Do something for the environment—pray for the earth. The icecaps are melting. The air we breathe and the water we drink are polluted. Forests are being cleared of oxygen-making trees and ecosystem-integral wildlife. Our daily lives impact our earth—mostly leaving negative footprints. The environmental challenges we face are real and almost out of control. We're free to enjoy the earth's bounty and beauty, but along with that privilege comes responsibility. How are Christians to respond as ste...

Sometimes life seems full of storms. All of us experience hardships at one time or another. It's when several crises happen at once that you begin to wonder, "Am I going to make it?" Times of difficulty can grind us down, or they can invite us to become more aware of God's presence and concern. Prayers for Hard Times is a collection of scriptures, prayers, and meditations designed to help you find hope and discover God's presence in the midst of fear, worry, and distress. These booklets, shri...

Who is God to you? What can you give to God? How does God shape your life? How do you live as a disciple of Christ? Drawing on the rich resources of the Methodist tradition, A Life-Shaping Prayer is a beautifully written devotional resource. Centered around a prayer of an early Wesley follower, the themes of this book lead to a rediscovery of what it means to practice faith. Advocating a holistic spirituality where prayer and life are interconnected, Chilcote's premise will make God incre...

Have you ever stopped praying? When life seems unfair and prayer doesn't seem to make any difference, you may quit praying. Most people who admit that they stopped praying for a while, including the author, say they felt as if they were suffocating after a period without prayer. "Sometimes I think God has called me to speak, write, and teach about prayer so I won't give up on it altogether," writes Harper. "After more than forty years of praying, I still don't understand prayer. …Prayer doe...

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...

While a mystery, prayer can and should be taught. It is our primary means of communicating with God, yet most Christians join the church and only learn how to pray by listening to others. And if ever called on to pray in public, it becomes a real test of faith for most people. After all, isn't this better left in the hands of the "professionals"?! Benedict's deep passion for teaching Christians how to pray grows from her awareness of prayer as an intimate connection with God. This short cours...

In Jesus' time, lepers were the most stigmatized of patients. Yet he demonstrated great compassion toward them. Today, persons living with HIV/AIDS suffer many of the same discriminations and rejections that first-century lepers did. What would Jesus do? And how willing are you to follow Jesus' example? Like its predecessors in the Pocket Prayer Series, Prayers for Encouragement is a 32-page booklet of comforting meditations developed for a specific need—in this case, serious diseases affecti...

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...