Review: The 30-Day Praise Challenge

The 30-Day Praise Challenge by Becky Harling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: eARC courtesy of David C. Cook via NetGalley

Being a book-a-holic and reading challenge addict, the first thing which attracted my attention to this book was the word ‘challenge’ in the title. I’m sure many of you will understand where I’m coming from. Reading through the description of the book, what really appeals to me was the 20-minutes per day devotion which include prescribed praise songs. I used to lead a worship team at church and whilst my musical talent is minuscule in comparison to others, music speaks to my soul and I love to praise through songs.

I was really excited when I started this book and I was intentionally disciplined in my daily devotional throughout the 30 days. The first day felt slightly strange to me because of the perspective of the reading; it was as if God was speaking directly to the reader. However, as I take in the direction / purpose of the devotional, I came to enjoy this perspective and to appreciate what God’s perspectives might be in each topics.

The structure of the devotional is:
*Bible verse – to establish the topic and start us thinking in a particular direction
*A reading – written from the perspective of God direct to the reader’s heart on above topic with reference to other verses accompanied by a short paragraph from the author’s own heart
*Music – songs of praise are prescribed to suit topic, most of the time there are 2 but sometimes more
*Prayer – all in continued praises to God
*Journal – conclusion of devotional with a thinking question or two which requires own quiet / thinking / scribbling notes time.

I liked all the songs and loved quite a number of them. Most of them were available on youtube so with today’s connectivity, it was easily accessible. I found the prayers to be ingenious! It was a prayer of praise and yet, in a way it is a reminder to both God and ourselves of what God promises to do which feels like a request but not-a-request. It is praising God for who He is, for His promises, and is phrased unlike a request but really, it was. I’ve probably just made a muddle of it all but that’s the best way I can explain it.

The journals were my downfall. I confess to being one of those busy-unable-to-stay-still-or-quiet-for-one-minute-person. It is completely atrocious, I admit, and this will have to be my challenge next. To stay still for some minutes and meditate on God’s words. I will be getting a copy of this book for myself and a friend (who actually expressed an interest even though not a believer) as I’d like to give it another go especially with the sitting still & meditating section. It has been a wonderful experience and I look forward to learning more from it.

Thank you, David C. Cook via NetGalley for copy of eARC to read & review

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