John L. Banda was born and raised in Texas. He currently lives in Dallas, where he works as a supervisor in his day job and writes prayerful reflections in his free time, something that he has a deep affinity for. Much of John’s religious education and faith formation came from reading and participating in conferences, courses, talks and retreats. The discouragement brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and his desire to draw closer to God led to John writing a series of books on prayer. The first two, Intimacy with God and Purity of Jesus, form part of a series called Field Prayers, which provide short ‘arrow’ prayers, typically one or two sentences in length, which are designed for busy people and aim to bring us into the presence of God. His books are available through Amazon. In his spare time John enjoys watching TV, reading and listening to audio books about self-development, Christian spirituality and animal theology. He has a deep compassion for all animals, which began when he rescued a stray cat, and follows a strict, plant-diet (based on Genesis 1:29). His Facebook fan page, called Love is a Beautiful Thing, gained over 2 million followers and is still going strong today. John has served in youth ministry, singles ministry and young adult ministry at various parishes and believes it is his purpose to encourage Christians all over the world to live a life for God.