As they examine each familiar phrase of the Lord's Prayer, readers will uncover a profound framework for spiritual growth. In a reader-friendly, memorable style, David Timms points to Jesus's teaching on community, love for the broken and isolated, holiness in an age of profanity, dealing with the evil within, resisting temptations, and much more. This critically acclaimed book will appeal to all who desire to go deeper into spiritual formation, helping them taste the life-giving water that only Jesus can provide. The new discussion guide makes it a great book for small groups as well as individuals.Editorial ReviewsFrom Publishers WeeklyJesus Christ used just 72 words to outline the key elements of communicating with God in what we know as the Lord's Prayer. Timms, a native Australian who teaches at Hope International University in California, uses many more words than that in this lucid and probing excavation of the prayer, which he calls the greatest Christian teaching of the centuries on spiritual formation. In word-by-word and phrase-by-phrase exposition, he digs deep into meanings and layers that easily escape a quick read. The opening our calls us to community, Timms says, while Father speaks to fear. Timms also discusses God's closeness, our call to holiness, our willfulness, the challenge of simplicity and the need for forgiveness. Readers will find remarkable lessons throughout this work, which reveals shining gemstones of truth usually left buried in the prayer. Even Amen is mined, with Timms calling it the greatest word of faith that the early church could muster. This is a well-polished study of the oft-quoted but seldom-realized formative prayer of the Christian faith. (July) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.Review"This is a well-polished study of the oft-quoted but seldom-realized formative prayer of the Christian faith." -- Publishers Weekly, May 2008"This book lays the foundation for leading a meaningful Christian life." -- ChristianWomenOnline.net --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.