Neale Donald Walsch has changed the way millions of Americans think about God. His Conversations with God series, book 1, book 2, and book 3, have all been New York Times bestsellers--book 1 for over two years.The essence of Neale Donald Walsch's message lies at the heart of faith--the sacred place in every person, where he stands alone with his God. Walsch urges each of us to forge our own unique relationship with God, a God who is everywhere and speaks to us in all we do. It is up to us to stop and listen. It is up to us to respond . . . to begin the conversation. And a conversation is the first step, just as in any relationship, in establishing trust, in building friendship, in creating communion. In Friendship with God, Neale Donald Walsch shares the next part of his journey, and leads us to deepen and strengthen our own bonds with God. He honors our heart's desire: a closer connection, richer and fuller. A friendship with God.
With personal examples and biblical truths, Dawson invites readers on a fascinating adventure into a place of intimate friendship with almighty God. This edition includes fresh illustrations and a foreword from Jack Hayford.
Are you open to re-imagining your relationship with God as a friendship? Do you want to be transformed into the person God wants you to be? Friendship with God transforms us. As we learn to trust God as our Divine Friend, it has a transforming effect on our whole lives. It affects how we pray, our relationships with each other and the way we understand our everyday lives. It changes the way we think and feel, what we desire and long for, the way we see each other and how we seek to live our lives in the world. We could say our friendship with God creates the climate in which you and I become the people God wants us to be. In his latest book, Friendship with God, Trevor Hudson digs into these two interwoven themes of friendship and personal transformation. He explains that friendship is a helpful analogy for the intimate kind of relationship God wants with us. Put very simply, the gospel invites you and me into friendship with God. When we become friends with Jesus, we are drawn into God’s greater dream for the world. This indeed is the purpose of our lives on earth. We are created to become friends of God and to partner with God in making his dream a greater reality in the world around us. Topics that are addressed include: Living Beyond Loneliness God’s Passionate Longing for Friendship Getting to Know Our Friend Understanding Prayer as Deepening Friendship Looking Outward Together Exploring Our Friend’s Address Book Discerning What Our Friend Wants Us to Do Blessing Others as Our Friend Has Blessed Us Facing Our Fears with Our Friend Asking Our Friend the Hardest Question The creator God who loves us and set the whole universe into existence, and who sustains our lives in the immediacy of each moment, wants our intimate friendship. As you explore this good news you will be encouraged to see your faith and your life in a totally new way.
We don't question our desire to be open with our close friends about our feelings, even if those feelings are difficult to express. We recognize that being honest with our loved ones will only deepen our bonds and help us feel peace in being able to express our innermost thoughts. Why then is it so challenging for us to come as we are, however we are, when approaching God in prayer? In Praying the Truth: Deepening Your Friendship with God through Honest Prayer, William A. Barry, SJ, helps us deepen our friendship with God by examining how to approach God, at any time and with any problem, in complete honesty. Fr. Barry reflects on how secrecy can hurt families, the Church, and ourselves and how what we are keeping secret can get in the way of our connection with God. He acknowledges that we may fear God’s reaction when revealing our most intimate truths; but just like with friendships, we risk not developing our relationship with God if we are dishonest about who we are and how we feel. Praying the Truth helps us realize that if we do not approach God in complete honesty, we may be holding back a part of ourselves that needs to be healed. By learning how to communicate honestly with God, our friendship with God and our faith in God’s promise to love us unconditionally will be strengthened. "Thanks to Praying the Truth, I am beginning to understand that prayer is simply hanging out with God! As I read this book, I felt as if the author seemed to be sitting beside me, just talking to me as I read." -- Anonymous reader
This Lent, come to know Jesus, rather than just know about Jesus. Grounded in Scripture and inspired by Ignatian spirituality, Lenten Meditations: Growing in Friendship with God offers a fresh approach to deepening your friendship with God during Lent. From Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, renowned spiritual director William A. Barry, SJ,offers daily reflections that help you enter into a personal and genuine Lenten prayer practice.Step by step and day by day, you will grow towards a more meaningful experience of the Paschal Mystery as you walk with Jesus through the events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. If you long for more meaning in your spiritual practice, let Father Barry be your guide to connect more deeply with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit this Lent.
Prayer is first and foremost a personal relationship and that the most fruitful prayer is that builds upon and enhances relationship. It shows us how we can develop an intimate relationship with God.
Friendship. This one word can mean a hundred different things to each person. We all want friends, but often struggle to develop meaningful friendships. Does the Bible speak to and present a vision and theology of biblical friendship? Is there anything unique about biblical friendship?
The Holy Spirit, a great personality with presence in the life of every believer. Full of power and glory, an ever abiding friend. The words Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit baptism, Holy Ghost, et cetera are words that have earned a reputation among the body of Christ as being popular. The name Holy Spirit is everywhere on our lips. Even a 10-year-old can tell you something about the Holy Spirit. This popular personality is no stranger to many of us. Some of us have read Holy Spirit books, we have dug some deeper information on Holy Ghost books, we have had Holy Spirit baptism experience, yet we have not learned one very important thing – how to make the Holy Spirit our friend. We have known the Holy Spirit as mentioned in several preaching and sermons. But it is however sad that our knowledge has not translated into concrete friendship with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. He is everywhere around us and he longs for our friendship. But the problem has always been with the believer who does not know how to make this third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost a good friend. Friends, it doesn’t matter how long you have been saved. It only matters how much you have made the Holy Spirit your friend. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is forever going to be present with us from the day we submitted ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and even to eternity. The Holy Spirit is going to be present from the day we were saved and he is also going to be present throughout our life in eternity. It bothers me how we take our time to study in the college for four years or even five years depending on your chosen field. However, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost who will forever abide with us we do not know how to make him a good friend. It is with such a burden that I write this book to you and it will help you in developing a solid friendship with the Holy Spirit. All through the Bible, believers who have been able to develop a friendship with the Holy Spirit, wielded enormous power of the spirit of God and their generation was never the same. I urge you to read this book with an open mind and when the spirit of God prompts you to drop it for a short prayer, please do as the occasion serves you. I await your testimony after reading this book: “On How the Holy Ghost Became Your Friend.”
