More than 500,000 copies sold! Updated and expanded!Prayer is hard. Often, unless circumstances demand it—such as an illness or saying grace before a meal—most of us simply do not pray. This kind of prayerlessness can leave us with a distressed spirit and practical unbelief characterized by fear, anxiety, joylessness, and spiritual depression.A Praying Life is a prayer guide that has encouraged thousands of Christians to pursue a vibrant prayer life...

You started out telling each other everything. Time flew by when you were together. It all seemed so easy then. But now it seems like there's nothing to say. The intimacy and trust you once enjoyed are gone—replaced by bickering, long silences, and hurried conversations about your schedule. But it isn't too late to renew intimacy in your marriage.David Powlison takes a close look at those things that destroy intimacy in marriage and shows how renewing your marriage begins with a re...

The turmoil women experience after having an abortion is sometimes called "post-abortion syndrome." But you don't need a technical term to describe what you are feeling. The guilt, regret, depression, and grief are the honest struggles of a woman who's had an abortion and takes to heart what happened.David Powlison shares that whatever reactions and emotions you experience, God is committed to entering into your struggle. He sympathizes with you in your weakness, but he offers more...

Now featuring practical, heart-focused discussion questions for each chapter, useful for individual use, counseling, or in a small group setting.What does it take for lasting change to take root in your life? If you've ever tried, failed, and wondered what you could do differently, you need to read How People Change.In the book, biblical counseling experts Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp explain the biblical pattern for change in a clear, practical way you can...

The progression should have been natural. You got married, and children were supposed to follow in due time. But every month that ends in a period rather than a pregnancy has you feeling more and more depressed. Perhaps you even find yourself avoiding people and places with children because it is just too painful.Amy Baker and Daniel Wickert help you see God's presence and provision for you in the midst of your pain. With compassion and understanding, they walk through some of the ...

Someone you know and love has died. You feel the emptiness and sorrow of loss. That alone is extremely hard. But suicide adds many other painful reactions to the heartache that death brings. Common reactions are feelings of anger, guilt, betrayal, and many, many unanswerable questions.This is one of life's broken, dark experiences in which you need help and encouragement to remember that the promises and presence of your God and Savior are real. In the midst of this darkness, David...

Are you having suicidal thoughts and feelings? Perhaps you are convinced that life is not worth living. Your life seems hopeless, like a black hole with all love, hope, and joy sucked out. David Powlison describes the various reasons you might be feeling hopeless and explains that God is not surprised or put off by your hopeless feelings.Your life is precious to God. He knows everything about you—even how many hairs are on your head. He wants you to bring your despair to him and cr...

What makes you angry? Sometimes it's small things: traffic jams, a waiter's mistake, or a friend's inattention. And sometimes it's big things: betrayal, injustice, meanness, violence, oppression, selfishness, and lying. How do you deal with your anger? Do you dump it on those around you? Or stuff it deep inside?David Powlison surprises us with the news that God is angry too, but his anger is expressed constructively, by giving his own Son to right what's wrong with this world. Lear...

The damage you suffered may have been done in one terrible moment or over time. But the healing and the restoration will unfold at your pace, at a human pace. It unfolds as part of your story, and it unfolds over time.As a vulnerable child, instead of being protected, helped, and comforted, you were physically, emotionally, and/or sexually abused. Learn how to express your experience to God by composing your own personal liturgy. Pouring out your heart to God will begin the healing...

Safe and Sound by best-selling author David Powlison guides readers to see the normality of their struggles with themselves, the world around them, and the powers of darkness.Counselors tend to be interested in what they can easily describe: psychological dynamics, social influences, and physiological givens. But how does the uncanny power of darkness fit in with the more accessible factors in a person's life?By carefully unpacking Ephesians 6 with vivid case studi...

Anger. We all experience it, some more than others. When is it righteous and when is it not? How can we control our anger and not get caught in a maze of rage when things don't go our way? David Powlison takes a close look at anger to help us understand what it is and why we have it. He exposes three common misconceptions that leave us powerless to overcome anger. Using the illustration of a traffic jam, he probes the assumptions and cravings of the heart behind a typical angry response. I...

Have you traded in your peace for a life full of stress, worry, and anxiety? David Powlison points all who are stressed out to Psalm 131, a quiet little psalm with revolutionary potential. The psalmist's composure in the midst of his difficult circumstances is learned, Powlison explains, which means that you can learn it too. Powlison teaches us to abandon our restless, fretful, and irritable ways by believing the promises of God. Helping us personalize Psalm 131 to our own stressful situa...