"Imagine my surprise at learning that I needed to get to know my God a lot better." Despite lifelong Christian devotion, Maricle came to this startling realization after experiencing a crisis of faith. "I needed answers that are so fundamental to Christian living," he writes. "Why is this life, at times, so hard? Why isn't my faith helping me? Why am I finding no comfort in prayer? These questions—and the struggles behind them—challenged all my notions of faith, my perception of God and the...

What if it really wasn't that hard to find more peace, more quiet, more room in your heart for the Christ child to be born? Hawkins will guide you—calmly and simply—through the busy season of Advent, and you'll come out of the four weeks more centered, rested, and spiritually renewed. "The idea for this book arose from my own experience of contemplative prayer, prayer that finds its home, not in busy doing or speaking, but in becoming, in being," writes Ha...

The Way of Prayer Leader's Guide is also available. It's said that prayer is so primal an urge for humankind that we're born into the world praying. Yet, something so natural and seemingly so easy comes hard sometimes. The Way of Prayer is a 10-week small-group study about the nature, practice, and results of prayer. Some forms of prayer arise in our lives spontaneously, some are learned by rote, and others are stumbled upon as we move through life. "All prayer, formal or informal, is about ...

The Way of Prayer Participant's Book is also available for small-group members. Everything you need to guide a small group on a 10-week journey into the heart of prayer is contained in this Leader's Guide. Find the practical help you need: Ideas for a session to introduce the resource to participants A list of Weekly Needs at a Glance Detailed instructions for leading 10 weekly meetings Help your group members become the people God wants them to be through this study. By exploring the n...

It's been said that Centering Prayer is like two friends sitting together in silence, just being in each other's presence—completely natural and comfortable. Yet, Centering Prayer is sometimes viewed as too mysterious, too escapist, too hard. At first, it even appeared that way to the author, but events in his life and his further studies about prayer changed his views. Through Muyskens' insightful guidance, you'll explore a method of prayer that goes deeper than verbal conversations with God...

"You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip." —Psalm 18:36 Places are part of our personal story and can be important keys to understanding God's presence in our life. Whether the sacred place lies at the water's edge, in a quiet, small town or in pristine, high-country mountains, all have felt pulled and connected to a spot. Perhaps at the least likely moment you felt touched by God's presence just when you needed it most, even if it was in a mundane, public p...

People who pray together can change the world. A faith community's deepening prayer life depends on an effective spiritual leader. Many are willing to assume this role, but some aspiring guides have trouble making the transition from an individual practice to leading a group. Wolpert demonstrates how personal devotion can evolve into leadership practice. Bestselling spiritual leadership books "provide insights from secular leadership disciplines and then add a paragraph about how these discip...

A restless search is on. Cover stories about the "real" Jesus are on the increase in news magazines, best sellers based on alternative Gospels, and documentaries. Whether you're a devout Christian, an inquiring seeker or a rank skeptic, this book is for you if you wish to explore the teaching of Jesus. Provocative Grace focuses on the words of Jesus, not as rules to live by but as challenges to precipitate growth into greater maturity. Morris asks us to enlarge our existing concepts and to st...