PRAYERFUL PASSAGES
Asking God's Help in Reconciliation,
Separation, and Divorce
by
Jack H. Emmott
Genre: Religion / Spirituality / Devotional
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Date of Publication: February 9, 2016
# of pages: 64
The power of asking God for help while struggling to save a marriage, separating, divorcing, or rebuilding life is the driving force behind Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce by Jack H. Emmott. The fifty-six prayers are practical, touching on all shades of difficulty. They are specific and short; accessible and comforting; inspiring and inspired.
In Prayerful Passages, Jack has opened the doors of comfort and healing to guide a Christian struggling with the anger, loss, and grief that inevitably arise during the separation, divorce, and reconciliation stages of a marriage in peril. Open the doors of your own heart to God’s grace and healing. These prayers will aid you in your journey.
PRAISE FOR PRAYERFUL PASSAGES:
In Prayerful Passages, Jack Emmott, with profound clarity, helps faithful people struggling in their marriage to find not only the words they need to pray, but also the Divine Presence and power they need in challenging life circumstances. -- Rev. Stuart Bates, Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston
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This book will make an ideal gift for a friend or family member going through divorce. I wish the families I’ve seen in family court had been able to make their difficult passages with these prayers in their hearts and on their lips. This book would have alleviated their anguish.-- Frank Rynd, J.D., Former Family Law Judge
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A compelling sharing of compassion—this book shows the impact a prayerful, Christ-centered life can have on the human spirit. What a powerful read . . . I was wowed by its wisdom. -- Larry R. Cook, CPA
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All you have to do is open to the table of contents to see the brilliance of this wise voice that pushes us all to see the world as a more inclusive, loving place where we are all perfectly imperfect children of God. Jack offers his reader empathy, wisdom and redemption for the human spirit. Don’t miss the wisdom of a man who has lived into surrender at an early age as his polio left him trapped in an iron lung to survive. But, he didn’t just survive; he blossomed and thrives today, venerating the love of the Divine for all of us. This is a must-read for all of us who want to live more fully into our loving relationships. -- Micki Grimland, LCSW, Owner and Chief Psychotherapist, Southwest Psychotherapy Associates
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About Prayers and Prayer Books
Why did you choose to write a prayer book?
I did not choose to write a prayer book. I believe God chose me to do so. It happened in this way. Last year in prayer, I heard a voice saying: “Write a book of prayer to help others save their marriages. Name it Prayerful Passages.”
With continued and heartfelt prayer, I started writing Prayerful Passages. I believe it is a life-affirming resource for married couples in saving and preserving the sacrament of marriage. And if the marriage cannot be saved, to help them in divorce. My prayer is that this small booklet will become an instrument of God’s grace in peoples’ lives.
What is the hardest part of writing prayers?
The hardest part in writing the prayers was to use words that accomplish a dual mission: to ask for God’s help, but also to invoke a careful and thoughtful consideration ,in the person saying the prayers,of his/herpart in creating the problem which put the marriage at risk. I believe that God wants His children to know that problems unsolved in one relationship are often taken to the next one. That’s part of why so many of the prayers speak of the healing of both spouses through God’s grace.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I enjoyed most taking the wisdom distilled from two sources, my own paralysis due to polio and my calling as a family law attorney, then embedding that wisdom in the prayers. t Of course, it is my fervent hope that this same wisdom will pass to others t as they say the prayers. When I was younger, I perceived my polio to be the heaviest burden imaginable and somewhat of a curse. Yet, those dark times gave me so many of God’s blessings, including these prayers. May these prayers be a blessing to married persons from what seemed to me years ago to be the curse of polio.
How can readers access additional prayers for problem marriages?
Readers can access additional prayers for problem marriages by first reading and saying the prayers in my book. When one prays to God, His answers will come, but not only His answers. I believe the words of a person’s own prayers will come too. They will arise from that person’s heart. In Prayerful Passages, I have left blank pages for the reader to write his/her own prayers. Readers need to know there is no such thing as a perfect prayer…only one perfect and loving God.
In addition to, “Use Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce”, what is a single piece of advice you would give those thinking about separation and divorce?
My single piece of advice to those thinking about reconciliation, separation, or divorce is to use prayer every step of the way. Prayerful and well developed souls are secure in their faith, empathetic, compassionate, humble, and not prone to blaming others. These souls surrender their anger, resentments, and weaknesses to God. These qualities are most helpful in marriage and lead to happiness and satisfaction in the life God gave us as a blessing.
What is your favorite prayer book?
My favorite prayer book was given to me when I was six by Rev. Skarden Daubert, an Episcopal priest, while I was quarantined with polio at Hedgecroft Hospital in Houston, Texas. I held that little red book in my weakened hands every day for the better part of a year in the hospital. When I held that book I could almost feel the hands of Christ holding mine. It was the Book of Common Prayer.
What makes Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce appealing is the courage, calling and faith of its author Jack H. Emmott. In 1954, just as the Salk vaccine was entering massive medical trials, Jack was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the neck down. With faith in God and selfless help from his parents, educators, healthcare providers, and later his wife Dorothy and his close-knit family, he became a successful lawyer, civic leader, volunteer, inspirational speaker, author, and song writer. Though today confined to a motorized wheelchair, he has long navigated as a full member of society.
As a member at Gray Reed & McGraw in Houston, Texas, with over thirty-five years working in family law, Jack primarily focuses on collaborative law, a resolution option for divorcing couples. In collaborative process, couples mutually agree to voluntary disclosure of relevant information, which is much faster and less expensive than formal discovery. The children are protected and shared, not divided like property.
His life experience and abiding faith in God led Jack to write Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation, and Divorce. Jack says, “The exact words of the title Prayerful Passages literally came to me one night during evening prayer. I felt, at that very moment, I had received an invitation from God to write a book of prayers to help others and to please the God who had always accompanied me in the darkness of disability.”
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