Power from Above: a Memoir

"God answers prayers" is the simple yet powerful message of James Adams's autobiographical story about growing up in North Philadelphia in the 1960s and 70s. A remarkable near-death experience at age four gave young James a deep-seated and enduring knowledge that there are forces at work in the universe beyond what we can see, and this resulted in his life-long trust that God was taking care of him. Power From Above is his story, told in Adams's likable, straightforward style. The reader pays attention early on, as Adams makes it clear that by all rights he should have wound up a drug dealer, gang member, jailbird, or all three?except for the grace of God. This inspirational story rests on one young man's simple, repeated, and trusting requests for God to take care of him. God, in turn, listens and answers. As Adams reminds us throughout his story, "God answers prayers." With crime, gangs and tragedy shadowing him through his growing up years, Adams had every opportunity to fall into the way of life that many of his friends did, and there were years he went there?until he realized he wasn't living productively, and wouldn't live very long at all if he continued along that way. What follows is Adams's notable story of asking for God's guidance to attend a better school, be a gifted basketball player, have a good home for his family, attend college, and find his soul mate. His formula was easy enough: feel a need, humbly ask for help, and then let go and calmly trust. And does it ever work! James Adams inspires us with his faith and his deep knowing. Power From Above is not a walk in the park, however. Adams experienced his fair share of hard knocks, from growing up with an absentee father, to domestic abuse and drug abuse, to street fighting, gang wars, and tragedy. But he rose above it and always continued his "conversations" with God, who, as Adams never lets us forget, always answered his prayers. This book is stirring and uplifting. It is a lesson to every reader that there is no problem that cannot be overcome through steadfast faith.