Knowing God does not come through a program, a study, or a method. Knowing God comes through a relationship with a Person. This is an intimate love relationship with God. Through this relationship, God reveals Himself, His purposes, and His ways; and He invites you to join Him where He is already at work.

A classic on spiritual growth for adults and teens alike!

Where do I start? This book so changed my life when I read it as a teen that I don't know where I would be today if I hadn't read it and done the activities listed. I would say that next to the Bible this was one of the most influential books over my life that I have ever read. God spoke in so many ways through the material. I was going through a lot of turmoil at the time (deaths in the family, as well as other normal teenage issues) and it seemed like every lesson was tailor-made for the day's situation. This book helped me find peace of knowing that because I am a believer in Jesus I can rest in him and follow his lead. For anyone interested in spiritual growth, learning to love God more deeply, and discovering his call on your life, this is the book for you. Blackaby has such a handle for stating profound truths in ways that we can relate to and understand. Simply put, a must-read!

Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing His Will-Workbook

This is a great book I am using it for a bible study with other ladies. We all think it is a great book. Thank you very much.

Experiencing Henry Blackaby

I've read "Experiencing God" twice in study groups, and would like to offer some observations--first as a textbook, then as a quest for spiritual truth.
"Experiencing God" is similar to many other Christian study books in its educational methods. In each section, the reader is presented with a spiritual idea, then invited to provide the "correct" answer to questions below. Granted, here and there the reader is asked to reflect on personal meaning, but overall the book is heavily scripted. One might call this "leading the witness," as the writer attempts to condition a specific answer from the reader. But, if the answer is already known, why ask the question at all? In terms of educational value, a good textbook should invite critique, in-depth analysis, self-exploration and discovery. I feel that Blackaby approaches his subject matter with too many foregone conclusions, rushing through concepts that haven't been adequately proven. This is a common teaching method, and I've seen its effect on people in Bible studies: people quickly catch on to how they should respond. Participants either become parrots, or bored and unresponsive. Personally, I find this approach insults my intelligence.

As a workbook to guide the reader towards "Experiencing God", I don't doubt Blackaby's good intentions towards knowing God. However, as I worked through the book, my internal alarm kept going off. Here's a few points on where I disagree with Blackaby's idea of knowing and serving God (page numbers cited):

In Experiencing God, one of Blackaby's central themes is our "divine assignment." According to Blackaby, "Once you have an intimate love relationship with God, He will show you what He is doing" (69). "If the Christian does not know when God is speaking, he is in trouble at the heart of his Christian life!" (132, 137). Over and over, Blackaby equates knowing and hearing God with receiving an assignment from Him. I take issue with this idea, firstly because I don't believe the New Testament supports this process word-for-word. Secondly, a new believer could think they're in "trouble" because God hasn't given them an "assignment." The reality is that God has given us gifts, and He invites us to discover and exercise them to the fullest (1 Cor12, 1 Peter 4:10). Don't wait for a booming voice from God, or some spectacular "assignment". Every day provides opportunities to serve God in your own way.

Finally, I'd like to touch upon a prevailing teaching in churches, which is to divide life into two categories: "spiritual" and "unspiritual". On page 48, under "Investing in the Future", Blackaby asks: "In what are you investing your life...make two lists below. On the left list things that will pass away. On the right list things that have eternal value."
Perhaps you already see problems with this approach. Applying simple common sense raises objections. More importantly, Jesus asks people to follow Him--not divide life into two disparate groups. Outside of clear moral commands in the Bible, it's simply impossible for human beings to know everything that has "eternal value". Otherwise, in our zeal to be spiritual, we run the risk of closing ourselves to God's experiences and lessons. When Jesus describes us as part of the vine, it is God who prunes those who bear fruit--not ourselves (John 15:2). Otherwise, why all this talk about "freedom" and "abundant life"? (John 10:10, Gal 5:1)

Don't take any of this at face value--check it out yourself.