The Bible has the astounding power to transform lives. The stories of people like Francis of Assisi, Antony of Egypt, Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. vividly demonstrate this. Why aren't more of us transformed by Scripture today?Too often we study biblical texts without believing that God truly inhabits this book. Scripture seeks to capture our minds, not merely educate them. In these pages Chris Webb explains that we can transform our Christian life by reading as lovers rather than as theorists. This is possible by coming to the text prayerfully, expectantly, in humility and empty-handed. When we open the Bible, it does not say to us, "Listen: God is there!" Instead, the voice of the Spirit whispers through each line, "Look: I am here."Reading the Bible this way can reconfigure the habits of your heart, refresh your imagination and memory, reshape and redeem your emotions, realign your reality individually and communally for kingdom life, and take us beyond the Bible into a renewed way of life.Here is the work of today--which is also the work of the whole of life--to open your heart afresh to the living Word of God.



Richard J. Foster is the founder of Renovaré. He is the author of several books, including Streams of Living Water, Prayer, Freedom of Simplicity, Sanctuary of the Soul, and Celebration of Discipline, which has sold over two million copies worldwide; he is coauthor (with Gayle Beebe) of Longing for God. He and his wife, Carolynn, make their home near Denver, Colorado.







Chris Webb is a Benedictine Anglican priest, author, and speaker. He helps run Launde Abbey retreat house and serves as spirituality adviser to the Diocese of Leicester. Previously Chris served as president of Renovaré USA. He has ministered in awide variety of churches in Wales and the UK, and in a church for the homeless. He is author of The Fire of the Word. Chris lives in Leicestershire, England, with his wife and four children.



Foreword by Richard Foster



1. Hear His Voice

2. Learning to Read Again

3. Do Not Be Afraid

4. The Yearning of God

5. My Beloved Speaks

6. Reading Like Lovers

7. Anatomy of the Soul

8. Listen!

9.Living in the Gospel

10. The Book of Christ

11. Sacred Reading

12. The Disordered Soul

13. A Life Desired

14. Beyond the Bible

15. Friendship with Jesus



Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Notes