Praying Circles by Gary Gilley
Unfortunately, it is often because of the very benefits and blessings of prayer that the people of God seem so easily deceived in its use. Two of the books I have written have substantially addressed this very issue. My first book, “I Just Wanted More Land,” Jabez, challenged the prayer of Jabez craze that had been invented by Bruce Wilkinson. Wilkinson, who should have known better given his theological training and ministerial background, ripped an obscure prayer out of the Old Testament and offered it as a model which, when prayed, “correctly,” virtually guaranteed a life of miracles and prosperity, or so he said. His book (The Prayer of Jabez) sold tens of millions of copies and generated a cottage industry of other books, products and ministries. My book challenged the whole premise behind Wilkinson’s application of the prayer of Jabez as well as the misguided hermeneutics Wilkinson used to come up with such an off-based interpretation of Scripture. What staggered me at the time (15 years ago), and still does today, is how many people, many of whom were/are surely Christians who love the Lord, could be taken in by such obviously misguided and deceitful claims. My most recent book, Out of Formation, examined the Spiritual Formation Movement which promotes numerous biblically unfounded disciplines that are supposed to enhance the believer’s spiritual life. The central discipline within the movement founded by Richard Foster and Dallas Willard is contemplative prayer, which is a form of mystical praying found nowhere in Scripture and yet proclaimed by the adherents of this movement to be the highest form of prayer. Today millions of those who would consider themselves Christians practice some form of contemplative prayer.
Read more: http://www.worldviewweekend.com/news/article/praying-circles
Also see: The Circle Maker - One Way Jesus
Related:
Lighthouse Blog: The Native Spirituality “Medicine Wheel” and The Circle Maker
Lighthouse Blog: Letter to the Editor: Anne Graham Lotz Promoting Honi, the Mystic and Circle Making
What is Contemplative Prayer? - One Way Jesus
Centering Prayer - One Way Jesus
Justin Peters & Jim Osman: Biblical Spiritual Warfare - One Way Jesus