The Source of Miracles: 7 Steps to Transforming Your Life through the Lord's Prayer [Hardcover]

Kathleen McGowan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Expected One and The Book of Love comes a transformative book that unlocks the hidden power of the Lord's Prayer -- the prayer that can be recited by every Christian in the world.

The real secret to creating and sustaining an abundant, joyous, and fulfilled life has been hiding in plain sight -- in the power of the prayer that unites two billion Christians worldwide, the prayer that each one of them knows by heart.

True happiness and success can't just be wished for. The real secret to fulfillment lies in using the Lord's Prayer as part of an ongoing spiritual practice that leads to real and lasting change in the soul -- change that will manifest itself in earthly, tangible ways. Each chapter in The Source of Miracles is a guide to one of seven steps in that process, corresponding to a primary teaching of the prayer: faith, surrender, service, abundance, forgiveness, obstacles, and love. Each chapter also includes meditations, affirmations, and other activities designed to help readers work through life's challenges.

In her bestselling fiction, Kathleen McGowan has popularized the world of Christian esoterica, a unique place where New Age and Christianity meet, making ancient teachings new and powerful. The Source of Miracles harnesses the wisdom of those traditions at a time of great material and spiritual uncertainty, when the need for signposts on the road to success has never been more acute.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author McGowan (The Expected One) calls the Lord's Prayer the most powerful tool for changing your life—and changing the world—that you will likely ever encounter. McGowan offers a unique perspective by pairing the prayer with the rose with six petals, the middle point of the labyrinth in the floor of Chartres Cathedral. The six petals and the middle coincide with the teaching points of the Lord's Prayer, which McGowan exegetes with depth and personal insight, based in part on the miracle of her son, who was expected to die as an infant but survived. Each section—faith, surrender, service, abundance, forgiveness, overcoming, love—taps into McGowan's premise that the Lord's Prayer is the source of faith, love and forgiveness and in combination, those things are the source of very real miracles. She draws heavily on the Bible as well as such sources as the gospels of Philip and Mary Magdalene; some may quarrel with her definition of evil as the failing of your own nature. Many readers, however, will discover new depths and dimensions in the age-old Lord's Prayer. (Nov.)
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About the Author

Kathleen McGowan is an internationally published writer whose work has appeared on five continents and in at least fifteen languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three sons. You can visit her website at www.theexpectedone.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143913765X
• ISBN-13: 978-1439137659
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen McGowan's dynamic publishing career began with the debut of her novel, The Expected One, on the New York Times bestseller list. The sequel, The Book of Love, followed with a similar NY Times bestseller list debut and has developed a fierce cult following around the world. The latest novel in the series, The Poet Prince, tells an unprecedented story about the birth of Renaissance art and the secrets hidden in the greatest paintings in history.

Kathleen's unique style of historical fiction combines unprecedented field research with inspired storytelling. Her books have sold over a million copies and are published in almost 40 languages while appearing in approximately 80 countries.

Her first non-fiction work, The Source of Miracles, is a life-changing handbook about prayer and spiritual practice which was influenced by Kathleen's studies of Catharism in France. It was chosen by Oprah's book editor as a holiday gift selection in 2009.

In 2010, Kathleen teamed up with European bestseller and investigative journalist Philip Coppens to create a revolutionary radio show which they co-host on BBS Radio, "The Spirit Revolution." She appears with Coppens as an expert historical advisor in Season III of the History Channel's highest rated series, Ancient Aliens.

Kathleen is currently at work writing her fourth novel, The Tudor Heresy, an explosive and previously untold account of Anne Boleyn's heretical education in France. These lost years of Anne Boleyn have been thoroughly researched in multiple languages, using sources inexplicably ignored by most Tudor scholars, to provide an exciting and controversial account of the infamous queen who changed the world.

Kathleen is a dedicated activist, and commits a portion of her time and royalties to organiations that protect women and children from the horrors of human trafficking and sexual slavery. She has teamed with The Emancipation Network and Made by Survivors to fund and participate in programs which provide shelter and safety for victims of abuse, and raise awareness of this global epidemic.

She shares her time with her partner, Philip Coppens, and her three sons in the US and Europe.

www.KathleenMcGowan.com
www.AnneBoleyn.com
www.TheSpiritRevolution.com
www.MadebySurvivors.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative, transformative... finally a framework that delivers, November 2, 2009

By 

F. Coppens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Source of Miracles: 7 Steps to Transforming Your Life through the Lord's Prayer (Hardcover)

The self help book market is overflowing with tools and techniques to transform you life, with books like "The Secret", preaching a "law of attraction" no-one had ever heard of before the author introduced it. Though these books are highly popular, look at the world out there and it is clear that the world has not changed for the better - or that most of us feel happier - since the release of "The Secret" in 2006. But Kathleen McGowan's "The Source of Miracles" breaks with convention and introduces an entirely different approach to personal transformation.

For one, McGowan's methodology is not based on new age philosophies that are so new that if they were human beings, they could not get a drink in a bar. Instead, hers is based on the Lord's Prayer, coupled with one of the most remarkable creations of medieval Europe: the Chartres labyrinth.

The Lord's Prayer is recited by billions of people, but most Christians recite it without thinking. That is where almost all go wrong: Jesus taught the prayer to this followers for a specific reason and McGowan has reshaped the prayer to its original format: a step by step process through which people can reflect on their daily life and activities, work through the challenges, leading to fulfilment and happiness.

What makes the book unique is that McGowan was also able to identify that this teaching was present within the Chartres labyrinth - in retrospect an obvious conclusion, seeing that the labyrinths in the Gothic cathedrals of Europe were specifically created for such ends: they were mini-pilgrimages, which would provide insight and transformation to the user.

Not only is the foundation for this self-help book therefore rooted upon centuries of - sometimes forgotten - Christian traditions, McGowan underlines that she practices what she preaches: she relates the story of her own transformations by walking the labyrinth and how it specifically saved the life of her newborn son: a veritable miracle survival. This story alone is worth the price of the book and will move most to tears.

I write this review a mere hours after listening to a leading quantum physicist, Amit Goswami, Ph.D., lecturing on how the most recent advances in quantum physics has shown scientists that thought creates reality: what we think has a definite effect on the world. It is remarkable to see that modern science maps perfectly on McGowan's rediscovered medieval prayer tool and that "the power of prayer is the source of miracles" - to quote the author. We think, therefore we create and McGowan uses a tool that two billions of people use on a weekly if not daily basis - the Lord's Prayer - to offer a means through which one can let go of negativity and embrace life, so that everyone can actively pursue that which is within everyone's grasp - love and happiness - but which is often surrounded with newspeak or unrealistic techniques.

The Source of Miracles is therefore a "back to basics" and shows that no new "laws" need to be invented to attain true happiness. It has always been within everyone's reach; we just need to dust it off, and this book will help you do that.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Source of Miracles, November 1, 2010

By 

Nahserah (Waxhaw, NC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Source of Miracles: 7 Steps to Transforming Your Life through the Lord's Prayer (Hardcover)

I never realized the depth and power of The Lord's Prayer until reading this book. This is a must-read for anyone on a spiritual path. I've read it twice and keep it by my bedside. This book can change your life, and I don't say that lightly.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and wonderful, November 27, 2009

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Source of Miracles: 7 Steps to Transforming Your Life through the Lord's Prayer (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Chapter 3 says it well. Page 21 How To Use This Book says it well. 'Caution:Committed use of this process can bring about happiness, abundance, and fulfillment beyond your wildest expectations. The subtitle of this book claims that the prayer will transform your life. It's a hefty claim, but I believe it is also an honest one. It is, in fact, the intention of the Lord's Prayer and the practice that surrounds it.But the key to your success with this practice is commitment'.

The author continues 'I am about to introduce you to the most powerful tool for changing your life-and changing the world-that you will likely ever encounter. However, there are a few disclosures and guidelines that you need to be aware of here at the onset. There is a hard fact that we have to deal with up front, so here it is:there is no such thing as instant gratification in the world of the spirit. Real change requires real effort and dedication. This is not 'fast-food' spirituality like so many of the techniques that have become popular recently. Those instant manifestation programs may make you feel good by satisfying your initial hunger, but they will ultimately leave you nutritionally deprived and bloated a few hours later, rather like a double cheeseburger and hot apple turnover washed down with a thirty-two ounce bucket of soda'.

So be forewarned this is a book for mature adults who want to develop the discipline needed to realize that prayer often teaches us, over time, the difference between what we think we want and what we need. In some ways this book reminds me of another favorite book Write It Down, Make It Happen:Knowing What You Want And Getting It by Henriette Anne Klauser. Buy both books and improve your life.