Living Close to God (When you're not good at it) by Gene Edwards

I loved the honesty of the title of this book, and I loved the first few chapters. A book, written for those of us who have a hard time following the standard, ”wake up, read 10 chapters of the Bible, and pray for 30 minutes” pattern. The author appears to be a “real guy” who struggles like his readership in the area of spiritual closeness with God. He goes on to describe the way he slowed down and became deliberate in his seeking communion with God.

The mid-section of the book kind of reviews the beginning part, with further illustrations and reminders. The end section just. . .ends. I thought it was a really abrupt ending, and was kind of confusing, in referring to “Scott”—I had to flip back through the beginning of the book again and again until I realized it must be a person he referred to in the Acknowledgements section. The book is written as a reference, to be read several times—maybe upon reading a second or third time I would feel the flow of the book better. It even has a study guide to enable an easy use with group study. I think this is how I would have liked to use it.

Would I recommend this book? I’m not sure. Yes, it is a nice read. It gives some good ideas for consciously focusing on the Lord. I felt at times that the author was trying so hard to explain an abstract thought or process but didn’t quite make the point. Or maybe I didn’t quite get the point. I don’t know. It was a nice short book, so give it a try. You may gain something which could enhance your relationship with the Lord.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review.