Prayer is effective when we observe biblical proceedings and respect the laws of God; it is warfare against the enemy of our life and destiny. Curses can be defeated and destroyed when we submit ourselves to scriptural truth. Seeking solutions to matters that are curse-oriented demands that one engage the enemy involved in warfare. Wars cannot be fought to finish instantly without major preparations, and the enemy cannot be defeated or destroyed without effective strategies.

For those facing this type of conflict "Strategic Deliverance Solutions: Discover and Destroy Ancestral Curses" contains the essentials for a rewarding prayer life. Dr. Pauline Walley-Daniels informs, trains, and equips God's army before marching us off to spiritual wars. She writes to the heart of the matter in this guide, based upon the study of the book of Esther from the Bible. She explores the meaning and the impact of curses and considers how to break and uproot curses in the realm of warfare and confrontation.

"Strategic Deliverance Solutions: Discover and Destroy Ancestral Curses" explains how to trace the root, and source of affliction. It also teaches on how to undertake a solution-oriented mission in order to conquer the problem.

This book by renowned scholar and recognised authority on Islam, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, is a discourse on the legal position of celebrating the Mawlid al-Nabi (birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) within Islam. Most notably, the author has comprehensively compiled evidences from the authentic source texts and classical authorities to prove not only the permissibility of celebrating the Mawlid al-Nabi within the bounds of the Shari'a (Islamic Law) but also that it is divinely ordained and was a Sunna (practice) of the Prophet himself. The author presents unique and compelling arguments showing why celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi is not only an act of righteousness, but a need of our time. Tackling the various criticisms of this act head on, he specifically addresses the issue of why the first generation of Muslims did not celebrate the Mawlid, and clarifies that labelling the Mawlid as an bid'ah (innovation) betrays a fundamental and serious flaw in the understand of the Islamic concept of bid'ah.

The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies innovatively combines the ways in which scholars from fields as diverse as philosophy, psychology, religious studies, literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics have integrated the study of Sikhism within a wide range of critical and postcolonial perspectives on the nature of religion, violence, gender, ethno-nationalism, and revisionist historiography. A number of essays within this collection also provide a more practical dimension, written by artists and practitioners of the tradition. The handbook is divided into eight thematic sections that explore different 'expressions' of Sikhism. Historical, literary, ideological, institutional, and artistic expressions are considered in turn, followed by discussion of Sikhs in the Diaspora, and of caste and gender in the Panth. Each section begins with an essay by a prominent scholar in the field, providing an overview of the topic. Further essays provide detail and further treat the fluid, multivocal nature of both the Sikh past and the present. The handbook concludes with a section considering future directions in Sikh Studies.

THIS BOOK is based on the dialogue between the Shulamite Maiden and the Bridegroom in the Song of Solomon and is written as a devotional book with a verse-by-verse dialogue of the writer's conversations with God.

The author invites you to peer into her intimate dialogues with God, and as you do so, you may find yourself opening your heart to receive what God is saying to you. Then, when you turn the Scripture into personal prayer, recording in your own journal the secret longings and prayers of your heart as well as the things that God says to you, you may find to your amazement that God is "crazy in love with you" and passionately pursuing you as a lover of God.

Embracing the love of the Bridegroom for yourself, you discover the joy of embarking

on your own enjoyable journey to the high places of intimacy with God, your love relationship with God ignited into passionate desire for His presence

Ritual has emerged as a major focus of academic interest. As a concept, the idea of ritual integrates the study of behavior both within and beyond the domain of religion. Ritual can be both secular and religious in character. There is renewed interest in questions such as: Why do rituals exist at all? What has been, and continues to be, their place in society? How do they change over time? Such questions exist against a backdrop of assumptions about development, modernization, and disenchantment of the world.Written with the specific needs of students of religious studies in mind, " Ritual: Key Concepts in Religion" surveys the field of ritual studies looking at it both historically within anthropology and in terms of its contemporary relevance to mass phenomena.

A moving Passover experience using body and mind.This family-friendly traditional Haggadah engages all five senses and weaves in activities to promote a full-body connection to the Passover story and rituals. Through active participation, and using the traditional seder text, Seder in Motion invites families to connect personally to the story of the flight form slavery to freedom. Experience familiar rituals and songs in a new way. Create hand motions for the Ten Plagues. Act out the march toward freedom in Dayeinu by stomping your feet and drumming on the table. Explore traditions from around the world, such as the Morroccan custom of passing a platter of matzah overhead to symbolize the 'passing over." Engage in mindfulness moments: draw the light of Passover toward you during the candle lighting, swish the wine in your mouth for Kiddush, an wash away negative thoughts and feelings in the ritual handwashing. Includes tips for actively involving participants who are physically distant. Also includes: instructions for conducting a Search for Chametz A complete list of ritual items and foods you will need for your seder. Directions for creating your seder plate Blessings, prayers and the Four Questions provided in Hebrew, Hebrew transliteration, and English The beginning of the Counting of the Omer for the Second Night of Passover Songs included: Dayeinu Eliyahu Hanavi Echad Mi Yodea: Who Knows One? (Complete, in Hebrew transliteration and English) Chad Gadya: One Little Goat (Complete, in Hebrew transliteration and English)

?Divine Entreaty is a great resource for all who are called upon to offer prayer for gatherings that include people from diverse backgrounds. The prayers written by Dr. Menz provide us with sensitivity training and show that he is both a verbal artist and philosopher. Suellen Mazurowski, JD; Hilton Head, SC Teach us to pray? was the elementary request of the first disciples of Jesus. Yet their desire is a universal one; a spiritual longing at the heart of persons of all religions and cultures. In this remarkable little volume Dr. Menz captures both the complexity of cultural sensitivity and also the commonality of public prayer. This is a resource for both guiding those who are called upon to articulate a prayer in our diverse world and encouraging business and civic leaders who feel the need for the prayers of the people to be voiced.? ?James Gebhart, PhD, clinical psychologist; Columbus, Ohio ?Bob Menz and I have a friendship that goes back twenty-plus years revolving around human resource conferences and issues. Bob has shared prayers with people for decades and I would like to thank him for giving others a place to begin as we seek communication with our Creator.?Bill Henry, human resources manager; Ava, Missouri ?We live and work in a culturally, religiously, and spiritually diverse world. For those of us who are challenged by issues of diversity every day, Dr. Menz's volume, Divine Entreaty, is a welcome resource calling our attention to the necessity of inclusiveness. Both the famous prayers of the past and those for public and diverse settings will enlighten your own sense of oneness with humanity. Carl Kyle, DMin, board-certified chaplain; Jacksonville, Florida Divine Entreaty offers a collection of inclusive prayers for leadership in civic, business, education, politics, ministry, and other disciplines to adopt or modify when communities seek to clarify their purpose and capture the moment.

In the Lord I Take Refuge invites readers to experience the Psalms in a new and refreshing way, featuring devotional content written by Dane Ortlund.

Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam examines how Bharata Natyam, a traditionally Hindu storytelling dance form, moves across religious boundaries through both incorporating choreography on Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Jain themes and the pluralistic identities of participants. Dancers traverse religious boundaries by reformulating an aesthetic foundation based on performative rather than solely textual understandings of rasa, conventionally defined as a formula for how to physically craft emotion on stage. Through the ethnographic case studies of this volume, dancers of Bharata Natyam innovatively demonstrate how the rasa of devotion (bhakti rasa), surprisingly absent from classic dance-related texts, serves as the pivotal framework for expanding on their own interreligious thematic and interpretive possibilities. In contemporary Bharata Natyam, bhakti rasa is not just about enhancing religious experience; instead, these dancers choreographically adapt various religious identities and ideas in order to emphasize pluralistic cultural and ethical dimensions in their work. Through the dancing body, multiple religious and secular interpretations fluidly co-exist.

The practice of making votive offerings into fire dates from the earliest periods of human history, and is found in many different religious cultures. Throughout the tantric world, this kind of ritual offering practice is known as the homa. With roots in Vedic and Zoroastrian rituals, the tantric homa developed in early medieval India. Since that time it has been transmitted to Central and East Asia by tantric Buddhist practitioners. Today, Hindu forms are also being practiced outside of India as well. Despite this historical and cultural range, the homa retains an identifiable unity of symbolism and ritual form. The essays collected in Homa Variations provide detailed studies of a variety of homa forms, providing an understanding of the history of the homa from its inception up to its use in the present. At the same time, the authors cover a wide range of religious cultures, from India and Nepal to Tibet, China, and Japan. The theoretical focus of the collection is the study of ritual change over long periods of time, and across the boundaries of religious cultures. The identifiable unity of the homa allows for an almost unique opportunity to examine ritual change from such a broad perspective.

FEW BRITISH EXPLORERS IN ARABIA have produced books whose importance as travelogues is trans-cended by their literary quality. One such is The Holy Cities of Arabia, published to critical acclaim in 1928, with its author hailed as a worthy successor to Burckhardt, Burton and Doughty. Unrivalled among works by Western travellers to Islam's holy cities, this account of a pilgrimage to Makkah in 1925-26 is made all the more remark-able by its author's timing. In 1925 `Abd al-`Aziz Ibn Saud brought to an end centuries of rule over the Hijaz by the Hashimite sharifs and their Ottoman overlords. Rutter, living as a learned Muslim Arab in a Makkan household, had a ringside seat as Riyadh imposed its writ on Islam's holy cities. As striking as his account of life in Makkah before modernization are his interviews with Ibn Saud, and his journeys to al-Ta'if and to the City of the Prophet, al-Madinah. The Holy Cities of Arabia proved to be its author's only full-length work. After a brief career as a Middle East traveller, Rutter lapsed into obscurity. This new edition aims to revive a neglected masterpiece and to establish Rutter's reputation. Little was known about him until now and the introduction tells the story of his life for the first time, assessing his talents as a travel writer and analysing his significance as a British convert.

THE VOICE OF FAITH explores the sermons and writings of New England divine, Jonathan Edwards, and draws a comprehensive picture of his theology of prayer. Starting with a foundation of who God is-his character and attributes-author Peter Beck illustrates why Edwards believed God would hear the prayers of his people. He also examines Edwards's view of Christ, the work of the Spirit and the nature of man. Interspersed are three external biographies that set the historical and theological scene in which Edwards was writing.

It is a widespread idea that the roots of the Christian sermon can be found in the Jewish derasha. But the story of the interrelation of the two homiletical traditions, Jewish and Christian, from New Testament times to the present day is still untold. Can homiletical encounters be registered? Is there a common homiletical history - not only in the modern era, but also in rabbinic times and in the Middle Ages? Which current developments affect Jewish and Christian preaching today, in the 21st century? And, most important, what consequences may result from this mutual perception of Jewish and Christian homiletics for homiletical research and the practice of preaching? This book offers the papers of the first international conference (Bamberg, Germany, 6th to 8th March 2007) which brought together Jewish and Christian scholars to discuss Jewish and Christian homiletics in their historical development and relationship and to sketch out common homiletical projects.

In 1988 I wrote a book called "Why Pray?" which went through 6 printings by Creation House and one by the author. That book was written because I knew I had something to say to the pray-ers of America. I have, over the past 50 years of ministry, read scores of books on the subject of prayer. Most of them dealt with some rather fundamental issues, but none seemed to answer the questions I had regarding this matter. I wanted to know why God, who has all power, a plan and a will would need us to pray.
I had read early in my life with God a statement attributed to John Wesley in which he said, "God does nothing, but in answer to prayer." He did not explain the statement, but he sure caused me to think. If God does nothing but in answer to prayer, then prayer must be one of the most important things a Christian, can do.
I believed the statement, but did not understand it and Wesley did not explain himself. Later I came to believe the following: God, who is sovereign, certainly has the power to do anything He wills to do whether anyone prays of not, however, I can say, from a careful study of the Word and a thorough examination of life's experiences; as a rule, God does nothing, but in answer to prayer.
THE LAW OF PRAYER is a follow-up of 'Why Pray?" I have included in it some of the same material, with several new chapters, a new cover, forward and updated illustrations.
David Shibley will write the forward. Other recommendations will come from Bishop Ken Ulmer of Los Angeles, CA, Pastor Steve Dixon, Jack Hayford and Mike Bickel.
My Purpose in writing this:
.Is to instruct, encourage and inspire God's children to pray by convincing them that He will hear their prayer as quickly as He will hear the prayer of anyone.
.Is to share the truth that God, our Father desires to have a relationship with each of His children and has made a way for this to happen. His door is never closed, and all are invited to come in for a chat.
.Is to communicate, a few more things I have learned, to the thousands who read "Why Pray?"
.Last but not least. I want to obey my Father.