Honest to God Prayer: Spirituality as Awareness, Empowerment, Relinquishments and Paradox

by Kent Ira Groff

Overview

Maybe you're praying and you don’t even know it.

In this unique and encouraging guide to prayer, Kent Ira Groff, a longtime retreat leader and inspiring writer-poet, explores how to engage in spirituality that blesses your soul—and the world. Whether you’re advanced or just starting on your spiritual path, this practical prayer path breaker will lure you in with its novel combination of touching, real-life stories, pithy thoughts and inspiring prayer practices.

For those turned off by shopworn religious language, it offers innovative ways to pray in four metaphorical movements that parallel both Native American traditions and Ignatian spirituality:

• East—Morning / Prayer as Awareness
  Waking up to reality—opening
• South—Noon / Prayer as Empowerment
  Embracing your dreams and possibilities—expanding
• West—Afternoon / Prayer as Relinquishment
  Letting go of attachments—emptying
• North—Night / Prayer as Paradox
  Uniting the opposites of life—integrating

Prayer practices for each of the four "movements" provide for personal and group enrichment at home and work, in formal programs and informal friendships. They interweave the author’s own experience to say: “This is honest to God spirituality and I’m seeing myself.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594734922
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/25/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Kent Ira Groff, a spiritual companion for journeyers and leaders, retreat leader and writer-poet, is founding mentor of Oasis Ministries in Pennsylvania. For over two decades, he has practiced and taught the contemplative active life at theological seminaries and retreat centers in the US and abroad. He is author of What Would I Believe If I Didn't Believe Anything? and Facing East, Praying West, among other books.

Table of Contents

Index of Prayer Practices vii
Orientation ix
Prologue
Integrating Native American and
Ignatian Spiritual Streams xvii

Theme I Prayer as Awareness: Opening
Chapter One. Waking Up to Reality
The Grounding for Awareness 3
Chapter Two. Living Awake to What Is
The Process of Awareness 13
Practices for Cultivating Awareness 27

Theme II Prayer as Empowerment: Expanding
Chapter Three. Claiming Possibilities
The Grounding for Empowerment 33
Chapter Four. Embracing Dreams
The Process of Empowerment 51
Practices for Cultivating Empowerment 65

Theme III Prayer as Relinquishment: Emptying
Chapter Five. Negative Capability
The Grounding for Relinquishment 73
Chapter Six. Shedding Attachments
The Process of Relinquishment 85
Practices for Cultivating Relinquishment 101

Theme IV Prayer as Paradox: Integrating
Chapter Seven. Rediscovering Mystery
The Grounding for Paradox 107
Chapter Eight. The Active Contemplative Life
The Process of Paradox 123
Practices for Cultivating Paradox 141

Bring It All Together
Morning Prayer in Four Directions 145
Acknowledgments 151
Notes 153
Resources for Further Reading 157

Editorial Reviews

"Excellent.... Offers you a truly larger house to live in, and a house that will not confine you, but one filled with doors and windows—and plenty of skylight."
—Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, Center for Action and Contemplation; author, Falling Upward and The Naked Now

"A rich and in-depth exploration of the ongoing expression of prayer in our spiritual journeys [and] an extraordinary resource for all seekers—from those who have well-established prayer practices to those for whom prayer is something new—who are spiritual but not religious. Easy to read yet filled with profound insights that inspire a deeper relationship with Source."
—Kay Lindahl, author, The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice; and other books

“A sublime spiritual companion on the path toward a life of empowered, authentic prayer. Shares from the wisdom of a variety of faith traditions [and] equips us to embrace a truly awakened spiritual life—the kind we've always dreamed of and prayed for.”
—The Rev. Peter M. Wallace, host of Day1; author, The Passionate Jesus: What We Can Learn from Jesus about Love, Fear, Grief, Joy and Living Authentically

“[A] wonderful trailbreaker on the spiritual life.... If you pray for stuff, don't read this book. If you pray for wisdom, read it twice.”
—Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author, The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Preparing to Practice; and other books

“If you yearn for real-life spiritual renewal, this book is for you! Wherever you open these pages, you will find resources, guidance, grace and honest companionship for your own prayerful journey.”
—Heidi Neumark, Lutheran pastor; author, Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx

“Opens the curtains on a new perspective, enabling the sunlight of a new way to break in.... Rubs the eyes of tired ecclesia and provides plentiful resources toward discarding unnecessary angst. Here is a holistic guidebook for prayer, particularly for those who haven’t got a prayer."
—Scott Burton, minister of St. Matthew’s Church, Perth, Scotland; author, Holy Whitewater: Reflections on the Spirituality of Kayaking

“Lively and packed with wisdom from many traditions.... Offers a rich feast of possibilities for weaving prayer through daily life. I found myself marking page after page with a resounding, 'Yes!’”
—Nancy L. Bieber, author, Decision Making & Spiritual Discernment: The Sacred Art of Finding Your Way

“Groff blurs the line between the folks who are religious and folks who claim spirituality by mining truths in a variety of traditions and offering them to us in story, insight and poetry. Honest to God ... I love it!”
—Nancy Corcoran, CSJ, author, Secrets of Prayer: A Multifaith Guide to Creating Personal Prayer in Your Life; Catholic chaplain, Wellesley College

“Will enrich people active in their faith traditions as well as the growing number of people describing themselves as spiritual but not religious. Helps you see God in all things and all things in God.”
—Bruce Epperly, author, Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry and Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living

“Remind[s] us that prayer has its own movement and rhythm which we can learn to follow.... Weaves together the wisdom to be learned from the seasons of the day, Ignatian prayer and Native American spirituality in ways that respect the integrity of each, but where each is enriched by the other.... Offers the reader a multiplicity of concrete ways to pray that are both ancient and fresh, [and] an enlivening vision in a sometimes tired field of spirituality volumes.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, author, Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings—Annotated & Explained and Lectio Divina—The Sacred Art: Transforming Words & Images into Heart-Centered Prayer

From the Publisher

Kent Ira Groff is the founding mentor of Oasis Ministries in Pennsylvania, a spiritual companion for journeyers and leaders, a retreat leader, and an inspiring writer-poet. For over two decades he has taught the contemplative active life at theological seminaries and retreat centers in the U. S. and abroad. He is the author ofWhat Would I Believe If I Didn't Believe Anything?.

"Prayer is the practice route that leads to the fruit of a passionate and compassionate spiritual life," writes Groff in this examination of the four directional themes of a devotional life: waking up to reality (Awareness), claiming gifts (Empowerment), practicing detachment in success and failure (Relinquishment), and experiencing mystery (Paradox). He hopes that readers will use the book as a resource for personal spiritual growth and formation, as a resource for an interfaith group, or as a curriculum resource for adult classes.

Groff has many interesting things to say about spirituality, but the best parts of this treatise on connecting with God and others are the practices in each section. Here you will find an open-eyed table blessing, a kything prayer, a Let It Be prayer, and a Do Things the Opposite prayer. The author's blend of Ignatian and Native American spirituality is impressive. This thought provoking devotional resource ought to speak to seekers of all stripes.

Spirituality & Practice - Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat