October 15, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS – In Contemplative Prayer: Praying When the Well Runs Dry, spiritual director Joann Nesser invites readers to journey into that silence where God is known in love.

Contemplative Prayer: Praying When the Well Runs Dry speaks to the faithful, praying, serving Christian who seems to have lost all energy and desire for spiritual life. It gives the reader hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It encourages the person to see this as a time of spiritual deepening and an invitation from God to deeper love and a more contemplative way of prayer and life. It offers helpful suggestions for ways to pray during this time of transition into contemplative prayer.

Written to help those who have been Christian for a time and find their prayer life is empty and dry, Nesser takes an inviting look at contemplative prayer in a way that stirs the desire for a deeper prayer life.

Nesser includes simple teachings on prayer and gives readers a deep understanding of the dynamics of the spiritual journey. Select chapters in the book include suggestions for reflection that will help readers absorb and experience prayer rather that just reading about prayer.

"In our love relationship with God, prayer is our communication and our conversation with the One who loves us and who desires us to love in return. Prayer is so much more than making requests. It is a sharing of our spirit with the Eternal Spirit who has created us. In this relationship, as in any relationship, the partners share their deepest feelings and their most precious secrets. God desires to hear our deepest feelings and thoughts, and will share deep feelings and thoughts with us." – From the book

"If you would like encouragement in the practice of prayer and if you are seeking a deeper awareness of the indwelling Spirit, this is a book for you. Joann Nesser writes as an understanding companion and guide on the spiritual journey. She offers suggestions at once wise and practical while warmly encouraging the desire for the presence of God." – Bishop Frederick Borsch, Professor of New Testament and Chair of Anglican Studies, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Joann Nesser holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction and is the founder of the Christos Center for Spiritual Formation in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. She is a spiritual director and has taught about contemplative prayer and the spiritual life throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa. She is the author of Journey into Reality.

Contemplative Prayer: Praying When the Well Runs Dry, By Joann Nesser, Format: 5.5" x 8.5," paperback, 96 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0-8066-9065-0, Price: $10.99/CAN $12.99, Publisher: Augsburg Books.

To order Contemplative Prayer: Praying When the Well Runs Dry please call Augsburg Fortress Publishers at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/.

Augsburg Fortress