Richard J. Foster teaches readers how to use the classical Christian techniques of meditation to enhance times of prayer.

Richard Foster weaves together stories from the mothers and fathers of the faith plus powerful encounters with God from his own life to describes the riches of meditative prayer. Here's the biblical teaching and step-by-step help you need to begin this time-honored prayer practice. A Renovaré Resource.

Our prayers should go as deep as our souls. Spiritual disciplines are simply ways to open ourselves to God. They help us become aware of the many ways God speaks to us and provide us with ways to respond to God. This book explores and explains how the historical disciplines and perspectives of the Christian faith can deepen both our walk with God and our community with others In today's society we ore often handicapped in our spiritual growth by too narrow a horizon when it comes to spiritual practices. Each generation suffers a kind of collective amnesia, forgetting the practices and perspectives that nourished countless followers of Christ in centuries past. Rediscovering these skills is one way to respond to our culture's--and our own--deep spiritual hunger. While it is seemingly preposterous for us to suppose we can interact with the God of this universe, Scripture repeatedly invites us to do that very thing. Prayer is not a minor idea tucked into the cracks of the text; it is central, normative, and expected. Why is it, then, that our prayers are so often dry and difficult? In Meditative Prayer, you'll discover those ways of prayer that make use of your mind and imagination, that address your needs as well as strengthen your spirit. By drawing from a number of different sources--from Scripture, from wise men and women who have gone before, and from one another--this study guide will enable your soul to drink deeply from the inexhaustible well of prayer. Though you can use this guide for a personal journey of prayer, it is ideally suited for exploration with a small group of like-minded friends.

Stop Breathe Listen Be Still In a world that moves too fast and places little value on quiet times, the practice of contemplative prayer offers rest to your soul and invites God's presence into your life. This thoughtful book, inspired by the best-selling DVD of the same name, invites you into the joy and peace that can be found in the age-old practice of contemplative prayer and features writings from some of today's most highly respected authors and speakers, including: • Max Lucado • Dr. Henry Cloud • Philip Yancey • Michelle McKinney Hammond • Richard Foster • Dallas Willard • Dr. Calvin Miller • Ken Gire In these pages you will be introduced to the practice of lectio divina, which simply means "sacred reading." Using Scripture and silence, you will learn to invite God's presence and direction into your life through the thirty-one meditations in this beautifully illustrated book. You don't have to be a scholar or a saint to experience contemplative prayer or enjoy God's divine companionship. As you walk through these thirty-one days, you will grow daily into a deeper, more satisfying prayer life with God. Open the book. Be still. Find rest for your soul. Compiled by Amy and Judge Reinhold.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For the weary, the angry, the anxious, and the hopeful, this collection of moving, tender prayers offers rest, joyful resistance, and a call to act, written by Barbara Brown Taylor, Amena Brown, Nadia Bolz-Weber, and other artists and thinkers, curated by the author Glennon Doyle calls “my favorite faith writer.” It’s no secret that we are overworked, overpressured, and edging burnout. Unsurprisingly, this fact is as old as time—and that’s why we see so many prayer circles within a multitude of church traditions. These gatherings are a trusted space where people seek help, hope, and peace, energized by God and one another. This book, curated by acclaimed author Sarah Bessey, celebrates and honors that prayerful tradition in a literary form. A companion for all who feel the immense joys and challenges of the journey of faith, this collection of prayers says it all aloud, giving readers permission to recognize the weight of all they carry. These writings also offer a broadened imagination of hope—of what can be restored and made new. Each prayer is an original piece of writing, with new essays by Sarah Bessey throughout. Encompassing the full breadth of the emotional landscape, these deeply tender yet subversive prayers give readers an intimate look at the diverse language and shapes of prayer.

The teachings of St Teresa of Avila about personal prayer. The practicality of St. Teresa's teaching about mental prayer shines through in this wonderful synopsis of her writings about it--something she said "the whole world could not purchase." Learn how we should pray, in order to grow in the spiritual life. Imprimatur.

The best-selling author of The Wisdom Jesus and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene demystifies the popular Christian meditation method rooted in contemplative prayer Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it simply a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that Centering Prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition. She provides a practical, complete course in the practice and then goes deeper to analyze what actually happens in Centering Prayer: the mind effectively switches to a new operating system that makes possible the perception of nonduality. With this understanding in place, she then takes us on a journey through one of the sources of the practice, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing, revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault’s illumination of the Centering Prayer path provides compelling evidence of how important the practice has become in the half-century since it first arose among American Trappist monks, and of its maturation and refinement over the ensuing years of sincere study and practice. It will resonate with beginners on the Centering Prayer path as well as with seasoned practitioners.