Author: Patrick Morley
Publisher: Multnomah – 194 pages
Book Review by: Paiso Jamakar
This book is about self-fulfillment. It is about doing something meaningful for others and feeling a sense of satisfaction for having done that.
Many men go through the motions of living and when they are nearing the end of their days on earth, they feel a vacuum in their hearts. Something is missing, they feel. This is because man was not created merely to exist on earth.
The author Patrick Morley states that each person must believe that his life has a distinct and meaningful purpose, and that his life on earth is not random event.
Life purpose is one of the seven primal needs of men, states Morley, who has had profound influence on numerous lives in the last 40 years in the course of speaking one-on-one to thousands of people and writing 18 books, including in 1989, The Man in the Mirror, which has sold over three million copies.
Morley contends that 90 percent of Christian men lead “lukewarm, stagnant and defeated lives, and they hate it.” He says that there are seven mental obstacles holding them back from leading fulfilling lives. These are evident in thoughts like “I fee like I’m in this alone. I don’t feel like my life has a purpose – it seems random. My most important relationships are not working.”
They voice their frustrations with statements such as “I don’t feel like God cares for me personally – not really.” And: “I have destructive behaviors that keep dragging me dawn.” Helplessness in finding some meaning in their lives is expressed as “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that will make a lasting difference.”
Morley addresses the reader by writing that he will show “God’s plan to harness that restless you feel, pull you out of mediocrity, and propel you toward the life you were meant to live. No man should have to settle for half alive. You can become the man God created you to be. I’ll show you how.”
He points out that on the other hand there are men out there who “feel alive,” and ‘they’re living lives of influence because their primal needs have been fulfilled.” And he asks: “what do men who lead powerful, transformed lives do differently than their lukewarm counterparts?”
Morley answers this question by writing: “Jesus made a direct connection between knowing the Bible and leading a powerful life. Lukewarm men are in error because they don’t know the Scriptures and therefore don’t know the power of God. Their capabilities don’t equal their intentions. Without the right training, their soil remains barren, stony and full of weeds.”
He adds that men ‘who truly hear and understand God’s word produce a harvest of thirty, sixty or even a hundred times as much as had been planned.”
Morley writes that there are seven ways God has provided “for you to transform your raw, restless energy you feel into a powerful spiritual life.” The seven chapters of this book spell out in detail how to fulfill these seven basic primal needs we have:
- To feel like you don’t have to do life alone
- To believe – really believe – that God loves and cares about you personally
- To understand how your life has a purpose, that your life is not random
- To break free from the destructive behaviors that keep dragging you down
- To satisfy your soul’s thirst for transcendence, awe and communion
- To love and be loved without reservation
- To make a contribution and leave the world a better place
This is a highly inspirational book written by someone who has the relevant knowledge, experience and wisdom necessary in helping people lead meaningful lives. Get and read this wonderful book and look forward to happier, more fulfilling years.
