Rev. Dr. Marti Reed Hazelrigg

Abiding in Amen

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Do you know how to pray? In Abiding in Amen, Wes Ellis uses personal stories and his own struggles to remind us that prayer is not something to master or another thing to check off our to-do list, hoping that God is listening. Rather, prayer begins with God as we relinquish control, give up our desperate search for outcomes, and receive the gift of God coming to us. Prayer is a relationship with the Divine where we are called to wait, dwell, and allow the living God to act. Gleaning wisdom from Andrew Root, Harmut Rosa, and Richard Rohr, among others, Ellis uses the image of abiding to describe a relationship with God beyond our control as God comes to us. Abiding in "Amen" will require trust and even perhaps a paradigm shift, moving beyond prayer as a discipline to prayer as relationship. Ellis includes prayer practices at the end of each chapter, inviting individuals or groups to cultivate attentiveness to God. Ultimately, this is a book of hope and good news. A God who so loves the world indeed loves us too, and wants nothing more than to share the love of the living Christ with us.”