A simple yet profound guide to facilitate the instinctively human desire to pray. We pray because we are human, not because we are religious. Something in our nature points beyond itself; something in us searches for and desires personal connection with God. Although communicating with our Creator through prayer is innate, the effective practice of it often feels just beyond our reach. This unique book guides you to pray in deeper and more authentic ways. The short prayers and thought-provoking imagery, interspersed with contemplative reflections and suggested practices, will stir, inform, and encourage you. The simplicity of the prayers and the aesthetic appeal of the images will inspire people in every facet of life, including those with no real religious background at all.

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. This book teaches: silent communion with God a method of being open to the gift of God's presence a way of receiving a deep ad intimate relationship with God Each day's reading has a focal scripture verse and the author's reflection, ending with simple suggestions for contemplative prayer. You'll begin with as few as 5 minutes of Centering Prayer. By following the guidance in this book for 40 days, you will be led to a closer relationship with God. As you progress through the daily scripture and meditative readings in Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God, you'll find greater understanding and fresh awareness of Jesus' promise, "I am with you always."

Combining prayers in two languages--words and images--this contemporary prayer guide will help you spend time in conversation with God. As people of faith, we all struggle at times to sustain a flourishing prayer life--a loss felt all the more keenly in these times of confusion, political turbulence, and global calamity. This unique book offers a timeless solution for the spiritual and skeptical alike. Combining story-driven reflections with visual and written prayers, this simple 40-day prayer guide will help you reconnect with God as you rediscover your own ongoing conversation with Him. Using the familiar refrains in the Lord's Prayer as a guide, this groundbreaking resource invites you to reconnect with God creatively and organically.

We believe we pray because we are human, not because we are religious. Religious tradition can and often does provide language, shape and space for prayer, but the primal instinct to pray does not emanate from or begin with religion. Instead, something in our nature points beyond itself; something in us searches for and appeals to The Divine. We wrote this book to help you find language, shape and space for the basic, human, spiritual and beautiful need to pray. Yet, as natural as prayer is, the practice of it often seems to take place behind closed doors in exclusive clubs with language and imagery exclusive to that club. We have created a work that provides language and imagery accessible to people from a multitude of religious backgrounds as well as for those with no real religious background at all. - Justin McRoberts has written 40 guided prayers. - Scott Erickson has paired each prayer with beautiful, contemplative imagery. - Each of the book's seven sections is capped by reflections on the practice of prayer and each of those reflections points toward specific, suggested practices.

When life takes an unexpected turn that leaves you reeling, sometimes you have to remind yourself to just breathe. But God is closer than the air you breathe. Grounded in scripture and Christian tradition, Sacred Breath walks you through the practice of Centering Prayer and helps you breathe in deeply the presence of God. Learn how to present yourself to God in silence twice a day without any agenda. Forty days of practical, encouraging meditations will help you get started in the rich experience of living in the awareness of God's love. The first 10 readings focus on receiving God's love, the second 10 on obstacles to our relationship with God, and the last 20 on the rhythm of receiving and giving in our walk with God. Sacred Breath includes scriptures, breathing exercises, and an outline for group meetings. For an introduction to Centering Prayer, try Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God, also by J. David Muyskens.

Your 40-day guide to experiencing more passionate, persistent, intimate communication with God. Do you pray as often and as bravely as you want to? Are you looking to strengthen your relationship with God and experience a deeper, more intentional prayer life? Mark Batterson, New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker, is here to teach you all about a new, life-changing way to pray. After the release of The Circle Maker, thousands of readers quickly became many tens of thousands, and soon enough, true stories of miraculous and inspiring answers to prayer began to pour in. Draw the Circle shares these inspiring testimonies and combines them with timely scriptures and daily prayer prompts designed to stir you to pray like never before. Through these moving stories and encouraging devotionals, you'll learn all about: The life-changing power of intentional prayer Why prayer is such a crucial aspect of your relationship with God How to start applying the principles of The Circle Maker in your everyday life How to stay humble, patient, and focused as you start your 40-day journey Building prayer habits that will support your faith for a lifetime There's a way for all of us to experience a deeper, more passionate, persistent, and intimate prayer life. Batterson invites you to begin a lifetime of watching God work, believe in the God who can do all things, and experience the power of bold prayer and even bolder faith. Let Draw the Circle be the first forty days on your way to a lifetime of watching God work and believing in the God who can do all things.

Forty Days of Fruitful Living