Opening to God Spiral-Bound | 2021-04-13

David G. Benner

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Prayer is not merely something we do; prayer is what God does in us. Using the four movements of lectio divina, spiritual director David Benner invites us to discover openness to God as the essence of prayer, spirituality, and the Christian life. This expanded edition explores prayer as attending, pondering, responding, and being, opening us to a world of possibilities for communion with God.



Most Christians want to experience spiritual transformation. But many are frustrated by the limited progress of our spiritual self-improvement efforts. We find our praying burdened by a sense of obligation and failure.

But prayer is not merely something we do; prayer is what God does in us. Prayer is not just communication with God--it is communion with God. As we open ourselves to him, God does the spiritual work of transformation in us.

Spiritual director and psychologist David Benner invites us to discover openness to God as the essence of prayer, spirituality, and the Christian life. Prayer is far more than saying words to God; all of life can be prayer when offered to God in faith and with openness. Using the four movements of lectio divina, Benner explores prayer as attending, pondering, responding, and being. Along the way he opens us to a world of possibilities for communion with God: praying with our senses, with imagination, with music and creativity, in contemplation, in service, and much more.

Learn how prayer can be a way of living. Move beyond words to become not merely someone who prays, but someone whose entire life is prayer in union with God.

This expanded edition includes a new afterword and an experiential guide with questions for individual reflection or group discussion.

Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Original Binding: Paperback
Pages: 208 pages
ISBN-10: 0830846867
Item Weight: 0.6 lbs
Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
". . . [A] good introduction for Christians seeking a deeper experience of connecting to God in prayer. . . . [T]here is much in Benner?s book that can be appropriated by anyone seeking to understand better how we can follow the biblical commands to 'pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17) and 'to abide with God'-- whether he or she is a beginner or an experienced pilgrim in the life of unceasing prayer." -Todd E. Pickett, Journal of Spiritual Formation Soul Care, November 2011

David G. Benner (PhD, York University) is an internationally known depth psychologist, transformational coach and author whose life passion has been helping people walk the human path in a deeply spiritual way and the spiritual path in a deeply human way. Some of his books include Presence and Encounter, Spirituality and the Awakening Self, Sacred Companions and Soulful Spirituality.