This rich blend of prayers, poems, and sayings by women writers and sages from around the world and throughout history offers daily inspiration and delight. Included in this collection are diverse voices ranging from the early Sufi mystic Rabia and the trailblazing Mechtild of Magdeburg, to contemporary poets Denise Levertov, Kathleen Norris, Maya Angelou, Jane Hirshfield, and Mary Oliver. These and many other treasures of women’s wisdom are gathered here from such wide-ranging sources as Celtic blessings, Native American petitions, and Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, and Chinese prayers. An expert on spirituality with a remark-able eye for the best inspirational literature, Ford-Grabowsky includes in this collection prayers of praise, thanks, petition, mystical ecstasy, and insight. Her book explores self-discovery, mothering, inner strength, needs, work, gratefulness, spiritual darkness, mysti-cal experience, and love.

"WomanPrayer, WomanSong is a groundbreaking contribution to the church of our day. While drawing on scripture and affirming God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ, this exciting book addresses the urgent need for ritual which incorporates women's experience. Feminine biblical images of God are recovered; feminine pronouns for God are supplied; valiant women are remembered; the church year is reinterpreted to highlight women's experience; and oppression and violence against women in scripture and society are exposed. I have been searching for alternatives to hierarchical, coercive, male images of God which are at the same time faithful to the Christian revelation. I have found a rich resource here!" --Ruth Duck, Pastor, Professor of Worship, Garrett -Evangelical Theological Seminary "With Miriam Therese Winter's WomanPrayer, WomanSong, the feminist movement in the Christian community goes beyond the critique of patriarchal bias in religion and begins a new phase. Through a new religious encounter with the Mother-spirit of God, a new religious culture begins to develop that also renews the liberating grace and power of biblical faith. For the first time the church prays and sings the ancient story of creation and redemption through women's creative imagination." --Rosemary Ruether, author of Women-Church "By drawing on tradition to challenge tradition, this book models how a feminist hermeneutic can revitalize tradition. The preface, liturgies, and songs reveal a sophisticated theological mind blessed with the gift of poetic expression." --Thomas Troeger, Professor of Preaching and Parish Ministry and Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Iliff School of Theology

"Many Christian women are prayer warriors—great intercessors. Sometimes, however, they do not take the time to pray adequately for themselves. We have put together this devotional book as a special guide in praying for yourself as a Christian woman. Elizabeth Elliot once said: “We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God’s idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be.”1 God wants us to be a different kind of woman—not a carbon copy of the world’s idea of the beautiful woman but a unique expression of the beauty that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit; not just a woman who prays on occasion but a prayer warrior who storms the gates of heaven for herself and her loved ones; not a woman who demands her rights but one who lays down her rights in order to submit to the One who has a perfect will and way for her life; not just a woman of good works but one who gives cups of cold water in the name of and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ; not a woman who cocoons in her home but a hospitable woman who opens her heart and her home to all whom God brings into her life; nor a woman who considers her Christianity to be a private matter, but a woman who spreads the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus Christ in every place she goes. Yes, we are to be different from the world because Jesus Christ has made all the difference in our lives. How can you and I be the kind of women God desires for us to be? How can we keep from conforming to the world’s mold? Only as we spend much time alone in God’s presence—as we come aside each day, setting our hearts on things above, seeking God’s face and His will. Sarah and Patti have created a guide so that each Christian woman can pray: • Using Encouraging Words • Handling My Emotions • Dealing with Expectations • Opening My Heart to Others • Growing Spiritually • Seeking God’s Guidance in My Daily Life • Enriching My Relationships • Growing Through Life’s Seasons • Expanding My World • New Beginnings "

Omartian shares how wives can develop a deeper relationship with their husbands by praying for them. Packed with practical advice on praying for specific areas, including decision-making, fears, spiritual strength, and sexuality, this book helps women discover the fulfilling marriage God intended.

Only a Woman deals with the felt need among women for surrender, growth, and service to the Lord. National conference speaker Terri McFaddin brings a motivational message for women to seek a deeper relationship with God by taking "radical action" for Him. While other books are centered around comforting and healing women, McFaddin recounts examples of women who reached beyond the traditional practice of Christianity "into biblical extremes designed to bring power, healing, and deliverance" to their lives -- and the lives of all around them. "Sooner or later you will find yourself searching for answers that can't be found at choir rehearsals and garden parties," says McFaddin, who offers clear answers here.

In Women, Men, and Spiritual Power, John Coakley explores male-authored narratives of the lives of Catherine of Siena, Hildegard of Bingen, Angela of Foligno, and six other female prophets or mystics of the late Middle Ages. His readings reveal the complex personal and literary relationships between these women and the clerics who wrote about them. Coakley's work also undermines simplistic characterizations of male control over women, offering an important contribution to medieval religious history. Coakley shows that these male-female relationships were marked by a fundamental tension between power and fascination: the priests and monks were supposed to hold authority over the women entrusted to their care, but they often switched roles, as the men became captivated with the women's spiritual gifts. In narratives of such women, the male authors reflect directly on the relationship between the women's powers and their own. Coakley argues that they viewed these relationships as gendered partnerships that brought together female mystical power and male ecclesiastical authority without placing one above the other. Women, Men, and Spiritual Power chronicles a wide-ranging experiment in the balance of formal and informal powers, in which it was assumed to be thoroughly imaginable for both sorts of authority, in their distinctly gendered terms, to coexist and build on each other. The men's writings reflect an extended moment in western Christianity when clerics had enough confidence in their authority to actually question its limits. After about 1400, however, clerics underwent a crisis of confidence, and such a questioning of institutional power was no longer considered safe. Instead of seeing women as partners, their revelatory powers began to be viewed as evidence of witchcraft.

The creation of a woman was the best thing that happened to divinity and humanity which the devil has twisted to his advantage. His lies have bullied women o_ their place of assignment and left them disoriented about who they are. Because of insecurities, women have settled for less, trying to prove their value and validate their identity. This identity crisis has caused tragic breakdowns economically, socially, culturally, morally, ecclesiastically and spiritually leaving a human race, a victim of this fate because a woman is a key player in this game of life. This book is a great mirror for every woman who wants to see the real image of who she was created to be and how vital her existence is to divinity and humanity. It redefines who she is, her value, her purpose, what she represents, the divine mysteries hidden in her and how she affects the totality of human life. Today, it is imperative that every woman rediscovers God’s original blueprint for her life in order to maximize her potential and preserve life in her domain. Everything about, within, without and around a woman is connected. Therefore, she cannot be defined by one title. She is plural. She is on a mission as an undercover agent hired by God, licensed by Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit.