PRACTICING THE POWER by Sam Storms

PRACTICING THE POWER- Welcoming the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life by Sam Storms is an interesting book that discusses the availability and purpose of the Spirit of God. The 269 page book discusses the authors understanding of the gifts of the spirit including that of prophecy.

In some instances PRACTICING THE POWER seems to focus more on the technical aspects of the presence of the Holy Spirit than the natural flow in a person’s life. Perhaps this personal interpretation of the authors words has to do with the extent in which the author goes to explain the manifestation of the gifts within the church whereas my focus on the Holy Spirit has always been how He reveals himself when a Believer is in need of Father God.

It is true, as the author writes, it is important that the gifts of the Spirit manifest in an orderly fashion in church. It is necessary that the release of a Prophetic word be done properly, though I have witnessed a person speaking in tongues in the church ‘out of order’ I have not seen, as the author discusses, security guards on standby to escort such individuals out of the building. In my experience, either the Pastor has been able to stop an individual before he or she becomes to disruptive or an usher or nearby minister has been able to quiet the person. The incident then becomes a teaching moment for the body of believers.

One of the things that struck me as I read PRACTICING THE POWER was the almost apologetic way the author presented information. He seemed to be making excuses as to why he believed what he believed which took away from the credibility of his words. On page 148 he writes: “I know that some of you reading this book will be tempted to skip this chapter.” Since this sentence is halfway through the book the reader should not be tempted to do anything but read more; the assumption is the reader is still not convinced as to the validity of the authors words.

On page 162 there was a sentence that I found peculiar: “Regardless of the exact meaning of the word;” in the previous paragraph he uses the word “perhaps.”  The word “regardless” has a take it or leave it connotation, or as the children might say “whatever!” And the term “perhaps” implies that it might not be. My suggestion: When in doubt leave it out. Such an ambiguous phrase on such an important subject can lead some to not seek the power.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it will probably be my last however there is something to glean from the book which makes it an OK read.  xxx written by Marsha L F Randolph

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