God and Prayer: Merging Scripture and Reality by Ric Keaster

When a tornado spares one house and flattens the next, was that God, or just weather?

God and Prayer: Merging Scripture and Reality is Dr. Ric Keaster's frank look at the gap between what we say God does and what we see in life.

How This Book Helps

Believers quietly wrestle with hard questions. Does God physically intervene today? Will He heal the sick if enough people keep praying? Why do some faithful Christians prosper while others suffer? Easy answers often don't match Scripture or experience.

Ric Keaster gathers ten of these questions and walks each one back through the New Testament. His central argument is, by his own admission, controversial: that miracles and ongoing revelation served a purpose now complete, and that God works today through His confirmed Word rather than by interrupting nature. He asks readers to open their Bibles alongside his and reach their own conclusions.

What's Inside

In nineteen chapters across two parts. Part 1 (God) traces how God has communicated with mankind and takes up miracles, providence, the will of God, and fate and free will. Part 2 (Prayer) covers why and how we pray, the New Testament pattern, how God responds, what belongs in our prayers, and what it means to test God. Questions it takes on include:

• Does God act physically in our lives today?
• If enough people pray, will God heal the sick?
• Why do some God-fearing Christians suffer while others prosper?
• Can the answer to prayer be no?
• Is there a difference between God causing and God allowing?
• Does God literally rescue us from wrecks and storms?

Format & Features

A 227-page paperback written as a readable, straight-through argument, not a fill-in-the-blank workbook. Scripture is quoted throughout, with careful attention to who said what, to whom, and why.

Who It's For

Bible class teachers, preachers, and thoughtful believers willing to weigh a challenging argument with an open Bible, whether they end up agreeing or not.

Common Questions

Is it a workbook?
No. It is a book meant to be read straight through.

Will I agree with all of it?
Maybe not. The author says plainly that his argument is controversial and asks readers to test it against Scripture.

About the Author

Dr. Ric Keaster was raised by a gospel-preaching father and baptized at 13. A former schoolteacher and administrator, he earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership and became a professor, department head, associate dean, and Professor Emeritus. He teaches and preaches at the Rome Church of Christ in Proctorville, Ohio, and is also the author of In Our Own Language and Types in the Bible.

Product Details

• Author: Dr. Ric Keaster
• Publisher: Spiritbuilding Publishers
• Chapters: 19
• Pages: 227
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781964805818