Into the Silent Land
by Martin Laird | 
Contemplative Prayer
by Thomas Merton | 
The Pursuit of God
by A. W. Tozer | 
The Prodigal God
by Timothy Keller | 
Heaven
by Randy Alcorn | 
Cold-Case Christianity
by J. Warner Wallace | 
Believing God
by Beth Moore | 
The Ragamuffin Gospel
by Brennan Manning | 
Celebration of Discipline
by Richard J. Foster | 
The Knowledge of the Holy
by A. W. Tozer | 
Desiring God
by John Piper | 
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
by Timothy Keller | 
The Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence | 
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
by Mark Batterson | 
The Jesus I Never Knew
by Philip Yancey | 
Life Together
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer | 
A Praying Life
by Paul E. Miller | 
Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God
by J. I. Packer |
The Cross of Christ
by John R. W. Stott | 
King's Cross
by Timothy Keller |
First published in 1986 and in print--and immensely popular--ever since, Open Mind, Open Heart, by the Trappist Monk Thomas Keating, remains one of the best introductions to a specifically Christian form of meditation. Father Keating gives the reader an overview of what contemplative prayer both is and isn't; he discusses the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and then explores step by step the process of Centering Prayer, briefly exploring its origins in the ancient church and then demonstrating its use as "a sign of one's intention" to surrender to God. Each chapter concludes with questions and answers that provide useful information in an informal context. Here in particular we get a sense of Keating's clarity--and his sense of humor. For example, in response to a question about the sudden experience of happiness in prayer, Keating responds, "You should not take prayer too seriously. There is something playful about God. You only have to look at a penguin ... to realize that He likes to play little jokes on creatures." --Doug Thorpe