PRAYERFUL PASSAGES
Asking God's Help in Reconciliation,
Separation, and Divorce
by
Jack H. Emmott
Genre: Religion / Spirituality / Devotional
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Date of Publication: February 9, 2016
# of pages: 64
The power of asking God for help while struggling to save a marriage, separating, divorcing, or rebuilding life is the driving force behind Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce by Jack H. Emmott. The fifty-six prayers are practical, touching on all shades of difficulty. They are specific and short; accessible and comforting; inspiring and inspired.
In Prayerful Passages, Jack has opened the doors of comfort and healing to guide a Christian struggling with the anger, loss, and grief that inevitably arise during the separation, divorce, and reconciliation stages of a marriage in peril. Open the doors of your own heart to God’s grace and healing. These prayers will aid you in your journey.
PRAISE FOR PRAYERFUL PASSAGES:
In Prayerful Passages, Jack Emmott, with profound clarity, helps faithful people struggling in their marriage to find not only the words they need to pray, but also the Divine Presence and power they need in challenging life circumstances. -- Rev. Stuart Bates, Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston
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This book will make an ideal gift for a friend or family member going through divorce. I wish the families I’ve seen in family court had been able to make their difficult passages with these prayers in their hearts and on their lips. This book would have alleviated their anguish.-- Frank Rynd, J.D., Former Family Law Judge
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A compelling sharing of compassion—this book shows the impact a prayerful, Christ-centered life can have on the human spirit. What a powerful read . . . I was wowed by its wisdom. -- Larry R. Cook, CPA
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All you have to do is open to the table of contents to see the brilliance of this wise voice that pushes us all to see the world as a more inclusive, loving place where we are all perfectly imperfect children of God. Jack offers his reader empathy, wisdom and redemption for the human spirit. Don’t miss the wisdom of a man who has lived into surrender at an early age as his polio left him trapped in an iron lung to survive. But, he didn’t just survive; he blossomed and thrives today, venerating the love of the Divine for all of us. This is a must-read for all of us who want to live more fully into our loving relationships.-- Micki Grimland, LCSW, Owner and Chief Psychotherapist, Southwest Psychotherapy Associates
Part II with Jack Emmott
About you as a writer and reader . . .
How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was in the eighth grade.
What person in your life influences your work as a writer the most? Why?
Without question, my wife Dorothy. We were married nearly 44 years ago. After polio, paralysis, surgical scars and deformity, I thought that there might be no one on earth who could love me and marry me. Dorothy has loved me as a man and husband, as if I was as able- bodied and as worthy of marriage as anyone else. She has supported me in developing all aspects of my life. She has unselfishly given me the time and space to express my talents. Watching her love of reading has caused me to love to writing. That is why the book is dedicated to her.. Our relationship is a shining example of what is possible because of love.
What influences the type of prayers that you write? Spiritual influence? Literary influence?
The influences that brought these prayers together in book form are threefold. First, was my mother’s example of bedtime prayer including the Lord’s Prayer that we said on our knees together.. Then there was the participation in the community of care at St. Francis Episcopal Church-Houston with attending weekly church services, helping the less fortunate, and hearing the choir sing songs of joy and praise. Lastly, the prayers were written to reflect the beauty, light, and poetic Grace of the written word. I wanted the reader’s heart to be touched and opened to hear the answers from God which will surely come after prayer.
What type of books do you read in your free time?
I read books which open the senses of my heart to wonder, mystery, gratefulness, and the sacredness of life. A grateful heart is a happy, creative, and loving heart. I believe that God’s main purpose is for each of us is to love and be open to love from others.
What author would you most like to emulate and why?
I would like to emulate Madeline L’Engle because she writes in a beautiful voice and calls the reader to dive into the mystery and wonder of faith in God.
You started as a writer later in life. What advice do you have for readers who are thinking of writing a spiritual book?
Trust, develop, and express your talents, which are God’s gifts to you. Do not let fear of rejection drown the voice of the words God has placed on your pen and in your heart. This advice applies to a writer at any age. I believe that God is pleased when that inner voice is expressed and shared with others by a writer with a creative, kind, and caring soul to honor the Author of Us All.
What prayer books are in your future?
My next writing project is a book of prayers for the grieving heart. Grieving for the loss of loved ones, friends, creatures great and small, the loss of the life we planned as we live the life God wants for us. As Jesus Christ Himself said as He was dying on the cross: “Father, not my will, but thine be done.”
What makes Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce appealing is the courage, calling and faith of its author Jack H. Emmott. In 1954, just as the Salk vaccine was entering massive medical trials, Jack was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the neck down. With faith in God and selfless help from his parents, educators, healthcare providers, and later his wife Dorothy and his close-knit family, he became a successful lawyer, civic leader, volunteer, inspirational speaker, author, and song writer. Though today confined to a motorized wheelchair, he has long navigated as a full member of society.
As a member at Gray Reed & McGraw in Houston, Texas, with over thirty-five years working in family law, Jack primarily focuses on collaborative law, a resolution option for divorcing couples. In collaborative process, couples mutually agree to voluntary disclosure of relevant information, which is much faster and less expensive than formal discovery. The children are protected and shared, not divided like property.
His life experience and abiding faith in God led Jack to write Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce. Jack says, “The exact words of the title Prayerful Passages literally came to me one night during evening prayer. I felt, at that very moment, I had received an invitation from God to write a book of prayers to help others and to please the God who had always accompanied me in the darkness of disability.”
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