Encountering God: A Retreat with Jesus

What Is Prayer?

Prayer is a personal encounter with God through Jesus Christ. In the Ignatian tradition, prayer is not only saying familiar words or reading Scripture; it is a living, prayer-centred conversation with Jesus in which we bring our real experiences, emotions, and desires before God.

In Encountering God: A Retreat with Jesus, Jesuit author Nikolaas Sintobin SJ explores how we can pray in a way that we can experience a direct, personal encounter with God. Inspired by Ignatian spirituality, it offers ten biblical meditations with commentary and reflective questions for prayerful engagement with Scripture.

Ignatian Prayer with Scripture

This approach is rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuit path of Christian prayer, discernment, and spiritual growth. Rather than remaining detached readers, we use reflection, imagination, and honest dialogue to encounter Christ in the Gospels.

The book is suitable for:

• People new to Ignatian spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises as well as those familiar with the tradition
• Those seeking a deeper personal relationship with Jesus
• Readers looking for a daily Christian prayer guide
• Anyone wanting to use Scripture as a source of spiritual reading and reflection

Praying with Jesus, Not Just About Jesus

Sometimes traditional forms of prayer can feel one-sided: we speak, ask, read, and reflect, yet may still sense little genuine connection with Christ. Ignatian prayer responds to this by inviting us into the biblical story itself—using imagination, attentive listening, and personal reflection so that the Gospels become not simply texts to study, but encounters with Jesus.

Encountering God: A Retreat with Jesus is a prayer retreat for everyday life
This is a retreat that can be made without leaving home. Through silence, biblical reflection, and Ignatian prayer, readers are invited to meet Jesus personally in the midst of daily life.