How To Listen To God by Wally Paton

This is a biography focused on the method of two way prayer explained in the above book How To Listen To God by Cecil Rose.  Mr. Rose wrote the primer.  James Houck lived the primer.  James acquired the pamphlet in the late 1930’s and was a member of the Oxford Groups from 1935 thru 1937.

As I write this Mr. Houck has been practicing the method of two way prayer for more than eighty years.  He still swears by it.  So this is an exploration of the experiences of one man’s application of When Man Listens over a life time and the personal results—testimony of his outcomes.

He recommends the book in a most fervent way as do I.  If you don’t read at least one of these books your life will be remarkably impoverished.

2 thoughts on “How To Listen To God by Wally Paton”

  1. Hello,

    I read Mr. Paton book “How to Listen to God.” I would like to know if there is a group of people where I live, Evanston, IL, who practices the two-way prayer.

    Please let me know,

    Thank you in advance.

    1. Mr. Landau
      You might check out a few open Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in and around your city and ask if anyone there is practicing two way prayer. Many people in recovery are now gravitating to this book to figure out how to carry out more purely, thoroughly and completely two way prayer; which is the essence of the 11th step of Alcoholics Anonymous—Sought through prayer to improve our conscious contact with G-d.
      Another place where folks may be practicing two way prayer is in church prayer groups and Christian accountability groups.
      The Oxford Groups of the 1930s and 40s is where this technique came about from the process of “listening” to and gaining “guidance” from G-d. AA grew out of the Oxford groups and adopted this technique from them. Curiously they only adopted one of the two procedures—private “checking” which is two way prayer without a mediary or “guidance” from the group. “Guidance” from the group was the second which was abandoned by AA. They changed this to “individual guidance” from a mentor—a sponsor, thus AA sponsorship. There are various ways to include others in this “checking”
      I won’t go into them here. There is another book than the Paton book which is much more concise, directly instructive, and brief in its’ coverage. Its’ title is When Man Listens by Cecil Rose originally published in 1937 and recently re – published by Tuchy Palmieri. It is available at Amazon and Hazelden press. You can, also perhaps, purchase it thru Tuchy Palmieri’s web site. It is about $15.
      My AA group provides them at no cost to serious newcomers.
      The advantage of Mr. Rose’s book is its’ brevity, clarity, directness, and instructive nature. It is meant to be a primer on the topic.
      The four absolutes—honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love are covered very well in Mr. Paton’s book. These four absolutes have always been used with two way prayer to confirm that one’s prayer life is not being highjacked by our “lower selves” or the “lower powers.”
      If you need assistance in implementing two way prayer I will gladly assist you. At first through this means of communication and then through a different email site and when our relationship ripens by telephone if you wish.
      As a follower of Christ, like him I pray that “none that have been given to Him shall be lost”
      There are others where you live and when you begin this process others of these will want what you have found. Do not be discouraged the Lord loves you and wants to be in a committed relationship with you. G-d always finds a way.
      I shall look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

      With love thru Chris in the steps
      Carl S. Author, The Ignorant Grandfather

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