This book is for every weary heart in search of a home. It is for every person who longs to find an oasis in this desert and to share it with friends. This book is for every anxious, tired, and lonely person searching for a deep and abiding connection with the one true source of all things, Jesus, and it's for every person who, once that connection is established, wants to create oases for others and help them connect with Jesus more intimately.

When asked by his barber and good friend Peter Beskendorf for some practical guidance on how to pray, Martin Luther responded by writing this brief treatise, first published in 1535. This edition is a modern translation that brings us Luther's practical instruction.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade, a French Jesuit spiritual director and writer born in the late seventeenth century, is best known for his belief in the sacredness of the present moment, or the "eternal now." His masterpiece, Abandonment to Divine Providence, has been celebrated by spiritual writers as diverse as Richard Foster and Alan Watts for its ability to invoke the mystery of eternity in the now--a tenet of spirituality that resonates across faith traditions.

We’ve bought into the lie that we are worthy of God’s love only when our lives are going well. God longs for us to know in the depth of our beings that He loves us and accepts us as we are. When we are our true selves, we can finally claim our identity as God’s child―Abba’s child―and experience His pure pleasure in who we are. Brennan Manning encourages us to let go of the impostor lifestyle and freely accept our belovedness as a child of the heavenly Father. In Him there is life.

The CSB Reader's Bible provides the perfect opportunity to read the Bible in its original and simplified form—uninterrupted by verse and chapter references. This CSB Bible is a unique reading experience for readers because it invites the reader to encounter God's Word as a grand narrative and have a fresh experience with the Bible.

The last book published before Nouwen's death in 1996, Can You Drink the Cup? has been translated into ten languages and sold more than 135,000 copies. Exploring the deep spiritual impact of the question Jesus asked his friends James and John, Nouwen reflects upon the metaphor of the cup, using the images of holding, lifting, and drinking to articulate the basics of the spiritual life.

The practice of prayer and meditation in modern Western Christianity is rooted in the Eastern tradition of early Church prayer as well as the wisdom of early Church fathers. In Centering Prayer, M. Basil Pennington, the author of the highly acclaimed Daily We Touch Him, returns to these roots, offering contemporary Christians a new approach to ancient prayer forms.

In our post-culture-war world defensiveness saturates everything from our political discourse to our social media discussions. We have lost the art of honest and open conversation. Almost every dialogue has become a boxing match.

This book is about recovering the lost art of conversation. It will teach you to dance instead of fight in everyday relationships. Weaving together theology, psychology, and years of experience Brandon Booth will help you:

In twenty-four power packed chapters, Fr. Ron compassionately and eloquently elaborates on how we can reclaim the lost virtue of chastity. He spells out the reasons for the death of chastity in our culture, the negative consequences of that has had on our souls and in our lives, the need for a healthy chastity in all areas of our lives, what constitutes that healthy chastity, and its positive consequences—so that we can say the word chastity without a cringe.

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature.

What is a monastery? A monastery is a place set apart—a place to learn the blessings of powerlessness, and that time is not ours but God’s. Our home and our duties can, just like a monastery, teach us those things. The vocation of monastic men and women is to physically withdraw from the world. But the principle is equally valid for those of us who cannot go off to monasteries. Certain vocations offer the same kind of opportunity for contemplation, and provide a desert for reflection.

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What does a Christian life lived "by the Spirit" look like? For many Christians throughout history, fulfilling Paul's command in Galatians 5:25 included a form of contemplation and prayer that leads to spiritual formation. But in large part, contemporary Christians―perhaps especially evangelicals―seem to have lost or forgotten about this treasure from their own tradition. Bringing together scholars and practitioners of spiritual formation from across the Protestant spectrum, this volume offers a distinctly evangelical consideration of the benefits of contemplation.

Bracing and honest, Finding Quiet will validate the experiences of believers with mental illness, remind them they are not alone, and provide reassurance that they can not only survive but thrive again.

John W. Kleinig clarifies that there is no process for becoming spiritual. Instead, God graciously gives to us every spiritual gift that we need, beginning with the very gift of faith in Christ, our Savior. Because God has joined us to Christ, He continually comes to give us life. In this is a remarkably insightful and faithful book Dr. Kleinig discusses topics ranging from Christian meditation, prayer, and spiritual disciplines.

Fr. Jean C. J. d Elbée, a French priest deeply imbued with St. Thérèse's spirit, brings you St. Thérèse's teachings on God's love and the confidence in Him that it should inspire in your soul; humility, peace, and fraternal charity; the apostolate; the Cross; and what it means truly to abandon yourself to Divine Providence. I Believe in Love has helped countless souls embark on the way to the Father. It will help you focus on Him throughout each day, rest in Him amid your troubles, and live joyfully with Him at every moment!

Interior Freedom leads one to discover that even in the most difficult circumstances we possess within ourselves a space of freedom that nobody can take away, because God is its source and guarantee. Without this discovery we will always be restricted in some way and will never taste true happiness. Author Jacques Philippe develops a simple but important theme: we gain possession of our interior freedom in exact proportion to our growth in faith, hope, and love. He explains that the dynamism between these three theological virtues is the heart of the spiritual life, and he underlines the key role of the virtue of hope in our inner growth.

Many of us spend our days feeling like we're the only one with problems, while everyone else has their act together. But the sooner we realize that everyone struggles like we do, the sooner we can show grace to ourselves and others. In Low Anthropology, popular author and theologian David Zahl explores how our ideas about human nature influence our expectations in friendship, work, marriage, and politics.

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Many Christian counselors and pastors want to bring Christ's Gospel and forgiveness into their soul care, but don't know how. Luther's very Christ-centered theology, based in his desire for care of souls, can provide us with that foundation. Various techniques flowing from that foundation are shared.

This timeless little classic communicates essential teachings of Martin Luther. The subject of Freedom is both timely and poignantly relevant today. For the Christian, this freedom is liberty from sin and death, and the opportunity to serve one's neighbor. Written in a simple style, On Christian Liberty conveys significant spiritual insight into the grace of God and liberating faith in Christ Jesus. It is counter-cultural, down-to-earth, and accessible to young adult readers in an inexpensive pocket-sized book.

This work, by an unknown fourteenth century author, contains powerful and practical instruction for practicing a simple form of Contemplative Prayer.

Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth century Christian who had a dramatic spiritual awakening at the age of eighteen. Seeing a tree in winter, his soul suddenly opened to the presence of God. Within six years he had entered a Carmelite monastery in Paris, where he worked chiefly in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning. He practiced a simple and natural method. He merely turned his attention to the Divine Presence available at all times during any activity. He reports that he was as fully present with God while washing dishes in the kitchen as he was when partaking of the sacrament in worship.

Is God lost? Many of us feel that way. It's as if God's gone missing, out in the universe somewhere--and we must pick up the hunt, following any trail of breadcrumbs to go find him. We speak of "searching for God,""exploring spirituality," and "finding faith."

But what if we have it backward and God is the one pursuing us? What if our job is not to go find God, but to stop running and hiding? Not to discover the light, but step out of the shadows? Not to earn God's love, but simply receive it?

Jesus reveals a God who comes after us, who is on the prowl, hunting down his world for reconciliation.

Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a “furious love” that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God’s grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock—the “ragamuffins.”

In seizing the inspiration that came to him through Rembrandt's depiction of the powerful Gospel story "The Return of the Prodigal Son," Henri Nouwen probes several movements of the parable: the younger son's return, the father's restoration of sonship, the elder son's vengefulness, and the father's compassion. In his reflection on Rembrandt in light of his own life's journey, the author evokes a powerful drama of the parable in a rich, capativating way that is sure to reverberate in the hearts of readers.

In this bestselling novel, three pastors learn the necessity of relying on God's grace. They fall short of their pastoral duties through public humiliation, self-doubt, inability to accept God's promises in their own lives, and divisions and quarreling among their parishioners. Ultimately each man rejects temptations and permits the Holy Spirit to work through him. This revised edition includes the final chapter, never before published in English. The new introduction provides historical and theological background to deepen the reader's understanding of the stories.

Pax is the motto of Brede Abbey. Yet its peace is the peace of God—“not,” as Godden brings to her readers’ notice, “the world’s peace.” The walls of Brede witness life of unceasing work and prayer, little creature comfort, persistent disappointment and misunderstanding—yet a life of peace all the same, unswervingly joyful and loving. Into this life enters Philippa Talbot, ambitious, independent, successful, forsaking her beautifully arranged career in the world for a vocation of complete self-gift to God. A milestone in Catholic literature, In This House of Brede is fiction of the highest caliber: no saccharine, simpering imitation of life, but a wholehearted, unreserved reflection of reality in its awful fullness.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S.  Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

From the beloved creator of Winnie-the-Pooh comes an irresistible collection of short stories guaranteed to delight readers of all ages.

Drawing from a collection of stories originally published in 1921 and chosen exclusively by the author himself, The Sunny Side gathers the best short works by the inimitable A. A. Milne. Written for the satire magazine Punch, these brief stories and essays perfectly capture Milne's sly humor, beguiling social insight, and scathing wit.

Anne Bradstreet, the first true poet in the American colonies, wrote at a time and in a place where any literary creation was rare and difficult and that of a woman more unusual still. All Anne Bradstreet's extant poetry and prose is published here with modernized spelling and punctuation.