This book is a spiritual autobiography in which Jeanne Guyon likens her life to a torrent making its way out of the high mountains down into the canyons and chasms of life, passing through many experiences until finally coming to the spiritual experience of death. From there the torrent experiences resurrection and a life lived in concert with the will of God while still going through many stages of refinement. At last the torrent finds its way into the vast, unlimited sea. Even here the torrent does not totally come to be one with the vast ocean until it has once more passed through the final dealings by the Lord.

The reader will find this book to be the saga of one believer's journey with Christ. It does not serve as a pattern for any other life, but simply allows the readers to see how Guyon viewed the Lord's work in her life. Nevertheless, this is one of the greatest books ever written on the subject of the cross as it works in the life of the believer.

Within the pages of this book, you will find spiritual insight and Christian counseling from church history's best-known woman. These letters contain her advice as shared with common people, famous people and clergy who sought her guidance.

You will receive from her help in such areas as discouragement, failure, self-consciousness, poor self-esteem, emotional ups and downs, sorrow, embarrassment, and persecution. She will counsel you concerning decision making, your search for God's will in your life, and following Him amid uncertainties.

You will come away from this book with more understanding and a new perspective on peoples' faults, as well as the church's shortcomings.

Guyon lights up the precious and powerful value of Christian fellowship. She offers advice and encouragement for Christian workers. Guyon will meet you where you are in your walk with Christ. This is one of Guyon's most popular books.

Her writings and her ministry knew a brief period of popularity, making her a friend even of the wife of Louis XIV. She greatly influenced the life of Fenelon one of the two most famous clergymen in France's history, and earned the wrath of the other, Bossuet.

The King of France ordered Mme. Guyon to appear before Archbishop Bossuet and two other priests for interrogation. This would be a fateful event for Mme. Guyon, for the results of that interrogation would decide whether or not she would be imprisoned.