"As the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries, many people know me as a prayerful man. At a very early age, I began to pray every night before I went to bed that God would make me a preacher when I grew up. That one prayer sustained me through my youth and it challenged me to grow to meet the requirements. Now, at the age of seventy-two, I can say that my first prayer was answered and is still being answered beyond my wildest expectations.
As a child, my friend Larry King dreamed of being a radio announcer - I understand his childhood nickname on the streets of Brooklyn was The Mouthpiece. Larry's dream, like my prayer, sustained and challenged him. I think he too would say that his dream has been fulfilled beyond his wildest expectations. Our stories share much in common. However, Larry does not think of himself as a prayerful man.
To me, prayer is an adventure into realms never before traveled, with an optimistic anticipation that there is something more out there, beyond what I already know or have already experienced. In this book, Larry has done exactly that - he has ventured into unknown territory: the world of prayer. Armed only with questions, and his inimitable style, Larry set forth to interview powerful people on the subject of their prayers and he returned to write a book of amazing humor and insight.
Larry King has surveyed the divergent voices of America's spiritual renewal and has orchestrated them into "a joyful noise unto the Lord". From presidents and pranksters, friends and foes, believers and nonbelievers, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike, Powerful Prayers is a symphony of faith and testimony.
It is my belief that we each connect to God in our own special way - be it through vision, a dream, or a hope. If we embrace that vision, nurture that dream, and lead an optimistic life in hope of an answer to our best desires, then we have tined the ground in preparation for God's seed. As the son of an Iowa farmer, I can say that Larry has hoed a row." - Dr. Robert Schuller (from the Foreword)
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