Guidance Tool Kit: Christian Books for Daily Bible Verses, Prayer, Meditation and Writing

Meditation, prayer and contemplative writing are three powerful tools to help you to draw closer to God. The tools on this page will help you to incorporate these practices into a busy lifestyle.

Tapping into being still and deepening your relationship with God requires time and effort. Since we are so time poor these days, it’s hard to carve out time. But to live a life filled with joy and purpose and to be the whole person God intended you to be, time and energy need to be invested.

Every good relationship takes attention given to it. The primary relationship that we need to focus on is our relationship with God. When we do that, all of our relationships will fall into place. We live life being fully present and not reacting to what comes our way. We can co-create our life with God.

I began seeking a deeper relationship with God by turning to meditation. Meditation allowed me to quiet my mind and to clear the clutter of everyone’s voices and demands that I heard other than God’s voice. If you are having trouble being still and find that your mind is constantly racing, a meditation CD is good to guide you. I started with a meditation CD and have moved on to prayer and writing as my meditation.

I start my day journaling and writing at least three pages in the mornings. This only takes about 15 minutes.  I encourage you to purchase a beautifully bound journal that you can write in. You can read more about the benefits of contemplative writing.

I highly recommend the following three books as great tools to help you draw closer to God. Simply click on the picture to be taken to Amazon.com to read more and to purchase:

	Right now I am reading Sarah Young’s daily devotional guide, Jesus Calling. When I am done writing, I pick up Jesus Calling and read the passage. It’s amazing the synchronicity between what I wrote and what the message is for the day. These readings are very short, only about a paragraph or two. But each writing is extremely powerful.
	The author of Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, was inspired by another book that I also read entitled God Calling. In fact, I had read God Calling three consecutive years until a friend from church gave me Jesus Calling as a gift. Both of these books offer very short devotions. The messages are very powerful and encouraging.   In both of these books I felt like God was speaking directly to “me”.
	The last book I recommend is written by Julia Cameron entitled The Artist’s Way. I always wanted to be an artist since I was a little girl. That was my life’s ambition all of the way through high school. When it was time to go to college, I decided to do something more practical and gave up my drawing and painting for decades. I am on my third reading of this book and am gleaning new insights into my creativity. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be creative, it is a wonderful book.

I realize that this website focuses on a Christian perspective, but there are some wonderful sayings in the Buddist tradition. One is, “When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears.” This has certainly been true in my life. The authors of these books have been wonderful teachers. By reading the works over and over again, I gain new insights that I was not able to receive before.

These tools will help you form an intimate relationship with God.  If you spend 15-20 minutes each morning using one or more of these tools, it will set the tone for the day. You will build up your spiritual muscle and crowd out anxiety and fear, replacing it with love, courage and peace.

Peace and Blessings,