Blog

  • Praying with the Bible: From prose to poetry

    Recently when on retreat I led some times of engaging with the Bible prayerfully, including turning some of the prose into a poem. I love this rendition that I’ve been given permission to share. You could read through it slowly, asking God to help your love overflow. Then perhaps spend some time with a passage…

  • “Five Meaningful Four-Word Prayers to Release, Refocus, and Reset” by Andrea Stunz: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    Do you have time to pray just four words? I love how Andrea gives us this practical way to incorporate more prayer into our days as we dialogue with God. Just four words, but what a difference they can make! For several years now I have worked my way through A Clearing Season, by Sarah…

  • “Bored with Prayer? Use your Imagination!” by Joy Margetts: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    What a wonderful post from Joy with some simple but profound ways to pray with your imagination. I love her idea of the prayer walk in one’s local community even from one’s own home, and think of how meaningful that could be not only for us as we pray but for our neighbours. Bored with…

  • The Gift of a Prayer Shawl

    As the very grateful recipient of a prayer shawl from my lovely friend Liz Shields, who is part of the prayer shawl ministry at Liverpool Cathedral, I asked Liz to share about the weaving process. Yarn and warp and weft (and no I don’t really understand those terms), with the whole of the making soaked…

    Amy in front of the fireplace at Penhurst Retreat Centre, wearing the beautiful blue and purple prayer shawl.
  • The Lord is my. . .

    I continue to love personalizing Psalm 23, and this week as I’m at Penhurst Retreat Centre in the lovely English countryside, I’m enjoying seeing the sheep and lambs as I ponder the Lord as my Shepherd. I share in the video below, which I recorded while being in the Shepherd’s Hut at Penhurst, about how…

  • Join me in praying from Penhurst Retreat Centre

    This week I’m leading a 7 Ways to Pray retreat from the lovely Penhurst Retreat Centre near Battle, East Sussex (on the south coast of England). I welcome you to experience some of the wonder of this place, and more so, our amazing God who loves to meet us in prayer. I’ll be adding short…

  • “The Blessing of Stillness and Silence” by Philippa Linton: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    How can we find stillness in a busy, chaotic world? And why should we seek to be countercultural in this quest? Philippa shares from her own journey of embracing silence as a way of encountering God. I hope you can find some time to quiet yourself today and enter into God’s loving presence: As I…

  • “Learning to Lament” by Rachael Newham: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    What happens when God is suddenly silent? Rachael shares movingly of her experiences as a teenager and beyond. She eventually found hope in the Psalms and learning how to lament. That someone before her could voice her feelings gave her a language with which to communicate with God. She learned to lament. I believe you’ll…

  • Relinquishing the Woman Alive Book Club

    After creating the Woman Alive book club sixteen years ago, I’ve reached the difficult decision that it’s time to hand it over to the next host. I’ve loved talking all things books for so many years, but I decided it was time to move on as I embrace the writing-speaking-spiritual-direction life. Here is the video…

  • “Prayer for the Tongue-Tied Pray-er” by Jeff Crosby: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    I first met Jeff Crosby in Singapore at LittWorld, a wonderful gathering for writers, publishers, and graphic designers from around the world. As we shared a jetlagged breakfast together, I soon realized here was a thoughtful and articulate person – a quiet leader with gravitas. I love how he shares how what he once saw…