{ Bringing Heaven Here - TLC Book Tour }

 

About Bringing Heaven Here: How the Lord’s Prayer Can Change Your Life and Our World

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 25, 2025)
• Hardcover: 256 pages

From the creators of the global television series The Sacred Thread comes a transformative exploration of how the Lord’s Prayer unlocks the power of God to guide, heal, and renew our lives and the world around us.

The Lord’s Prayer is the most iconic and widely spoken prayer in human history. It’s not only a sacred prayer, but the very essence of the Bible’s message—showing us who God is, why Jesus came, and how we fit into the unfolding story of God’s redemption. Yet, familiarity often dulls the power of this profound prayer, leaving its deep meaning untapped and unlived.

Every single phrase of the Lord’s Prayer is loaded with revolutionary significance for Jesus’ original audience—and for us. In this book, Brad Gray and Brad Nelson draw on decades of research to unpack these words in their original historical and cultural context, revealing the bold truths that can still shake our lives today.

You’ll discover how to:

• partner with Jesus in bringing heaven here by aligning your daily actions and influence with His kingdom and will.
• gain wisdom to mend broken relationships and stand against the forces of evil.
• understand what Jesus’ words meant to his original audience.
• gain confidence and peace from bearing God’s name, goodness, and glory to the world.
• experience each moment as holy—as an opportunity for the life of heaven to be a part of your life now.

We are called to actively participate in Jesus’ mission to restore all things, bringing the abundance of heaven to earth. Bringing Heaven Here will unveil the hidden truths and untapped power of the world’s most famous prayer—and show how it applies to your life today. Discover how to stay rooted in Him, embrace the purpose He has for you, and let the Lord’s Prayer guide you into a life of true transformation.

About the author

Brad Gray is the President and CEO of Walking The Text, a non-profit organization that creates digital media resources and study trips to Bible Lands to help people understand the Bible in its original context. He is the cocreator and host of The Sacred Thread, and the author of Make Your Mark. Brad is also a national speaker, ordained minister, and former teaching pastor. He has a business management degree from Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Michigan), a Master of Divinity from Western Theological Seminary (Holland, Michigan), and has done additional graduate work at Jerusalem University College (Jerusalem, Israel). He and his wife, Shallon, live with their four children in the Greater Nashville Area.

Brad Nelson is the content director at Walking The Text, a non-profit organization that creates digital media resources and study trips to Bible Lands to help people understand the Bible in its original context. He curates The Teaching Series, a bi-weekly podcast and video series, and is a cocreator and writer for The Sacred Thread. He is a national speaker, writer, and served in the local church as a pastor for seventeen years. Brad has a Bachelor of Arts in history from Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and a Masters of Divinity from Western Theological Seminary (Holland, Michigan) and has done additional graduate work at Jerusalem University College (Jerusalem, Israel). He and his wife Trisha live with their three daughters in Greensboro, Georgia.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started this book, and I certainly had no idea that it would be one of the best books I've ever read about the Lord's prayer.  It made me think, made me reflect and take in how I think about the prayer and how I use it myself in my life.

 

The book is told through two different voices, two friends both named Brad, who through their own experiences and thoughts both tackle the Lord's prayer, breaking it up into sections and explaining and teaching how each one is and should be thought of when prayed.

 

I will say that I seemed to connect more with Brad Nelson.  Maybe it's just the way he talks or writes, but I found it made it easier for me and I found it more interesting to follow along.  That is not to say that what Brad Gray had to say was not equally important but I find it quite interesting that through both of their accounts and experiences, the audience will definitely feel pulled to one more than the other.  I love that, I love that different voices and different people will get what they need through a single book.

 

So what exactly is the book about?

 

Well it starts by making us look back at how we have prayed the Lord's prayer.  I think if you are a Christian and even if not, everyone all around the world knows the prayer or at least some of it.  There is a familiarity when you hear the first words "Our Father who art in Heaven".

 

I taught my children this prayer from a very early age.  My son Nicholas is 22 and just recently started going to church with us, not because anyone asked him to, but because he felt pulled to.  Our daughter Jasmine on the other hand, is 26 and does not attend church nor does she show much interest at all.  But both of them know the prayer and if asked to recite it right now, they would.

 

And that is exactly the point of this book.  We know the prayer, we say it but at a certain point, or maybe even every time we say it, it just becomes a prayer that is repeated without much thought or feeling put into it.  What the book teaches us, is how to live it, how to feel it, how to embrace the words one by one and apply it to our lives.  I never thought of it that way, I never took the time to really look into what each word and phrase meant.

 

I have come away with a deeper understanding of this covenant, of what God actually wanted us to take from this prayer, and especially for me, the words of the Bible, the scripture that tells us and teach us that What we curse here on earth will be cursed in Heaven and what we bless here on earth will be blessed in Heaven, is reiterated in the Lord's prayer;

 

On earth as it is in Heaven!

 

I never, ever thought to even connect the two.

 

I am so grateful to this book and to both Brads for teaching me what it means, and how to use it daily to really live out God's words in my life.  What a blessing!

 

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Thomas Nelson for providing me with a copy for review.