Often we view prayer as an activity reserved for a certain time, in a certain place, offered in a specific way. But Scripture encourages us to pray continually. This exhortation is an opportunity for prayer to permeate every aspect of our lives—when we’re alone or in a crowd, when it’s quiet and when it’s chaotic, when we feel like it and when we don’t.
Praying with Eyes Wide Open shows us how to make continuous prayer a natural part of our lives rather than something on our daily spiritual checklist. It helps us encounter God in new ways as we learn to
- open our eyes to see his presence and the world around us
- open our ears to hear his voice
- open our hearts to experience freedom and power as we pray
- open our lives as we pray for and with others
Endorsements
"Praying with Eyes Wide Open will be my new go-to book when talking to anyone about prayer. Sherry has done a marvelous job combining passionate personal experience, practical application, approachability, and biblical background. Some books excel in one; a few in two or three. I honestly don't know that I've ever come across a book that captures all four to the degree that Sherry Harney does in this excellent book."
—GARY THOMAS, author of Sacred Marriage
"While there have been many books written on prayer down through the centuries, Sherry Harney has presented a fresh and encouraging way to pray. I have had the privilege of knowing Sherry for several years and she is one who truly lives out what she writes and teaches. She not only has a prayer life; she lives a life of prayer. Praying with Eyes Wide Open actually accomplishes several things. First of all, it gives us a practical example of how to live out the Scripture, 'to pray without ceasing.' It also helps us to be alert to see what things and people God brings into our day. Most of all, however, Praying with Eyes Wide Open is a beautiful invitation to keep company with Jesus, which is the true heart of prayer."
—MARILYN HONTZ, author of Listening for God and Shame Lifter
"I love this book because Praying with Eyes Wide Open is much more than a manual on a fresh way to pray (though it is!). It is a recovery of the ancient biblical command to 'be alert and always keep praying' (Eph. 6:18). Sherry Harney expertly and winsomely breaks down the artificial barrier between the sacred (eyes closed) and the secular (eyes open) and shows us how to live a seamless life in which living is praying and praying is living, and Christ is all in all."
—BEN PATTERSON, campus pastor at Westmont College
“When Sherry Harney talks about prayer, I listen!”
—LEE STROBEL, author of The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith
"I have known Sherry Harney for almost thirty years (we met in the church nursery!). If there is anybody who is qualified to lead us in the important subject of prayer and partnership with the Holy Spirit, it is my friend Sherry. Her spirit is so in tuned with God and her pen so beautifully flows with words of inspiration. If you want to draw closer to God, put this book on the top of your list."
—RANDY FRAZEE, senior minister of Oak Hills Church; author of What Happens after You Die
"Simple insights are often the most revolutionary—this book has revolutionized my prayer life, through the simple invitation to pray 'with eyes wide open,' like Jesus did. Sherry smashes the shackles of popular misconceptions about prayer and sets us free into a breathtaking, biblical horizon, where we can pray at all times and in all places, attentive and attuned to the people and places around us, discovering our time with God is limitless."
—JOSHUA RYAN BUTLER, author of The Skeletons in God's Closet and The Pursuing God; pastor at Imago Dei Community
"This book is a rare gift. Most authors can inform. Good ones can inspire. In Praying with Eyes Wide Open, Sherry Harney accomplishes a more challenging task: she invites. Each chapter is filled with a potent blend of profound reflection and practical wisdom. The combined effect for anyone who reads will be an enlarged spiritual appetite. Ultimately, Sherry helps us hear the Lord's invitation to draw near to Him with our whole self—eyes wide open."
—ADAM T. BARR, coauthor of Compassion without Compromise
"Everybody prays. Everybody struggles with prayers. Sherry gives wise guidance for the prayer-filled life."
—JOHN ORTBERG, senior pastor of Menlo Church; author of All the Places to Go
"Sherry Harney is not just an author and speaker, she is a personal friend, the first person I think of whenever I need powerful prayer in my life. Sherry has steeped every aspect of her life in prayer and communion with Christ, and I have been blessed by her prayers for my family through the heights of joy and the darkest of life's valleys. If you want to learn to pray with fresh passion, biblical integrity, and eyes wide open to the world around you, let Sherry teach you."
—NABEEL QURESHI, author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and No God but One
"Praying with Eyes Wide Open is an invitation to experience the divine presence of God in a deeper, more intimate way. Read it to learn the unforced rhythms of doing life with God's Holy Spirit."
—SANTIAGO "JIMMY" MELLADO, president and CEO of Compassion International
"I love this book! Author Sherry Harney's book Praying with Eyes Wide Open helps the reader learn how to enjoy ongoing conversation with God—with eyes, ears . . . and lives wide open to Him. As I read, I found myself wanting more—more of God and the intimate prayer life that He invites us into. Thank you, Sherry, for helping me learn to enjoy a richer prayer life."
—NANCY GRISHAM, PhD, author of Thriving: Trusting God for Life to the Fullest
About The Author
Sherry Harney is an international speaker, author, editor, and has served the local church in the areas of staff leadership, women’s ministry and children’s ministry for over three decades. She has her B.A. in Education from Calvin College and her M.A. from the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Presently she is serving as the Leadership Development Director at Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, CA where her husband, Kevin serves as Lead Pastor. Kevin and Sherry have coauthored Finding a Church You Can Love and Organic Outreach for Families. Together they have co-founded Organic Outreach International. They also have collaborated on and co-written over eighty small group study guides with authors such as Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, Dallas Willard, Gary Thomas, Christine Caine, Ann Voskamp, Mark Batterson and Max Lucado. Kevin and Sherry have three adult sons and now lovely daughters-in-law.
Sherry loves to hike, cook, ski, and spend time with family and friends in any setting. Sherry has a passion for sharing the love of Jesus as she lives her everyday life in the presence and power of God.
