The Life You've Always Wanted

Spiritual Discipline for Ordinary People

By: John Ortberg

Narrated by: Jay Charles

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Ignite a deeper, more vibrant relationship with God that impacts not just your spiritual life, but every aspect of your daily life.

John Ortberg calls readers back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity - God's power to bring change and growth - and reveals how and why transformation takes place.

The Life You've Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But it is more than just a book about things to do to be a good Christian. It's a road map toward true transformation that starts not with the individual, but with the person at the journey's end - Jesus Christ.

As with a marathon runner, the secret to finishing a race lies not in trying harder, but in training consistently - training with the spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor ends in themselves. Rather they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth. The fruit of the spirit - joy, peace, kindness, etc. - are the signposts along the way.

Paved with humor and sparkling anecdotes, The Life You've Always Wanted is an encouraging and challenging approach to a Christian life that's worth living - a life on the edge that fills an ordinary world with new meaning, hope, change, and joy.

©1997, 2002 John Ortberg (P)2002 Zondervan

Easy to Identify with - Good Practical Examples

This a really good book, not only for those young in their Christian faith, but also for those who've been around and need to "re-focus". Ortberg's presentation on the spiritual disciplines was challenging, but in a way that inspires rather than discourages. He also helps the reader to set reasonable goals for prayer and meditation on scripture.

While I tend to be suspicious of most of the "positive thinking" type books, this book does a good job of addressing the perpective that God intends for us to enjoy many of the "ordinary" things in life rather than live a life of misery. But at the same time, he doesn't downplay our call to obedience and role of suffering in the Christian's life.

Overall, I thought this was a very balanced book and worth the read. It would also serve well as a devotional read on the way to work each morning.

A few of the stories were so funny I was laughing out loud in my car.

Sort of a modern

I found Celebration of Discipline a great blessing when we did it our our adult small group, and I'm always looking for more edifying content to listen to while driving, at the gym and doing chores. This book is I suppose a bit of a dumbing down compared to "Celebration", but in a lot of ways it will resonate more for people like myself who struggle to integrate our faith daily and are a long way from being able to do spiritual retreats regularly or fasting, etc.

The author shares a lot of personal examples, which are either very helpful and human or a tad narcissistic depending on one's mood and personality. For me, I found it generally helpful and after having listened to it carefully once or twice, I now listen to parts of it at least once a week so as to remind myself of what I should be working on it my life.

In short, the book is a blessing for the younger or modern person, as it challenges us to be Christ-like in real, North American day-to-day life.

Excellent book on Christian spiritual dicisplines

Good direction for someone who would like to grow in faith and maturity.

wshort

Excellent. Easy to read. Entertaining, yet very profound!

Great intro to spiritual growth

This is my second book by John Ortberg. I really appreciate his style and humor. He provides wonderful insight into the spiritual disciplines and growth as a Christian. I highly recommend!

Read it.

Where does The Life You've Always Wanted rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was the first audible book I listened to, and I had nothing to compare it with. It was easy to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Life You've Always Wanted?

I love how the author relates his point with a story that the listener can identify with.

What about Jay Charles’s performance did you like?

He did a great job of reading.

Amazing! Just what I needed!

What made the experience of listening to The Life You've Always Wanted the most enjoyable?

Down-to-earth, spiritual teachings for everyday people to become more deeply rooted in God. Just an AWESOME book. Soul-stretching stuff!

What about Jay Charles’s performance did you like?

One of the best narrator's I have ever heard.

Worth Reading

I really appreciated the practical advice found within this book. The reading performance was very well done.

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Chapters 8 through 11 are missing. I did a return and reordered it and it still has those chapters missing .

Wonderful

This is one of the best books I have listened to in a very long time. John takes some basic principles and puts s new and refreshing twist to them. He feels very authentic and he held my attention so I would want to listen. I truly respect his honesty and humanness. Thank you!

Very similar to “soul keeping”

It was a good book but very similar in a number of chapters to John Ortberg’s book Soul Keeping.