Uplifting resource exploring God’s grace and love on a daily basis.
Eldredge (author of The Inner Chapel) invites readers to “exploring the beautiful gift of the inner chapel, where God resides within each of us,” in this inspirational guide, drawn from the teachings of Ignatian Spirituality.
She includes anecdotes, brief contemplations, and reflection questions to strengthen faith and connection with God, referencing religious tenets and biblical passages for further study, while emphasizing the importance of prayer, reading scripture, and forming relationships with people who can support spiritual journeys.
Eldredge’s messages are uplifting and positive, exploring God’s love, grace, and desire to be in relationship with those who seek Him.
The guide’s formulaic structure makes it easy to follow, offering readers a daily opportunity to apply biblical principles to their own lives, and Eldredge also includes practical techniques on mindfulness, time management, avoiding worldly distractions, and more.
Eldredge contends that knowledge of God’s presence is a comfort in her own life, and she urges readers to transform the love they receive from God into a gift they can share with others. —Booklife Review
Encounter Grace is a pragmatic, navigable workbook of microexercises for prayer that leaves open different possibilities for interacting with the divine.
Grounded in the imaginative spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola and the mystical practices of the Jesuit order, Becky Eldredge’s Encounter Grace is an accessible beginner’s guide to Christian meditation.
Revealing a system through which believers can improve their prayer lives by visualizing themselves within an imagined “inner chapel”—a mental space of comfort and sanctuary where God’s presence, in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit, can be engaged directly—the book stresses the idea that such sanctuary is available at all times to all believers. Throughout, it seeks to empower faithful Christians to see prayer as a process that is intimate, straightforward, and approachable. Its work consists of page-long chapters, each encouraging consideration of independent, though related, themes of Christian life; they end with reflection prompts to relate their content to individual faith experiences.
Encounter Grace is an accessible guide to daily Christian meditation in the Jesuit tradition. —Foreword Clarion Reviews
Eldredge offers a spiritual guide that aims to help readers deepen their relationship with God. “God resides within each of us,” writes the author, a spiritual retreat facilitator trained in the Ignatian tradition of Catholic spirituality. Using the metaphor of “the inner chapel,” she argues that individuals have a sacred space within themselves to “pause for prayer” and “call on God.” Each page opens with a passage from Eldredge’s The Inner Chapel: Embracing the Promises of God (2020) and ends with thoughtfully worded questions that facilitate introspection. Instead of sermonizing, the author invites readers to examine their own experiences: “When was a time that God reminded you that you were not alone?” Relatably written for laypeople eager to “connect with God in [their] everyday life,” the book offers an “ever-present source of hope, joy, and peace.” ... An often well-crafted book for Christian readers seeking tools to build safe spaces inside themselves. —Kirkus Reviews
