this guide, Edwards offers many practical suggestions. One such suggestion is to designate certain patterns or signals throughout the day in order to remind you to spend some time in conversation with the Lord. A particularly helpful aspect of this text was the author's consistent reminder that he himself is...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love the idea of this book, it's perfect for people like me who can't sit still for one minute, let alone fifteen minutes of quiet time. I thought it would give me practical, step-by-step solutions, but it didn't. That was a bit of a disappointment, since I was looking for some sort of paracetamol for my spiritual headache. But I realized there might not be an easy, over-the-counter prescription for what ails me.

The book is a lot about the author's own experience, which made me realize my spir...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was kind of a slow read. It had some good content (how to stay close to God throughout the day) but kind of lacked at keeping my attention. My mind wandered a few times, and I was hoping that something would jump out and pull me back, but sadly it was just an average book. There was one of two things I picked up as reminders to talk to God, cover your ignition key slot, but other than that, I didn’t get a lot out of it.

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Apr 14, 2012 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars

My take away...."breathing out sorrow...sadness...regret...Breath in God" and "Enjoy the simplicity of God" and "Are you resisting what God wants to do in your life because it is so far from what you have always wanted for yourself?"

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Sep 08, 2011 Gail rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won this book in a goodreads first reads giveaway. It's an amazing book and makes you think about what is important in life.

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Apr 14, 2012 Colleen McGlashen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: worship, christianity

This book is good for those who are just learning to worship. Very practical day to day applications on your journey to a closer relationship with Christ. This is a good book to start with.

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Aug 03, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book. My summation...we must make our relationship with God personal.

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Oct 08, 2011 Pat Roseman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read, christian-living

A very non-traditional approach to the spiritual life. I think I'll read it again and I'm going to do the personal study guide at the end, for a change.

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Feb 03, 2013 Joshua rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Shelves: home-library

Jan 14, 2013 Wílmar Alexandre rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Nov 27, 2012 Phronsie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Oct 11, 2012 Reid Mccormick rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About Gene Edwards

Gene Edwards is one of America's most beloved Christian authors. He has published over 25 best-selling books, and his signature work, "The Divine Romance," has been called a masterpiece of Christian literature. He has written biblical fiction covering nearly the entire Bible, with titles that include the following: "The Beginning," "The Escape," "The Birth," "The Divine Romance," "The Triumph," "R...more

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