Experiencing God Through Prayer

Another book finished!

I had heard many things about Madame Jeane Guyon. I had heard that she was “new age”. I’d also heard that her writings had positively influenced as varied an audience as the Moravian brethren, Francis Fenelon, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee and A.W. Tozer, all of whom God used powerfully and profoundly.

Madame Jeane Guyon was widowed at the age of 29, arrested in 1688 and again in 1695 for teaching heresy. She spent 6 years in prison at Vincennes and was later transferred to the Bastille. She was released in 1703 and lived the rest of her life in Blois under house arrest.

She was a teacher of Quietism, a form of mysticism. Quietism often refers to the state of human inactivity while in fellowship with God when praying, reading and meditating on the Scriptures. It is a spiritual exercise so as to “quieten” the soul in order for God to have His full way with the believer.

I found some things in this book that could be taken to an extreme and did give me cause for concern…but I also found some gems in this book. It is important to remember that Madame Guyon assumes her reader has already experienced “new birth”. I found this book to be easy to read and yet filled with truths that cause one to ponder and “be still” in God’s presence. This book was first published in 1685. In my research I found that there is a book edited by Gene Edwards that several state wanders far from Madame Guyon’s original words and intents. *Experiencing God Through Prayer* takes the reader on a journey to discover the difference between praying to God and experiencing God through prayer. Madame Guyon continually urges her reader to press on towards intimacy with Christ.

I found this to be a valuable read, though I would caution one to read “warily”. This is now one of my “well-marked” books. {g}