Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers

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Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers

by Anne Lamott (Goodreads Author)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 3,464 ratings · 763 reviews

New York Times-bestselling author Anne Lamott writes about the three simple prayers essential to coming through tough times, difficult days and the hardships of daily life.

Readers of all ages have followed and cherished Anne Lamott’s funny and perceptive writing about her own faith through decades of trial and error. And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesce...more

Hardcover, 112 pages

Published November 13th 2012 by Riverhead Hardcover

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Jan 12, 2013 Bill Kerwin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: spirituality

This slim book consists of three essays on spirituality, each exploring a different type of prayer: petition ("Help!"), thanksgiving ("Thanks!") and ("Wow!), which I feel can best be described as prayer in praise of the sublime. I have read two previous book on spirituality by Lamott, both longer and better than this one, but they all have the same qualities. Lamott is so frank about sharing her brokenness, all the small fragments of her crazy hippie life, that we hope we too--if we had half her...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved this, loved this, I read it over a week of breakfasts and what a way to start the day. The pithiness of Lamott's title is balanced by the thoroughness (which is not verbosity) of her rounding out what each prayer means to her. She's lived and loved and her wisdom and experience are evident in the illustrative examples she chooses. Help, thanks, and wow don't remain abstract, however much the abstract truth of their being the three essential prayers may strike you when you see the title for...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Colby rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book kinda reads like a first draft. Like a good idea Anne had. So maybe she started writing wise snippets. Really rich little nuggets. And put them in her snippet jar. After a while, it would look like a fruit salad of paper. All different colors, and different folds.

Then one day she emptied out her snippet jar, and voila! Because she is who she is, she got to type it all up and have it published.

It's not really very cohesive.

But that's okay, because still... it's Anne Lamott. It's a sho...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Abby rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Let's not get bogged down on whom or what we pray to. let's just say prayer is a communication from our hearts to the great mystery, or Goodness, or Howard; to the animating energy of love we are sometimes bold enough to believe in; to something unimaginably big, and not us. we could call this force Not Me, and Not Preachers Onstage with a Choir of 800. or for convenience we could just say "God". A wonderful, quick read about real and imperfect faith in real and imperfect people. People whose f...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Laura Siegel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir

I like Anne Lamott's witty writing in general, especially when she talks about herself. I liked the first two sections of this book. Though I don't worship God or a higher power I still found her funny and insightful. If nothing else, the book convinced me that my higher power is not outside myself--nor do I want it to be. The third section, "Wow," is more rambling and frenetic like someone doing a speed-writing exercise. I found myself wanting to read through it quickly and get it over with. So...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love Anne Lamott's writing. "like" her FB page if you want some great occasional doses of brilliance and wit.

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May 09, 2013 Jorja rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-living, prayer, spirituality

Lamott encourages her readers to “not get bogged down on whom or what we pray to.” Rather one should identify prayer as communication from our hearts to “something unimaginably huge and not us.” Her slightly irreverent humor allows one to experience the distillation of anything one says “to the amazing energy of love we are sometimes bold enough to believe in” regardless of the name we attach.
In Help, Thanks, Wow Lamott has identified the content and context of prayer that asks for assistance...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Karah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, self-help

I'm not exactly sure what prompted me to pick up this book while I was at Target the other day, but I'm really glad I did. Those who know me, know that I struggle with god/faith/the big questions/ etc. So seeking out a book about prayer might seem strange. But the title, and knowing it's written by Anne Lamott, drew me in. I thought, "Hmmm.... I'm not really sure what I believe about God, or even IF I believe IN God, but I like the idea of there being Something more. But I was raised Catholic an...more I'm not exactly sure what prompted me to pick up this book while I was at Target the other day, but I'm really glad I did. Those who know me, know that I struggle with god/faith/the big questions/ etc. So seeking out a book about prayer might seem strange. But the title, and knowing it's written by Anne Lamott, drew me in. I thought, "Hmmm.... I'm not really sure what I believe about God, or even IF I believe IN God, but I like the idea of there being Something more. But I was raised Catholic and the standard "Catholic" prayers so do not work for me. But hmmm.... maybe prayers of these three words, maybe if I thought about prayer in that way then I could "pray" again."

Lamott writes as if we were sitting down having tea. She's so conversational, it's easy to get drawn in. But at the same time, she sometimes seems to ramble in this book. I personally, kind of liked this, because it made me feel like she's just really explaining her thoughts. However, I could see where this might be really bothersome to read as well.

Here are my take away points from this book:
Praying "Help" in the biggest or smallest moments. I really like, "Help me not be such an ass." or "Help me please be patient with these children I'm here to teach" I like this one.
p. 26 "Or maybe you have a crack in your disbelief. As many great sages have said, that's how the light gets in."
p. 60 "Thanks......without shame at having been so blessed."
p. 62 "Sin is not the adult bookstore on the corner. It is the hard heart, the lack of generosity, and all the isms, racism and sexism and so forth."
p. 62 "At our least grateful, our pissiest and most self-obsessed, may create enough pain that we remember to do the footwork, get out of the house, or reach for the phone, or to get on our knees, or to get the hell outside."
p. 80-- the whole page :)
p. 86 "When nothing new can get in, that's death. When oxygen can't find a way in, you die. But new is scary, and new can be disappointing, and confusing--we had this all figured out, and now we don't."
p. 95 "The tide comes in and sweeps out our children's castles, and it hurts so much, and a wave knocks our father over, and he injures his back; hi'll never be the same. We pray to be of solace, and to find the courage to let people have their feelings. We breathe and pray to stay silent while people find their own way through. We pray to stay calm when the earth shakes and explodes. The universe is always having spasms and eruptions. It's labor. That's how things get born. We rush in to help." (less)

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Feb 28, 2013 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne Lamott believes that prayer is a very private activity--even when we pray with others--and she views prayer as a communication that goes directly from the heart to God. She feels that prayers can be distilled down into their most basic essences--help, thanks, and wow. She sees "help" as the first great prayer and feels that it is the prayer that comes to us when we are at the end of our rope, when we are broken, or when we stop thinking that we are in charge. She believes that our prayers o...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Kay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Walk-away quotes from book:
HELP! THANKS! WOW! AMEN!

the 3 things I cannot change ....the past, the truth, and you.
But in surrender you have won.
oh my God...thanks!
the 1 truth that the few people I adore will die...is plenty difficult to absorb.
we are hurt beyond any reasonable chance of healing...we are haunted by our failures & mortality....yet the world keeps on spinning...and in our grief, rage, and fear a few people keep on loving us and showing up.
pit crew of people....the experiences sh...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Derek Emerson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-books-read, christian

Anne Lamott definitely stretches the boundaries of Christian writing. For that, we can thank her. Yes, she swears, says honest and unkind things (usually about herself), sometimes refers to God as Phil, and even lets slip a longing for her earlier, non-Christian lifestyle.

In her most recent book, "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers," Lamott takes her earthly approach to the most holy of acts, prayer. In this short work, she talks about each of the three prayers and ends with some th...more Anne Lamott definitely stretches the boundaries of Christian writing. For that, we can thank her. Yes, she swears, says honest and unkind things (usually about herself), sometimes refers to God as Phil, and even lets slip a longing for her earlier, non-Christian lifestyle.

In her most recent book, "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers," Lamott takes her earthly approach to the most holy of acts, prayer. In this short work, she talks about each of the three prayers and ends with some thoughts on "Amen."

She notes at the outset that "Prayer is taking a chance that against all odds and past history, we are loved and chosen, and do not have to get it together before we show up." If other prayer books make you feel wholly inadequate to seek communion with God, Lamott will get you shouting at God without guilt. "God can handle honesty, and prayer begins as an honest conversation."

Of the three prayers, her section on "Help" is the strongest. Although a short book, this could even be shortened more as the multiple of examples for one type of prayer can become tiresome. And Lamott always has a tendency to want to show people how cool she is -- she tires too hard, since her unique approach to life is clear. But perhaps she has used "Help" more than other prayers, so her words hit the mark with assurance.

Calling it "the first great prayer," she says in praying for help we find "There's freedom in hitting bottom, in seeing that you won't be able to save or rescue your daughter, her spouse, his parents, or your career, relief in admitting you've reached the place of great unknowing."

The theme that runs clearly through all of Lamott's writing, is the power of grace. She does not get why God would forgive her, but she is forgiven, so she accepts it. But grace does not create some sudden understanding of God, or a clear answer to our prayers in the way we want them. "Grace can be the experience of a second wind, when even though what you want is clarity and resolution, what you get is stamina and poignancy and the strength to hang on. Through the most ordinary things...life is transformed."

Lamott appropriately follow up the section on "Help" with the prayer of "Thanks." More than a prayer, Lamott seeks for us to live a life of gratitude. This has the danger of sliding into banal platitudes, but Lamott refuses to lose that essential, theological language. "Thanks" is not simply what we say to God, but is seen in our actions as well. And it needs, she argues, to be a habit.

The final prayer, "Wow," is not so much about words as our reaction to the divine. "Wow, is often offered with a gasp, a sharp intake of breath, when we can't think of another way to capture the sight of shocking beauty or destruction, of a sudden unbidden insight or an unexpected flash of grace." Such reactions are not limited to beautiful sunsets, but can be found in art galleries and at the sight of a natural disaster. It is the sense of awe which becomes increasingly difficult to grasp as the world manufactures more ways to confuse our senses. But sooner or later, and they are not rare events, we come to face the awe-inspiring, and we say "wow."

Lamott, in her usual style, has taken a challenging topic and made it very accessible. The reader will finish feeling good about their prayer life, even if it is nonexistent. And then they will feel like they can pray if they want to. In fact, as Lamott's simple prayers show, we may be praying without even knowing it.

Article first published as Book Review: Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott on Blogcritics.(less)

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Jan 30, 2013 Nancy McKibben rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers who like Anne Lamott and low-key but practical theology

Recommended to Nancy by: saw an interview of Lamott with Tavis Smiley

Shelves: reviewed

Help Thanks Wow
By Anne Lamott

I have read a lot of Anne Lamott’s work over the years: her novels, her book about writing, her memoir about life with her son, and her encounters with faith. And because she is an honest writer, I can trace the way she’s changed since her first encounter with God to now, twenty-five years later, and I can say she’s gotten better. More relaxed. Kinder. Wiser. Worth reading on important subjects.

Help Thanks Wow is an unassuming little book, just one hundred pages that...more Help Thanks Wow
By Anne Lamott

I have read a lot of Anne Lamott’s work over the years: her novels, her book about writing, her memoir about life with her son, and her encounters with faith. And because she is an honest writer, I can trace the way she’s changed since her first encounter with God to now, twenty-five years later, and I can say she’s gotten better. More relaxed. Kinder. Wiser. Worth reading on important subjects.

Help Thanks Wow is an unassuming little book, just one hundred pages that break prayer down into three components: petition (help), thanksgiving (thanks) and praise (wow). It’s a book that begs to be given to others, and although Anne is a Christian writer, she writes from a broad perspective, so it is the kind of book you could give to practically anyone without offending him theologically.

In the "help" section, Anne writes about her fear of death as a child, and an upbringing that taught her it was wrong to pray:

I was raised to believe that people who prayed were ignorant. It was voodoo, asking an invisible old man to intervene, God as Santa Claus. God was the reason for most of the large-scale suffering in history, like the Crusades and the Inquisition. Therefore to pray was to throw your lot in with Genghis Khan and Torquemada (which was the name of our huge orange cat) and with snake handlers instead of beautiful John Coltrane, William Blake, Billie Holiday. My parents worshipped at the church of the New York Times and we bowed down before our antique hi-fi cabinet, which held the Ark of the Covenant - Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk albums.

So, to recap, my parents, who were too hip and intellectual to pray, worshipped mostly mentally ill junkies.

But most of the book is much less narrative. Anne simply observes that life is tough, and yet people survive. “This is a hard planet, and we’re a vulnerable species. And all I can do is pray: help.”

The second section, “thanks”, talks about developing the habit of gratitude.

I admit, sometimes this position of gratitude can sometimes be a bit of a stretch. So many bad things happen in each of our lives. Who knew? When my son Sam was seven and discovered that he and I would probably not die at exactly the same moment, he began to weep and said, ‘If I had known that, I wouldn’t have agreed to be born.’

The final section, “wow” is about our response to the universe, both in the small, everyday moments and the titanic ones.

The third great prayer, Wow, is often offered with a gasp, a sharp intake of breath, when we can’t think of another way to capture the sight of shocking beauty or destruction, of a sudden unbidden insight or an unexpected flash of grace. ‘Wow’ means we are not dulled to wonder.

I could go on. These are all quotable passages, and it’s easy to identify with the author. She is us, she has been there, she’s not offering a panacea, she’s talking about real life. I highly recommend this book. And if the subject seems too off-putting at first, read her memoir about having her child as a single mother Operating Instructions, or her novel Rosie, because these, like any good writing, also deal with the big questions of life.

(less)

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Jan 25, 2013 Maryellen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: spiritual

I was disappointed by the size and content of this book. As other reviewers have mentioned, a new non-fiction by one of my favorite authors is a big deal. When I received this puny and possibly dashed off to meet a publication commitment book, I was so disappointed I put it aside and went back to reading Marianne Williamson's Law of Divine Compensation which is totally radiant with truth and so inspiring. My 85-year-old mother is battling cancer and something in the "Amen" section on increasing...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: faith, nonfiction

I have a few friends who don't like Anne Lamott. I am not among them. Here's why: she is brutally honest, unpretentious and doesn't pretend that she has it all together. In my opinion, this is exactly the kind of writer Christian publishers need to actively pursue. Far too many books in this genre are written from a perspective of superiority. They go something like this: if you want to learn to pray, do this because it worked for me. Or if you want to serve God, do this because it worked for me...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Angie Vallejo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: inspirational

First of all, it needs to be said that if you are an evangelical type believer, you will probably not like this book. It it very very much Prayer 101 or "Christianity lite", if you can even call it that; it definitely has a more secular feel. This book basically gives Anne's viewpoint of how she feels prayer works, with three different simple prayers. Although she tries to make prayer sound more "normal" for the unchurched and encourages people to pray in their own way, she still makes God sound...more First of all, it needs to be said that if you are an evangelical type believer, you will probably not like this book. It it very very much Prayer 101 or "Christianity lite", if you can even call it that; it definitely has a more secular feel. This book basically gives Anne's viewpoint of how she feels prayer works, with three different simple prayers. Although she tries to make prayer sound more "normal" for the unchurched and encourages people to pray in their own way, she still makes God sound too unapproachable by using commonalities such as "the Force", "Something" and "higher power." She even refers to God as a "Her." (Pg 25) and there is a general irreverence, although for her, she is probably writing to her regular readers. On chapters "Thanks" and "Wow", it really comes across as a book on gratitude, more than prayer. She offers a few great memorable quotes here and there, but there wasn't enough for me too grasp ahold of, even though I did read the entire book.

She gives credit to her church and pastor at the end of the book, but in the introduction she probably should have been more clear that this book was a result of the current journey that she is on, and she is giving her own opinions. The reason that I say this is because there is no talk about God's grace or His love and how much He wants a relationship with us. Explaining the "help" prayers, you feel as though these "when you need them" prayers are a one-sided conversation, followed with a humanistic conclusion as to why the prayer was "answered" as it was. There is so much more to prayer than this! But again, this is Anne's summary of how prayer works, and it is probably her way of encouraging others to take another look at God and prayer if they haven't before. And I can't say that is bad, but it doesn't give readers any hope that there can really be more. I appreciated her positive look on life, and how to be more grateful and responsive to the wonders of life.

I just hope Anne continues on her journey and learns more about what God can really offer instead of staying on this simplistic plateau of impersonality towards prayer While this is an attempt at a "spiritual" book, it is not one on faith. I think she should stay with her fiction.(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Mimi Jones rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have read a lot of Anne Lamott and have always liked her hard-won spirituality, quirky worldview and writing style, her broadminded view of human nature - but this book didn't entirely do it for me, though I flagged some great quotes. It's awfully lite, that's my problem. And I have a quarrel with "THE Three Essential Prayers." If we're talking about essential prayers, then I would definitely put "Sorry" in there. I think contrition for our failings is part of the examined spiritual life (and...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Lindsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think a lot of readers of this book will have the same initial feeling I did once I held it in my hands, which is "...Oh." This is a slim volume, a little pocket book, and I felt a little misled at first--a New Anne Lamott (nonfiction) Book is a big deal in my world, and I'd been looking forward to it for a long time. And here it was, clocking in at just over 100 pages? Hello? A booklet? What?

Annie (as I refer to her in my diary) is my most cherished author for a number of reasons. I first rea...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Don rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 52-week-challenge

I am a tremendous admirer of Anne Lamott and her many books. I've been looking forward to reading this book for some weeks. Now that I have, I must say that I am disappointed.

First, the book is way too expensive for the length that it is. And I am not even sure if it was worth being made into a hard cover.

Second, the book really did not strike me as being profound or even notable. While there are some good ideas in Help, Thanks, Wow - they are not terribly radical or new. Unless one is rather...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Neal Washburn rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have truly enjoyed reading anything written by Anne Lamott. I first became interested in reading Ms. Lamott when I read her quote: "You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, like her other works, resonates with my spirit. This is a quick read, and I will need to read it again! As I was reading, I felt the resonance of Ms. Lamott's words, thoughts, themes and the l...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Pat by: Kovacs

Just using this spot as a place to keep some quotes.

"I have seen many people survive unsurvivable losses, and seen them experience happiness again. How is this possible? Love flowed to them from their closest people, and from their community, surrounded them, sat with them, held them, fed them, swept their floors. Time passed. In most cases, their pain evolved slowly into help for others." (23)

"They say--or maybe I said--that a good marriage is one in which each spouse secretly thinks he or she...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Melissa Kasso rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lamont is the kind of person I would want as a friend: real, honest, funny, sincere, intelligent, kind, tough, and delightfully imperfect. Her book is filled with gems of stories and beautiful descriptions. On page 11 she calls herself a "crabby optimist." I love that paradox and can relate. My favorite prayer was on page 67 when she was experiencing frustration and disappointment. She prayed, "'Help me not be such an ass.' (This is actually the fourth great prayer...)." More of us, including my...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Tanya rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Raymond Carver "Late Fragment"

Shelves: 2012-books

Quotes I liked:

P 13- "We can be big in prayer, and trust that God won't mind if we pray about the cat and Jax's tender heart."

p 15-"Help. Help us walk through this. Help us come through. It is the first great prayer." (help others by helping me respond to them with graciousness and encouragement enough for the day)

p 27-"If I were going to begin practicing the presences of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we a...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Leah Coffin rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 21, 2012 Jill Furedy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I usually really enjoy Anne's nonfiction books, so though I'm not a religious person myself, I picked this one up. It was full of nice thoughts, but I think there were a few too many of them and not enough time to explain or elaborate on them. She was full of brief examples...this, or this, or this, maybe this. But I wanted a bit more personal stories. She was clearly referring to specific people or incidents, some of which I recall from other books. But I bought a copy for my mother-in-law befo...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Natalie Serber rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of Anne Lamott. This slim volume is packed with lovely gems of insight, humor and gratitude. While our belief systems are not fully aligned, I think we both believe in kindness and generosity of spirit. This book is not my favorite Lamott. TRAVELING MERCIES and BIRD BY BIRD are both terrific. That being said, I think I will be giving this book as a gift this holiday season. Her language is fresh and honest. She accepts that sometimes your generous spirits are cramped and with this boo...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am giving this book five stars first of all because Anne Lamott's writing resonates with me so much especially with lines like "I hate this, the fact that life is usually Chutes and Ladders, with no guaranteed gains". It brought back all those horrible moments of playing that game with our sons and having one of them land on a "chute", especially that really long one. It seemed like I was always in a state of mild anxiety, hoping so hard that neither of them would land on that disappointing lo...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, essay, religion-spirituality

It's hard to review this book, because I listened to the audio version. And, that feels like cheating somehow. It also changes the experience of the book. I love Anne Lamott, but her voice is...how shall I put this? Not quite whiny, but pleading. And incessant. Which makes for a sort of exhausting listen. I could hear the anxiety level in the tone of her voice and this sort of made me anxious, too. I have seen Lamott read before and in person, I didn't have this experience. But when I am listeni...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Kelly Hager rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this (incredibly slim---only about 100 pages) novel, Anne Lamott discusses the three most powerful prayers: "Help," "Thanks" and "Wow."

This is my first nonfiction book of hers but I've been hearing good things about them for years now, especially her books on religion. Because of that, I'm so glad that the first one I read was this one. It was also really interesting to hear this on audio because she narrated it herself, so it definitely felt like a conversation. (In my mind, we are now best...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars

Do you like Anne Lamott's writing? I do, I've read every single thing she's ever written. She is probably the greatest influence on what and how I write; she gives voice to her petty struggling self and I try to do that too, because I secretly know that even you are petty, though no one would ever know that about you, so you are stuck all alone knowing that unless other people 'fess up. I love that about her. When I've been unable to read, at various times in my life, I've always found my way ba...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up interested in Lamott's thoughts on Thanks as a prayer. I've been thinking lately that gratitude is really at the heart of a religious life and is perhaps the single most important change we can make to our world views: to recognize our lives are gifts, examples of the largesse of the world and God. I was curious about Help as a prayer; I've always had trouble with the idea of petitionary prayer, a God that could be or would be that involved on a personal scale. And Wow just make...more I picked this up interested in Lamott's thoughts on Thanks as a prayer. I've been thinking lately that gratitude is really at the heart of a religious life and is perhaps the single most important change we can make to our world views: to recognize our lives are gifts, examples of the largesse of the world and God. I was curious about Help as a prayer; I've always had trouble with the idea of petitionary prayer, a God that could be or would be that involved on a personal scale. And Wow just makes sense to me - closely related to Thanks, an expression of the wonder we also need to if not cultivate, at least allow.

But Lamott surprised me to some degree with each section. I knew some of her story from reading Grace, Eventually, but her approach to each prayer struck me in different ways. She lays aside questions of belief in favor of practice quite effectively, and that was a helpful start for an overly analytical type like me. Then she noted early that God won't mind if we pray for what seems small and personal (her cat dying is the example). "Is God going to say, 'Sorry, we don't have enough for the cat'? I don't think so."

It's a great way to give yourself permission to ask for help, and something I think will be helpful to me personally. But most of Help is realizing you will get it, and it will probably be in a completely different form than you were expecting or hoping for. And this is ok.

Thanks surprised me because it was not only, or even primarily, about appreciating all we have been given. It also deals with being thankful that things aren't worse, that problems are avoided, that "It could have been much, much worse, and it wasn't." From this gratitude amidst relatively negative circumstances, Lamott goes to gratitude amidst truly bad ones. Because even in the pain and trouble that visits our lives, we can be thankful for the revelation of good within the bad. She examines how we should express our gratitude through action, how thanking God for little things isn't silly but important because it builds a habit of gratitude, how being thankful is also about letting go, of what we want in favor of what we have been blessed with.

Wow notes the expected use of recognizing the magnificent in our lives, but also as a reaction to the awful, the terrible. Either can be a call to step back and see the world as beyond us, as God's.

It's a short book, but a powerful one, meditating on short, powerful prayers. As always, Lamott's honesty and humility make her a helpful guide. (less)

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About Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott is an author of several novels and works of non-fiction. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her non-fiction works are largely autobiographical, with strong doses of self-deprecating humor and covering such subjects as alcoholism, single motherhood, and Christianity. She appeals to her fans because of her sense of humor, her deeply felt insights, and her outspoken views on topics such...more

More about Anne Lamott...

Books by Anne Lamott

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith

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“Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, "Well, that's pretty much what I thought I'd see," you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.” — 13 people liked it

“...the three things I cannot change are the past, the truth, and you.” — 8 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15737147-help-thanks-wow?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348147479l/15737147.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15737147-help-thanks-wow?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott[/url]

Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers

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