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The Sensational Scent of Prayer
by Rachel Wojnarowski   

The concept of prayer always sounds so easy. I mean you just pray, right? And there is an example right in the middle of gospels of Jesus instructing his followers on how to pray. What else could there be?



Yeah if only it was that simple. It's one of those things that are so easy to speak but incredibly difficult to actually put into practice. I have spent many of my "prayer" times just sitting wondering what to pray, and how to start, and basically what to even say. I don't want to be a needy pray-er, but there are wants on my mind that I feel I need to include if I follow the instruction of the Bible. Then I worry I'm not praying for enough other people... then I move to actually thinking maybe I shouldn't be spending so much time coming up with a prayer at all and just get it over with as the list of things to get done in a day are enormous. And, I mean, God knows I have a huge list, after all He blessed me with two wonderful little handfuls...

So anyway this is my mindset as I picked up a short little ebook by Rachel Wojnarowski, The Sensational Scent of Prayer. I'm not exactly sure what I was looking for, I just figured prayer isn't my strong suit, so maybe this would help give me a little direction.

Wojnarowski does a great job of discussing the story of Hannah in this book. I found Hannah's story to be one amazing account of how a woman dealt with a rough hand she'd been dealt in life. I mean here's a lady who was loved by her husband, yet unable to provide a child for him. To top it off her husband's other wife was able to provide children, and rubbed that fact in Hannah's face, often. Sounds like a soap opera, a little...

Anyway, I loved the way Wojnarowski discusses the life Hannah must have been living when she found herself at the temple crying and crying to the Lord for an answer to her hearts deepest desire. Seriously, you have to check this book out!

On top of discussing this great gem of story in the Old Testament, Wojnarowski shares some of her own moments of desperate prayer and how God responded. Such personal interjections didn't break from the flow of the overall discussion, which I was originally worried about. Plus Wojnarowski takes a break from Hannah's story halfway through to discuss some other examples of prayer in the Bible.

Overall, this is a great book that uses scripture to help open up the concept of prayer a little more than just the example Jesus gave with the Our Father. It is an incredibly quick read- took me just a couple of hours. And is full of wisdom.


What stuck with me the most - probably because Anne of Green Gables is my all time favorite - is this simple statement about Hannah. "At least she knew where to go when in the depths of despair." (132) It's an acknowledgement that life will not always be easy, or happy, or what we had dreamed about, in fact, we could find ourselves in despair. However, it is alright to be there, as long as we know where to go while we are in that situation. And of course, like Hannah, if all we can do is weep, and weep, and weep some more as our prayer, that too is alright.

I would highly recommend this to anyone, even if you are not in the depths of despair right now (no worries I'm not in such place either) because life is always changing, and a reminder of where to turn in such moments is important.

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If you have read this book, let me know, I'd love to hear what you thought. Also, if have found some great little bits of wisdom on praying, add a comment - I think everyone could use such wisdom.








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