Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion

2010 Christianity Today Book Award winner!2010 Golden Canon Leadership Book Award winner!Think of the moment you last experienced God.Do you know him that closely in this moment?Truly experiencing the love of God gives us a taste of his goodness and his love for us, but often those moments are fleeting. We get distracted by life. Our awareness and understanding fade while our longing to experience him that way again increases.In these pages you can begin to fill that longing by developing your capacity to receive and respond to God's love. Spiritual formation is the process through which one's inner self is opened to the work of the Holy Spirit, who forms us into the image of the Son. Here Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe, both experienced leaders in spiritual formation, introduce you to people from the past who have known God deeply. Each person helps you to grasp one of the seven primary paths to intimacy with God that have been developed throughout Christian history. Chapters are divided into sections, each segment surrounding a key figure and concluding with a reflection and prayer.This rich resource can guide you into the same deep intimacy with God, opening you to the Spirit's work of transformation.

"Today we are in a state of flooding and yet have no water to drink. It is difficult to find authentic principles that satisfy our spiritual thirst. This is the very book that greatly helps those who are thirsty, worn out, burned out and tired of religious malpractices that are not truly spiritual. Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe show us how our faith ancestors found the wellspring of the deep and authentic spirituality and drew the fresh water that cleared their thirst. If you are looking for an authentic spiritual formation manual, you must read this book that will take you to the 'never-ending presence of God' experience!"--Joshua Choonmin Kang, author of Deep-Rooted in Christ, and pastor of OMC, Los Angeles

"Living amid the rush of today's world--especially as one who leads in today's church--I need the wisdom of past saints. Their will to nakedly live in the light of God's Word distinguishes them from our tendencies to clothe ourselves in mere success, recognition or knowledge. Foster and Beebe afford us a resource to 'strip down'--to till our hearts, review our priorities and invite the Holy Spirit to plow our souls. His rain on such prepared soil is the key to any lasting fruitfulness in life or leadership."--Jack W. Hayford, chancellor, The King's Seminary, Los Angeles

"Reading Longing for God is like stepping into an unfamiliar room and finding a wonderful group of vital and brilliant brothers and sisters in the way of Christ, reaching out to us from across the ages and from all kinds of personal characteristics and circumstances. We need to reach back and let them help us to know the fullness of life in the kingdom of God for who and where we are now. The spiritual impoverishment so widespread today among Christians is largely due to disconnection from 'the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.' The authors have opened doors into 'the unsearchable riches of Christ.' Let's go in."--Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy

"This is a feast for the mind and the soul. This is the best and richest of Christian thinking and soul-making made accessible to everybody. It would be very hard to read this without having your heart grow."--John Ortberg, author and pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

"This is very much a survey work, useful as an introduction to a wide range of spiritual masters--and especially useful if it inspires one to read some of the classic texts it summarizes."--Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal, June 4, 2010

"Few people pass through life without at one time or another wishing they had faith--or more faith. Longing for God offers the examples of Christians whose longings were answered."--J. Douglas Ousley, August 2009

"By featuring the lives and teaching of 26 spiritual masters from church history, Foster and Beebe shine a light on seven paths (or orientations) to spiritual development. This survey brings together shared themes and unique contributions that guide those journeying with and toward God."--The 2010 Christianity Today Book Awards, Spirituality Category Winner, February 2010

"Anyone longing for God will find this book to be a treasure chest full of gems. Dig in and you will be lavishly rewarded."--Barbara Sartorius-Bjelland, The Covenant Companion, November 2009

"A rich resource which can lead one into a more intimate relationship with God."--Arnold Rzepecki, Catholic Library World, December 2009

"Like a personal introduction to those well-known Christian writers of the past."--Betty Waller, The Lamplighter, vol. 41, no. 2