Spirit-Empowered Prayer (ePub)

Manny Carlos serves as a bishop and the chairman of Victory in the Philippines, Dean of Spiritual Life for Every Nation Seminary, and has been a pastor for over thirty years. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Preaching and Leading from Asbury Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Mini, have four children, Jeremy, Daniel, Hannah, and Samuel. The central premise of Spirit-Empowered Prayer is that communion with God and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is the key (the only key) to genuine spiritual transformation. The book serves as a practical guide to becoming a disciple fully engaged in a Spirit-led prayer life, one without the formalized prescriptions that promise a greater communion with God but merely rely on an individual's willpower to overcome the power of fleshly desires and distractions. Manny Carlos uses examples from the formative years of his spiritual life to make an inescapable point-that regimens and resolutions to pray more faithfully, more passionately, and more effectively are alone insufficient to sustain spiritual disciplines. His initial efforts in following various formulas of prayer echoed the early frustration of the apostle Paul in Romans 7-desiring to do one thing but lacking the power to accomplish it apart from the power of the Spirit. Put simply, if you're a person hungering and thirsting for a deeper and more meaningful prayer life-one that is far more empowered by communion with God and far less dependent upon formalism or rules of discipline to sustain your devotion, then this could be the book for you. You should be warned, however. Though the method is very simple, the cost is very high. It is nothing short of absolute surrender to the love of God and the desire to live continually in his presence.