Augsburg Fortress Publishers Abiding in Amen: Prayer in a Secular Age

We live in a world of commodities and optimized results.It is only normal that prayer, too, becomes a means to an end--and yet, reducing this mysterious encounter with the living God to a "spiritual discipline" to "master" substitutes anxiety for relationship and striving for abiding. Ellis helps us relax into the resonant relationship God intends. In a world obsessed with efficiency and results, where even spiritual practices are often treated as skills to be mastered, Wesley Ellis invites readers into a transformative reimagining of prayer. Abiding in Amen challenges the prevailing assumption that prayer is something to be achieved, offering instead a vision of prayer as a gift to be received.With his characteristic warmth and pastoral insight, Ellis explores the ways in which modern society has conditioned people to seek control--even in their relationship with God. Prayer, rather than being a tool for self-improvement or a task on a spiritual checklist, is a space of divine grace and resonance, where people are invited to relinquish control. He calls for a paradigm shift: from striving to abiding, from anxiety to trust, from results to relationship.Ellis reminds readers that prayer does not begin with human effort but with God's action. Through engaging storytelling, theological depth, and a sense of humor, he encourages readers to release the pressure of performance and enter into a more liberated, authentic communion with God. Autorid: Wesley W. Ellis