Recommendations based on "Experience Your Good Now!: Learning to Use Affirmations"

Can God be good when life is not? Rediscover faith in the character, power, and presence of God. Even in the questions. Even in the hurt."I want to believe, I want to have hope, but . . ." Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel hears these words often and has asked them himself. We want to know God, feel his presence, and trust that he hears our prayers, but in the midst of great pain, we may wonder if he really cares about us. Even when we have both hope and hurt, sometimes it's the hurt that shouts the loudest.In Hope in the Dark, Groeschel explores the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, saying, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" In the man's sincere plea, Jesus heard the tension in the man's battle-scarred heart. He healed not only the boy but the father too, driving out the hopelessness that had overtaken him. He can do the same for us today.As Groeschel shares his pain surrounding the health challenges of his daughter, he acknowledges the questions we may ask in our own deepest pain: "Where was God when I was being abused?" "Why was my child born with a disability?" "Why did the cancer come back?" "Why are all my friends married and I'm alone?"He invites us to wrestle with such questions as we ask God to honor our faith and heal our unbelief. Because in the middle of your profound pain, you long for authentic words of understanding and hope. You long to know that even in overwhelming reality, you can still believe that God is good.Hope in the Dark is also available in Spanish, Esperanza en la Oscuridad.

NATIONAL BESTSELLERA spiritual thought-leader and featured guest on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday helps us learn to quiet fear and anxiety and discover the powerful wholeness that exists within us all in this inspiring and affirmative guide.Achieving equilibrium in today’s age of anxiety can seem like a near-impossible—even frivolous—task. Panache Desai offers a refreshing, surprisingly unusual approach to meet the challenges of the modern moment and heal the fractured self it produces.For Desai, the soul—whole, unbroken, at peace, and one with the life source—isn’t a destination. It already exists within each of us, just waiting to be revealed. It is not something we have to work to develop—it is our birthright. And when we are in union with our soul, we experience a personal evolution that not only illuminates our individual cosmic purpose but helps us to engage the sense of purpose and presence necessary to remake the world itself.You Are Enough offers a straightforward, non-judgmental, and approachable process of revealing the soul, of coming into alignment and harmony with our true selves. Combining personal narrative, clear and inspiring philosophy, and prescriptive practices, it reveals that the way through is the way in—that the way through fear, self-doubt, and anxiety is accepting and embracing dissonance and emotional and psychological blockages, so that we can approach our lives and the world from a perspective that understands our fears are not who we are. Desai’s goal is simple: to guide readers through radical self-acceptance toward a life of ultimate peace and fulfillment.Beautifully designed, this enlightening volume by a fresh voice shows us that while life may have caused us to forget our power, potential, light, and love, they are always there, just waiting to be discovered.

Pain is not something that most of us would count as a blessing; however, renowned surgeon Dr. Paul Brand and award-winning writer Philip Yancey shed fresh light on the purpose of our pain. Wouldn't it be nice to never experience pain or never have to take drugs to deal with pain? Many people think so, but they're missing one key piece of information: Pain is the body's built-in warning system that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Follow world-renowned physician and surgeon Dr. Paul Brand around the world as he shares his humble beginnings as the son of medical missionaries in India to his medical training in London during the Blitz to his groundbreaking medical research with leprosy patients in the United States and India. His work with leprosy patients is what convinced him that pain truly is one of God's great gifts to us. In these pages he shares what he's learned about pain, its purpose in our lives, the impact it has on our daily lives and overall health, and how we can better respond to it. Perfect for those in the medical field or those looking for a firsthand look into the mystery of pain, this book will give you a new perspective on the gift that none of us want and none of us can do without. You'll never look at pain the same way again. Spanish edition also available. Note: The book includes some frank descriptions of medical procedures, illnesses, and diseases

Most of us feel overwhelmed at the idea of embarking on a grand plan for spiritual formation. As much as we'd like to, it just hasn't happened yet. Enter My One Word--an easy and surprisingly powerful practice that will allow God to form your character at a deep, sustainable level with just one word.The concept of My One Word is simple: swap the long list of resolutions for a single word that represents what you most hope God will do in you, and let it become the lens through which you examine your heart and life for an entire year. As you focus on your word, you position yourself for God to form your character at a deep, sustainable level.Join author Mike Ashcraft, who has led his congregation through the My One Word practice for more than five years, and Proverbs 31 Ministries author and speaker Rachel Olsen, who has lived the practice, as they share their insightful and good-humored approach to personal improvement.The stories of growth and change throughout My One Word will: Give you encouragement to discern one word to focus on Deepen your relationship with God Help you make changes that last Are you ready to embrace the life-changing power of My One Word? Let Mike and Rachel be your guides along the way.Praise for My One Word:"You are only one decision away from a totally different life. One change in spiritual disciplines can open up new dimensions of grace and power. Use My One Word to stop repeating the past and start creating the future."--Mark Batterson, author of New York Times bestseller The Circle Maker;lead pastor of National Community Church" My One Word is a lens that can change every area of your life. This is more than a to-do list and more than a New Year's resolution--this can be a lifestyle with pretty dramatic results."--Kyle Idleman, author of Not A Fan and When Your Way Isn't Working; teaching pastor of Southeast Christian Church

“Melody Beattie gives you the tools to discover the magnificence and splendor of your being.” — Deepak Chopra, author of Jesus and Buddha“Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift.” — Time magazineFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Codependent No More, The Language of Letting Go, Journey to the Heart, Choices, and Stop Being Mean to Yourself, comes Finding Your Way Home: a soul-searching book, with true stories and take-action exercises, designed to help foster a sense of “home” and personal spirituality.

From the international bestselling author of Awareness, a pocket-sized guide that will bring you to new levels of spiritual awareness.The Way To Love contains the final flowering of Anthony de Mello's thought, and in it he grapples with the ultimate question of love. In thirty-one meditations, he implores his readers with his usual pithiness to break through illusion, the great obstacle to love. "Love springs from awareness," de Mello insists, saying that it is only when we see others as they are that we can begin to really love. But not only must we seek to see others with clarity, we must examine ourselves without misconception. The task, however, is not easy. "The most painful act," de Mello says, "is the act of seeing. But in that act of seeing that love is born." Anthony De Mello was the director of the Sadhana Institute of Pastoral Counseling in Poona, India, and authored several books. The Way To Love is his last.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Bird by Bird comes a personal, wise, very funny, and “life-affirming” book (People) that shows us how to find meaning and hope through shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life.  "Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath." —San Francisco Chronicle Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother." Despite—or because of—her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers—her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness. Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers."

For anyone who longs for a consistent prayer life yet struggles with distractions, doubts, or knowing where to start, bestselling writer and beloved speaker Chrystal Evans Hurst offers a simple and heartfelt method for having meaningful conversations with God, one day at a time.  The kind of intentional, fervent prayer life we'd like to experience often seems intimidating or just out of reach. Chrystal knows how that feels and shares her own relatable journey through the challenges and joys of deepening her prayer life. Showing up to pray just one day at a time, Chrystal found a simple yet powerful practice that made consistent prayer amazingly doable. A warm and encouraging writer, Chrystal shares the same supportive help she found for talking with God specifically and intentionally throughout the day.  With relatable stories and timeless Scripture, The 28-Day Prayer Journey offers three prompts each day to guide you through an easy yet intimate prayer experience. From giving thanks, hearing God, and making requests to simply knowing what to say, Chrystal gives practical explanations and easy steps for the core tenets of prayer, including: Praise and Thanksgiving--offering gratitude to God Repentance--seeking forgiveness from God Asking--presenting your requests to God Yielding--surrendering to God The 28-Day Prayer Journey will strengthen your faith and transform your life with the profound experience of communicating with a loving God. Whether you are new to prayer or well-versed in communication with God, this hopeful and supportive guide will help you experience God's presence in ways you never have before through the practice of meaningful prayer.

How do we find contentment in God when we feel so hidden?Sara Hagerty unfolds the truths found in the biblical story of Mary of Bethany to discover the scandalous love of God and explore the spiritual richness of being hidden in him.Every heart longs to be seen and understood. Yet most of our lives is unwitnessed. We spend our days working, driving, parenting. We sometimes spend whole seasons feeling unnoticed and unappreciated.In Unseen, Sara Hagerty suggests that this is exactly what God intended. He is the only One who truly knows us. He is the only One who understands the value of the unseen in our lives. When this truth seeps into our souls, we realize that only when we hide ourselves in God can we give ourselves to others in true freedom--and know the joy of a deeper relationship with the God who sees us.Our culture applauds what we can produce, what we can show, what we can upload to social media. Only when we give all of ourselves to God--unedited, abandoned, apparently wasteful in its lack of productivity--can we live out who God created us to be. As Hagerty writes, "Maybe my seemingly unproductive, looking-up-at-Him life produces awe among the angels."Through an eloquent exploration of both personal and biblical story, Hagerty calls us to offer every unseen minute of our lives to God. God is in the secret places of our lives that no one else witnesses. But we've not been relegated to these places. We've been invited.We may be "wasting" ourselves in a hidden corner today: The cubicle on the fourth floor. The hospital bedside of an elderly parent. The laundry room. But these are the places God uses to meet us with a radical love. These are the places that produce the kind of unhinged love in us that gives everything at His feet, whether or not anyone else ever proclaims our name, whether or not anyone else ever sees.God's invitation is not just for a season or a day. It is the question of our lives: "When no one else applauds you, when it makes no sense, when you see no results--will you waste your love on Me?"

"Extraordinary, wise, and hopeful…nearly poetic meditations." —Boston Globe What if imagination and art are not, as many of us might think, the frosting on life but the fountainhead of human experience? What if our logic and science derive from art forms, rather than the other way around? In this trenchant volume, Rollo May helps all of us find those creative impulses that, once liberated, offer new possibilities for achievement. A renowned therapist and inspiring guide, Dr. May draws on his experience to show how we can break out of old patterns in our lives. His insightful book offers us a way through our fears into a fully realized self.