Book Review: The Power of the Prophetic Blessing: An Astonishing Revelation for a New Generation by John Hagee

Pastor John Hagee's newest book is The Power of the Prophetic Blessing: An Astonishing Revelation for a New Generation. The cornerstone of Hagee's new book is that true peace and wealth come not from Donald Trump or the lottery, but from God, and God can bless man, as well as man can bless God. "When God blesses man, it is to bestow good health, abundant success, and prosperity, both materially and spiritually. When man blesses God, it is presented in the forms of thanksgiving, reverence, obedience, praise, and worship. When a man blesses his fellow believer, he recites the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:22-27 and then proclaims the Holy Spirit-inspired Prophetic Blessing." Hagee declares, "When God Almighty, King of the universe, places His blessing upon you, no person on Earth can take it from you, and no power in the universe can eliminate it from your life!"

Although my husband watch John Hagee's sermons on television frequently, this is my first time to review one of his books. I am blessed with the opportunity to do so and I was not disappointed. This book is an excellent read. John Hagee writes with a fluid style, each concept flowing clearly and cleanly into the next making The Power of the Prophetic Blessing easy to read. The book is full of well-researched material it is beautifully composed with his theme divided into three sections and eleven chapters. The “Think on This” sections peppered throughout the book highlight the concepts covered in each chapter in a quick, memorable way. Every chapter focuses on something related to how you can bring God's prophetic blessing into your own life and work. Hagee's interpretations are solidly based on traditional Biblical values and he never strays from God’s Word. The invaluable part of this book lies in the personal stories that fit well with his book sections. For example, in the Genesis Blessing chapter, Pastor Hagee details how his son, Matthew was born and how he was called to preach the Gospel.

This book has been a blessing to me and it will touch the lives of my children. It is one thing to be a hearer of the Word, and another to act based on God’s Word. The Power of the Prophetic Blessing is based in Biblical truths and in order for the blessing to transform our lives, we must believe it, receive it, and act on it. I highly recommend The Power of the Prophetic Blessing to anyone desiring to know more about it and how to apply it to life.

I received this book from Handlebar Marketing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The Beautiful Mess That Is Motherhood

I`ve learned that it`s OK to be flawed, that life can be messy, that some days you glide and some days you fall, but most important, that there are no secret answers out there.

Being a mother to six children with five of them born in the last seven years, I used to feel like a stranger in a strange land. In the strive for perfection, comparing myself to what the media and our commercialized world deems as the perfect mom made me feel woefully inadequate, isolated, and frankly a bit crazy. 

MOMumental: Adventures in the Messy Art of Raising a Family has been a huge blessing to me. Author Jennifer Grant’s writing style full of witty observations, plenty of real-life stories, and honest approach opened my eyes to the idea that I am not alone or isolated in my motherhood trials and triumphs.  Her writing style and openness made me feel like I was talking with a kindred spirit over a cup of coffee at our local coffee spot and she was sharing her failures and successes and how God had helped her and put great people in her life to help her too. 

This book is not a parenting guide and it is not a condemnation of different mothering styles. It is an honest, fresh look at the truth of family from a mom’s perspective. Families are messy, but they are beautiful messes. 

Some of my favorite parts of the book are the following: 

• The idea of preferring the given. In the chapter, "Escape to Gordon's House", Jennifer Grant writes, "I attempt - admittedly with only partial success - to 'prefer the given,' an idea my old professor Father McClatchy introduced to us in college. Coined by British author Charles Williams, the phrase means choosing to appreciate what we have instead of being dissatisfied with the grace and other gifts God gives us. In other words, if winter is a northerner's lot in life for half of the year, what's the point in wishing it were otherwise?" There is a lot of wisdom in this paragraph.
• Chapter Eight, “On the Bwight Side” in its entirety. The emphasis on not pre-judging our children or expecting our children to be "little adults” is brilliant.
•    Talking about the Saint Crispin’s Day speech scene from Shakespeare’s Henry V. The idea that motherhood should create a ‘band of brothers’ with shared experiences and a feeling of camaraderie among those of us in the line of work known as 'Mommying'.

What I most take away is the assurance that despite our mistakes, that as we parent our children with love "our children will keep growing and changing, becoming more independent, more empathetic, more the people God has created them to be." Sometimes it's easy to forget that we are not parenting alone, but that God is right there with us and that He has an even better plan than we do for our children's lives.

It is rare that I find a book I wish to give others. MOMumental IS one of those books. I plan on gifting this book to some of my friends who are moms and who I know struggle with the same concerns Jennifer shares in this book and I have experienced in my own 'Mommying' adventure as a way to say, “I see you” and we are on the same journey as mothers. 

*I received the book in this post compliments of Worthy Publishing via Handlebar Marketing for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.