God and You: Prayer As a Personal Relationship [Paperback]

William A. Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1987

This book describes what prayer can be when seen as a conscious relationship of a person with God.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Drawing on Barry's experience as a Jesuit and a spiritual director, this reflects the Ignatian approach to spirituality, with its active use of imaginative faculties, in contrast, say, to Basil Pennington's method of imageless prayer. Exploring prayer as a conscious, dynamic relationship with God, Barry discusses contemplative approaches to nature and Scripture, emotional self-awareness, and ways of transcending ambivalence or outmoded images of God. Reassuring and easily accessible. EC
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (January 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809129353
• ISBN-13: 978-0809129355
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William A. Barry, SJ, is a veteran spiritual director who is currently serving as tertian director for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus. He has taught at the University of Michigan, the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and Boston College. His many works include Letting God Come Close, A Friendship Like No Other, Here's My Heart, Here's My Hand, Seek My Face, and God's Passionate Desire (Loyola Press), and God and You.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple but profound, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: God and You: Prayer As a Personal Relationship (Paperback)

This first book of Bill Barry's is easy to read, but the reader will find many profound insights. Fr. Barry combins his interest and training in spiritual direction and his Ph.D. in psychology to answer basic questions on prayer. When I look back on this work after reading some of the authors other books or more accademic works I find that he said it all here. I'd strongly recommend this for any adult begining in prayer or any "old timer" who has limited themselves to the style of praying they learned as a child.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every word is aimed at that relationship..., August 12, 2004

By 

Kenneth Wolman (Sea Bright, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God and You: Prayer As a Personal Relationship (Paperback)

This is the kind of book that makes you wish to underline or highlight every sentence. It has no dead spots. While the book encourages resting in God's presence as a form of prayer, it is not a "restful" or "easy" book, but one that demands attention. It rewards that attention not with pat answers about the nature of God, but with an overarching vision of God as Love, and with ideas--but not demands--on how we can experience that Love as a presence infusing our lives. The book was loaned to me by my own Director, and I anticipate getting my own copy. There is no way you can get it all at once: if you can do that, you are either St. Ignatius himself or have a photographic memory and perfect understanding. Fr. Barry's work bears restudy and should be taken up again at intervals so we may remind ourselves of the God whom we not only serve, but in whose arms we rest.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breakthru Book!, September 10, 2002

By 

Neil Steyskal (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: God and You: Prayer As a Personal Relationship (Paperback)

This is a very valuable approach to prayer. It helped me get deeper than the pre-scripted prayers that have become almost meaningless thru repetition. Most important, it showed me how to get past the boredom induced by reluctance to talk to God about my resentments and shortcomings.