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God Encounters: Experiencing the Power of Creative Prayer
Lisa Tawn Bergren
WaterBrook Press, 192 pages, $14.99

It's difficult to find new approaches to the ancient practice of prayer, but Bergren, known mainly for her fiction, has done just this in her imaginative essays on reconnecting with God. "It's important that we take the time to withdraw from the bustle of our lives—from work, television, phones, conversation—to concentrate only on God and how he's moving in our lives," Bergren writes.

She uses vivid first-person storytelling to jump-start communication with the Creator, engaging all five senses and inviting the reader to use physical exercises to clear the head, slow down, and relax.

Bergren avoids New Age claptrap, centering her exercises on requests for God to guide the imagination.

Bergren uses imperative commentary (set in italics and flush right on the page) to urge readers to make her prayers their own. This is no quick-fix work; the essays are best taken in small doses and returned to as needed. Readers who struggle with the idea of a personal, caring Jesus and those who yearn to revitalize their prayer life will find this engaging book—appropriately—an answer to their prayers.

Cindy Crosby is a frequent contributor to Publishers Weekly.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

God Encounter is available at Christianbook.com.

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March 2003, Vol. 47, No. 3