Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us

By Adele Calhoun

Fasting. Solitude. Contemplative prayer. Lectio divina.

Have you heard about these practices and wanted to try them? Have you wandered from one practice to another not sure quite what to do? Are you overwhelmed by all the to-dos of your spiritual life?

We have good desires–for a more intimate prayer life, perhaps, or deeper insight from God’s Word–but we don’t know how to get there. So we give up our pursuit, tired from wandering aimlessly, and end up feeling guilty and more distant from God instead of closer.

In the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook Adele Calhoun gives us directions for our journey toward intimacy with Christ. While the word discipline may make us want to run and hide, the author shows how desires and discipline work together to lead us to the transformation we’re longing for–the transformation only Christ can bring. Instead of just giving information about spiritual disciplines, this Handbook is full of practical, accessible guidance that helps you actually do them.

Mothers, fathers, plumbers, nurses, students–we’re all on a journey. And spiritual disciplines are for all of us who desire to know Christ deeply and be like him. Here is direction for our desire, leading us to the ultimate destination: more of Christ himself.

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (MA, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) has worked in Christian ministry for over forty years and is currently copastor, with her husband, Doug, of Redeemer Community Church in Needham, Massachusetts. A retreat speaker and trained spiritual director, she has taught courses at Wheaton College and Northern Seminary. She is also the author of Invitations from God and the coauthor of True You.