The title of this book caught my eye, and I quickly requested an ARC from NetGalley! The title is, "But I Prayed for This: What to Do When Living in God's Yes Is Harder Than You Expected" and it was written by Melissa Miller. We've all had times where we've prayed earnestly for something and received exactly what we prayed for. But after awhile (or perhaps even immediately) you quickly become disenchanted or frustrated with the very thing/outcome/person you were praying for. Miller wrote this book for those who can sympathize with this feeling. She describes life as having four seasons in which we receive an answer to prayer. Those four seasons are as follows: a Season of Blooming, a Season of Building, a Bittersweet Season, and a Season of Balancing. She goes on to describe each of these seasons, along with Scripture passages to accompany each. She also describes how what we're feeling occurs chemically in our bodies as something referred to as a reward prediction error. Miller asserts that "when reality doesn't meet our expectations, it creates what neuroscientists call a reward prediction error. In other words: your brain expected a payoff and didn't get it. So not only do your dopamine levels drop; they fall from the heigh of your expectations. The higher and more specific the expectation, the harder the crash, Instead of a double dose of joy, you get a double dose of disillusionment."

I appreciate how Miller acknowledges the reality of our feelings, but also encourages us to do what she refers to as "putting emotion in motion through prayer." She gives a lot of practical advice throughout this book, and I found it to be very helpful. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.