No one questions whether life is complicated today. Its just a fact that the more time-saving devices we have, the more we are expected to do with our time. Enter Simplify Your Spiritual Life by Donald S. Whitney. He sympathizes with fellow Christians who experience a spiritual life that is cluttered, has many diversions, and seems overwhelming. His goal for readers of this book is to simplify their spiritual lives, not by doing less, but Whitney says, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ.
In that effort, Whitney lays out the book by disciplines of a Christian, and offers suggestions on simplifying that area. For example, in the section on Prayer he distinguishes repetitive prayer from persistent prayer
talking to God is too great a privilege to settle for vain repetitions when the Bible invites you to pour out your heart before Him (Psalm 62:8). Other topics include meditation, truth, journaling, time, and the heart. Each topic has small, 2-page chapters that present a specific thought about it, which makes for easy reading as well as absorbing the concepts bit-by-bit.
Whitney has written other books about living out the spiritual life including Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I Be Sure Im a Christian? What struck me most was the solid doctrines he promotes, insisting that as Christians we should judge any idea or principle using the Word as our authority. His advice is sound, not fashionable, and his encouragement is palpable throughout the volume. I would recommend this to a new believer (he spends much of the first part instructing what the gospel is and isnt), and to a mature Christian who wants guidance in the daily living of our faith. Stacy Oliver, Christian Book Previews.com