How to Pray Without Being Religious

How to Pray Without Being Religious PDF Author: Janell Moon
Publisher: HarperElement
ISBN: 9780007174850
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Drawing on her own experiences, as wll as those of her friends, Moon explores the different kinds of prayer and clearly demonstrates how a life of prayer can change the lives of those who pray and of those around them.

Prayer for People Who Don't Believe in God

Prayer for People Who Don't Believe in God PDF Author: Vance Morgan
Publisher: Wood Lake Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 1773431692
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
Many progressive christians struggle with prayer –or, at least, with the kinds of prayer they are often exposed to: shouted, whispered, forceful, timid, begging, and demanding; everything from essay lengthy scripted petitions, to poetry read from a book, to rote recitations that no one pays much attention to, to pronouncements, to communications in a “prayer language.” They are often gripped by the power of the Christian faith but are simply unable or unwilling to endorse or engage with many of its traditional beliefs, including traditional beliefs about God and prayer. If we're not trying to connect with the kind of God who takes notes, answers “yes” or “no,” and grants or withholds favours, what or whom are we trying to connect with? And so often our words seem to travel no further than the ceiling, no matter what we believe. The situation for people who describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious” isn’t much different. They may not “pray” in the traditional sense or in traditional ways, but many long to connect or communicate with something larger than themselves – as good a definition of “prayer” as any – whether they name that something “the divine,” “big love,” or “spirit”; or think of it as a “force” or “energy” that connects all things. This is not an academic book, nor a “how-to” document. Rather, it poses questions that are important to progressive Christians and to the “spiritual but not religious.” Working only with the assumption that prayer might have value even for those who are not sure what, or who, or even if God is, this book is about opening oneself to the “possibility of God.”

How to Pray Without Being Religious

How to Pray Without Being Religious PDF Author: Janell Moon
Publisher: HarperElement
ISBN: 9780007174850
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Drawing on her own experiences, as wll as those of her friends, Moon explores the different kinds of prayer and clearly demonstrates how a life of prayer can change the lives of those who pray and of those around them.

Start Where You Are

Start Where You Are PDF Author: Pema Chödrön
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 161180597X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
The perennially helpful guide to transforming our pains and difficulties into opportunities for genuine joy and personal growth, from the beloved Buddhist nun and author of When Things Fall Apart We all want to be fearless, joyful, and fully alive. And we all know that it’s not so easy. We’re bombarded every day with false promises of ways to make our lives better—buy this, go here, eat this, don’t do that; the list goes on and on. But Pema Chödrön shows that, until we get to the heart of who we are and really make friends with ourselves, everything we do will always be superficial. In this perennial self-help bestseller, Pema offers down-to-earth guidance on how we can go beyond the fleeting attempts to “fix” our pain and, instead, to take our lives as they are as the only path to achieve what we all yearn for most deeply—to embrace rather than deny the difficulties of our lives. These teachings, framed around fifty-nine traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims, point us directly to our own hearts and minds, such as “Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment,” “Be grateful to everyone,” and “Don’t expect applause.” By working with these slogans as everyday meditations, Start Where You Are shows how we can all develop the courage to work with our own inner pain and discover true joy, holistic well-being, and unshakeable confidence.

Making Sense of God

Making Sense of God PDF Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525954155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing PDF Author: Patrick Laude
Publisher: World Wisdom, Inc
ISBN: 1933316144
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Drawn from the world's religions, this work takes the reader on a pilgrimage to the heart of prayer and reveals why prayer is the essence of the human condition.

God Is a Question, Not an Answer

God Is a Question, Not an Answer PDF Author: William Irwin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538115891
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Uncertainty is the essence of the human condition, and nothing is more uncertain than God. Yet passions run hot when it comes to God, both among believers and non-believers. God is a Question, Not an Answer aims to unsettle readers on both sides of the issue. William Irwin argues that because belief occurs along a continuum of doubt and we can never reach full certainty, believers and non-believers can find common ground in uncertainty. Beginning with the questions of what we mean when we talk about God and faith, Irwin shows that from a philosophical perspective, the tendency to doubt is a virtue, and from a religious perspective there is no faith without doubt. Rather than avoid uncertainty as an uncomfortable state of emotional despair, we should embrace it as an ennobling part of the human condition. We do not have to agree about the existence of God, but we do need to practice intellectual humility and learn to see doubt as a gift. By engaging in civil discourse we can see those who disagree with us as not only fully human but capable of teaching us something.

A Better Way to Pray

A Better Way to Pray PDF Author: Andrew Wommack
Publisher: Harrison House Publishers
ISBN: 1577948343
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
After nearly four decades of ministry, Andrew Wommack has discovered some important truths about prayer. His prayer life is much different than it was thirty years ago and the results have dramatically improved! You may be asking many of the same questions Andrew once did. Is prayer my Christian duty? Is prayer primarily about asking God to meet my needs and the needs of others? Is God's answer to my prayer based on the degree of my humility and sincerity? Is answered prayer a sovereign decision of God or do I have the ability to influence Him? Clear, scriptural answers to these questions and more could significantly change the way you pray. These principles may not be the only way to pray, but if you're not getting the results you desire, consider changing directions; maybe there is A Better Way to Pray.

The Christian Atheist

The Christian Atheist PDF Author: Craig Groeschel
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310597412
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Growing up, all my friends would have described my family as a Christian family. I assumed all my friends were Christians as well. We all believed in God. We occasionally attended church. We were good people. Even though we believed in God, we didn’t know his word, didn’t understand the gospel, and didn’t pursue his will. We believed in God, but we lived as if he didn’t exist.After pastoring for eighteen years, I’ve noticed a large percentage of people in my church living similar lives. Some seem to be Christian in name only without a lot of visible spiritual fruit. Others boldly claim Christ is Lord while living lives diametrically opposed to the teachings in scripture.The more I looked, the more I found Christian Atheists everywhere. While it is often easy to spot the hypocrisy in others, it is generally more difficult to see in the mirror. One day in an honest moment, I painfully admitted that although I unquestionably believed in God, I was leading the church as if he didn’t exist. I wrongly depended more on my own abilities than on his Spirit. Sadly, I dangerously cared more what people thought about me than what God thought about me. And although I preached about putting your whole faith in God, I still lived as if everything was up to me.The book Christian Atheism reflects my personal journey toward a more authentic God-honoring life.

Help, Thanks, Wow

Help, Thanks, Wow PDF Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101607734
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Book Description
A New York Times bestseller from the author of Dusk, Night Dawn, Hallelujah Anyway, Bird by Bird, and Almost Everything. Author Anne Lamott writes about the three simple prayers essential to coming through tough times, difficult days and the hardships of daily life. Readers of all ages have followed and cherished Anne Lamott’s funny and perceptive writing about her own faith through decades of trial and error. And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesced everything she knows about prayer to these fundamentals. It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas. Insightful and honest as only Anne Lamott can be, Help, Thanks, Wow is the everyday faith book that new Lamott readers will love and longtime Lamott fans will treasure.

The Christian Athlete

The Christian Athlete PDF Author: Brian Smith
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 0830783261
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
The Christian Athlete is a gospel-centered guide that assists athletes who identify as Christians and are seeking to understand how to practically apply their faith to their sport. Athletes desire—and deserve—a more substantive expression of the Christian faith in the context of sport, but they don’t know what it looks like or where to turn to learn more. Author Brian Smith shares his story as an athlete and coach, and his experience working with high-level athletes in the last decade to help readers better understand how to integrate faith and sport by: Assisting those who want a wide-angled understanding of how to live the Christian faith in the context of sports Walking through the many questions Christian athletes ask about winning, losing, injuries, practice, and everything in between Moving Christian athletes from simply having clichéd spiritual sayings decorating their bodies or t-shirts to actually living out their faith through all the opportunities their sport offers them The Christian Athlete will show readers how to live out a biblical perspective on athletics and urge them to engage in the gifts they are given to glorify God whether they are the team MVP or riding the bench.