Start With Prayer

Do you find it difficult to turn to prayer when you need it most? Do you have trouble finding the words to capture exactly how you’re feeling? Start with Prayer, by pastor and New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado, will give you the tools you need to feel more comfortable when you communicate with God. When struggles and anxieties come up in our lives, we invite God into our world, watching our fears surface and then depart. But how do we help prayer become a tried-and-true practice in our daily lives? Finding the right words to pray can be challenging, but Max is here to help. Whether you’re learning to pray for the first time or you’re hoping to reinvigorate your prayer life, Start with Prayer will change the way you think about your relationship with God. Pairing timeless scripture with thoughtful prayers, Start with Prayer is a special collection of 250 prayers that will help you develop the strength and hope you need to turn to prayer first in any situation you're facing. Adapted from Max’s series of Pocket Prayers with brand new prayers added, Start with Prayer is divided into categories designed to foster prayers that impact every aspect of life, including prayers centered around: Clarity and creativity Healing and safety Inspiration and encouragement Preservation and endurance Wisdom and leadership Start with Prayer is a trustworthy resource that you can turn to no matter what season of life you’re in right now, reminding you that starting with prayer is always the right answer.

An Evangelism Tool for a New Generation. Today’s seekers are far more likely to be open to prayer than a traditional gospel presentation. This beautifully designed book is unintimidating, inviting, and effective. It’s a seven-day journey through the Lord’s prayer. Each day explores a new petition in the Lord’s prayer and helps show the reader the prayer’s importance and impact. The author offers reflection questions, prayer prompts, and sample prayers to help readers begin and deepen their personal journeys in prayer. It’s a perfect resource for anyone exploring the Christian faith or young Christians learning to pray. Plus it works well one-on-one and in small groups.

In this searing meditation on the bonds of family and the allure of extremist faith, one of today’s most celebrated Christian writers recounts his unexpected journey from a strict fundamentalist upbringing to a life of compassion and grace—a revelatory memoir that “invites comparison to Hillbilly Elegy” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “Searing, heartrending . . . This stunning tale reminds us that the only way to keep living is to ask God for the impossible: love, forgiveness, and hope.”—Kate Bowler, New York Times bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason Raised by an impoverished widow who earned room and board as a Bible teacher in 1950s Atlanta, Philip Yancey and his brother, Marshall, found ways to venture out beyond the confines of their eight-foot-wide trailer. But when Yancey was in college, he uncovered a shocking secret about his father’s death—a secret that began to illuminate the motivations that drove his mother to extreme, often hostile religious convictions and a belief that her sons had been ordained for a divine cause. Searching for answers, Yancey dives into his family origins, taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods of the Bible Belt to the bustling streets of Philadelphia; from trailer parks to church sanctuaries; from family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and childhood awakenings through nature, music, and literature. In time, the weight of religious and family pressure sent both sons on opposite paths—one toward healing from the impact of what he calls a “toxic faith,” the other into a self-destructive spiral. Where the Light Fell is a gripping family narrative set against a turbulent time in post–World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and Sixties-era forces of social change. In piecing together his fragmented personal history and his search for redemption, Yancey gives testament to the enduring power of our hunger for truth and the possibility of faith rooted in grace instead of fear. “I truly believe this is the one book I was put on earth to write,” says Yancey. “So many of the strands from my childhood—racial hostility, political division, culture wars—have resurfaced in modern form. Looking back points me forward.”

Faith without obedience is dead. Prayer without action is wasted. What would your life look like if you stopped praying about God’s will and just did it instead? How would your church look if it spent as much time serving as it spent praying about serving? The truth is, sometimes when you think you’re praying, you’re really just procrastinating. And when you think you’re asking that God’s will be done, you’re really telling him no. In times that call for action, prayer can be disobedience in disguise. Wasted Prayer uncovers the ways we use prayer to dodge responsibility for the work God has assigned us. Complete with punch-in-the-gut biblical exposition that will help get you off your knees—and out of your chair—Wasted Prayer will provide you with the jolt you need to start living like a Christian, instead of just praying like one. It’s time to stop praying and start doing.

This revised, expanded edition of the Common Worship President’s Edition contains everything to celebrate Holy Communion Order One throughout the church year. It combines relevant material from the original President’s Edition with Eucharistic material from Times and Seasons, Festivals and Pastoral Services, and the Additional Collects.

The wood. The thorns. The nails. Christ's sacrifice has defined the very essence of mankind's faith for the past 2000 years. And now, Max Lucado invites you to examine the cross, contemplate its purpose, and celebrate its significance with He Chose the Nails. With his warm, caring style, Max examines the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion, revealing the claims of the cross and asserting that if they are true, then Christianity itself is true. The supporting evidence either makes the cross the single biggest hoax of all time, or the hope of all humanity

This beginner's guide to prayer will guide Catholics who need help learning to pray.

We all pray . . . some. We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. When the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When the marriage is falling apart. We pray. But wouldn't we like to pray more? Better? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency? Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. The calendar pounces on our good intentions like a tiger on a rabbit. And what about our checkered history with prayer? Uncertain words. Unmet expectations. Unanswered requests. We aren't the first to struggle with prayer. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance too. In fact, prayer is the only tutorial they ever requested. And Jesus gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Couldn't we use the same? In Before Amen best-selling author Max Lucado joins readers on a journey to the very heart of biblical prayer, offering hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Max reminds readers that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Let the conversation begin.