Blog

  • Resourcing Your Prayer Journey

    Today my book-baby is born, and I arrive at the day grateful, exhausted, and excited – just like many other parents. What a joy it is to share with you a message that has been long growing within me, from the years of leading retreats and through immersing myself in the field of Christian spirituality…

  • The Problem of Productivity by Elizabeth Neep: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    As we explore different ways to pray, we realize that sometimes the best practice is simply stopping and resting – or taking time to create, as we hear from my lovely editor, Elizabeth Neep. (And don’t miss last week’s funny and thoughtful contribution from my US editor, Dave Zimmerman.) For most people, the global pandemic…

  • A mountaintop experience by Dave Zimmerman: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    Welcome to a new series on prayer! As I launch my book 7 Ways to Pray, I’m delighted to share with you each week a blogpost from someone special. One of the things I love about prayer is that we’re all so different and thus enjoy different ways to pray. Shining the spotlight on the…

  • 15 years of the Woman Alive Book Club!

    I can hardly believe that I’ve been running the Woman Alive book club for 15 years! The lovely Claire Musters interviewed me about all things books, including the two I have coming out this autumn. The feature is normally reserved for subscribers, but with permission I share here. Read on!

  • The Power of Prayer in the Ordinary

    Yesterday my daughter and I enjoyed an everything-goes-right travel day. I’m taking some time to write about this because I see it as an answer to prayer. Now when we have one of those atrocious everything-goes-wrong travel days, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us. Rather I’m taking yesterday as a gift of love…

  • Why go on a retreat? And where to go in the UK and Spain

    This post appeared first in one of my monthly newsletters in March 2019. I reprint it here for your convenience with a few updates, set out in this quotation format. Last month, after I returned from some days on retreat in a gorgeous setting in West Yorkshire, a friend asked on social media: Have you…

  • Join me for a seven-week online retreat on 7 Ways to Pray!

    Would you like to explore seven ways to pray, under the guidance of a seasoned retreat leader? Join me in engaging with time-tested prayer practices as outlined in my new book, 7 Ways to Pray. You’ll not only learn more about these ways to pray in a nonthreatening setting, but you’ll have plenty of time…

  • Praying with the Bible: Engaging with the Psalms

    The Psalms are the prayer book in the Bible, and we can use these ancient words in our own conversation with God. Such as what I did when I was reading Psalm 26. I found myself talking to God, wanting to query some of the statements David made. Here’s how it went… Vindicate meA big…

  • Praying with a Painting: Seeds and the harvest

    It feels fitting to be offering this prayer exercise while sitting outside in the sunshine while upstairs in my study my daughter enjoys an art lesson with my dad via video chat. Feel the sun warm your toes and the breeze gently float around you, and picture yourself somewhere where it’s not too hot and…

    A large acrylic painting of a big red combine out in the yellow fields, under a cloudy blue sky.
  • Praying with the Bible: Colossians 3

    Praying with the Bible roots us deeply in God’s word. This is the first topic—the first way to pray—I engage with in my forthcoming book, 7 Ways to Pray. Here’s an exercise of praying with the Bible through a text from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. It’s rich with meaning and one that Dallas Willard…