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The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things
Your attention, please. That's what God wants, Leighton Ford discovered. It's the path to becoming like Christ. Distractions, fear and busyness were keeping Ford from seeing God's work in and around him. He was missing God. So he began a journey of longing and looking for God. And it started with paying attention. In these pages, he invites you to journey with him. Using the rich monastic tradition of praying the hours, Ford will walk with you, helping you pay attention to God's work in you and around you throughout each day and in different seasons of your life. If you're busy, distracted, rushing through each day, you might be feeling disconnected from God, unable to see how he's working. You might be missing him. But the way toward him starts with a pause and a prayer—with intention and attention—and becomes a way of life, awake and alive to the peaceful, powerful presence of God.
229 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2008
67 people are currently reading
1157 people want to read
About the author
Leighton Ford
75 books12 followersLeighton Ford is president of Leighton Ford Ministries. He served for many years as an evangelist with Billy Graham, and was featured as the alternate speaker to Billy Graham on the Hour of Decision broadcast. He also served for nearly twenty years as chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, an international body of Christian leaders, and for many years has mentored emerging leaders all over the world. The author or coauthor of numerous books, including Transforming Leadership and The Attentive Life, Ford lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
December 9, 2021
Slowly read this throughout the year and really loved and appreciated the attention to stillness and contemplation (certainly not two of my natural strengths or giftings). I will be reading this again!!
July 1, 2014
There are a lot of reasons I love this book. I've read it over a long period, in small bits at a time so that I could contemplate, absorb, and apply. I still tend to operate at a fast pace - but this book reminds me to frequently pause and observe so that I can get a glimpse of God working in my life. Recently, I find myself thinking of God at the various hours of the day (Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline). That structured thinking helps me focus my attention on God, but also on the daily tasks at hand. I find meaning in more things than I used to as a result. And that makes each day more rich.
The book encourages me to "retreat" into contemplative thought, but not for the sake of contemplation alone. Rather, it encourages me to use those times of quiet to face life's challenges head-on. One illustration the author used was especially meaningful to me: the futility of trying to keep pace with the setting sun as darkness comes (one can never outrun the darkness), vs. turning east, into and through the darkness as the quickest way to get to the light. The author shared what were probably the most difficult of his own life experiences to highlight how being attentive has helped him cope and keep moving forward in his relationships and life's work.
I enjoyed how the author drew analogies between the liturgical hours and the stages of life. I also liked his use of poetry to illustrate a point; it helped me see and feel key points more deeply. I liked his descriptions titled "One Who Paid Attention" that followed each chapter. May I be attentive in the manner of Mother Theresa, who considered herself "a contemplative in the midst of life", praying her work.
The book encourages me to "retreat" into contemplative thought, but not for the sake of contemplation alone. Rather, it encourages me to use those times of quiet to face life's challenges head-on. One illustration the author used was especially meaningful to me: the futility of trying to keep pace with the setting sun as darkness comes (one can never outrun the darkness), vs. turning east, into and through the darkness as the quickest way to get to the light. The author shared what were probably the most difficult of his own life experiences to highlight how being attentive has helped him cope and keep moving forward in his relationships and life's work.
I enjoyed how the author drew analogies between the liturgical hours and the stages of life. I also liked his use of poetry to illustrate a point; it helped me see and feel key points more deeply. I liked his descriptions titled "One Who Paid Attention" that followed each chapter. May I be attentive in the manner of Mother Theresa, who considered herself "a contemplative in the midst of life", praying her work.
July 1, 2025
Just a sample:
"The paradox of our modern world is that we know so much about so many things, about how things work, but so little about who we are as persons, why we are.
We believers are not immune to this dis-ease. We have more and more sources of information than ever about the Bible, theology, ethics, history, psychology and organization ---but relatively little time to absorb even a little bit of the information so that it can form and transform us. Still, sometimes in quiet moments, sometimes at a dramatic crossroads, something may happen which makes us stop, look and listen." (138)
"The paradox of our modern world is that we know so much about so many things, about how things work, but so little about who we are as persons, why we are.
We believers are not immune to this dis-ease. We have more and more sources of information than ever about the Bible, theology, ethics, history, psychology and organization ---but relatively little time to absorb even a little bit of the information so that it can form and transform us. Still, sometimes in quiet moments, sometimes at a dramatic crossroads, something may happen which makes us stop, look and listen." (138)
June 12, 2023
I give this a 5 because I think all people would/can/should benefit from Ford’s book. It traces through the traditional hours of daily prayer and shows how each represents not only a few moments of prayer to God but also represents whole seasons of life.
This book was powerful in surprising ways for me.
It will be for you too. But will you be attentive? 💪🏼👍🏻
This book was powerful in surprising ways for me.
It will be for you too. But will you be attentive? 💪🏼👍🏻
October 19, 2009
This was a book that I read as a part of a reading group that I'm in. I started reading it, not expecting much (shame on me!). Much to my surprise this was a tremendous read. Not only was it inspiring but it was also simply written with practical advice and steps on how to be more "attentive" to God. Ford uses his own life experiences to urge the reader to learn how to focus on God, at all times and in all things. We live such busy, overly sensitized lives, in which we rarely slow down to just simply "exist" and be with God. Ford argues, effectively, that we are missing out on so many incredible opportunities given to us from God because we cannot (or refuse to!) PAY ATTENTION. God's presence is all around us, in us, and through us, at all times. It is at our peril if we choose not to listen and discover this presence in our lives. God wants to bless us, speak to us, and guide our lives every day -- but we are so "cluttered" with busyness, distractions, and sensory overload that we often times fail to hear, see, experience, or worse, even seek God. It is time for all of us to recognize this and make changes in our lives. Ford provides excellent commentary on how to do this and the consequences if we do not; as he says early in the book, "Lord, show me what I am missing; open my eyes, that I may see."
June 16, 2011
An excellent book for anyone who is interested in paying attention to God. Here's a quote:
"Attentiveness may be just the opposite of ‘fixing our attention.’ Instead it involves a letting go of our usual need to control, an opening of ourselves to what we are being told or shown."
"Attentiveness may be just the opposite of ‘fixing our attention.’ Instead it involves a letting go of our usual need to control, an opening of ourselves to what we are being told or shown."
April 8, 2024
It will take me many years (and many rereads) to fully digest the wealth of wisdom in this book. So needed in today’s world, and so needed my life which is naturally inclined toward inattentiveness. 5/5 go read!!!
March 28, 2021
Several years ago I began thinking more about the habit of attention and how it had become a “pray without ceasing” element in my life. How it helped me to become an “artist in the understanding of my own life.” This book explores this idea of prayer and paying attention, walking the reader through observing the hours and how that relates to our moments and lives. It’s full of story and poetry. An excellent read. Some quotes::
-The labyrinth, however, is a spiritual tool, a prescribed path, a sort of “embodied prayer” meant to help us put aside our chattering and cluttered mind and walk deeply in the presence of God.
-At the deepest level, the “veils” that keep us from paying attention—whether the speed and noise of our world, the workaholism that wears us down to the bone, the apathy that shuts off our feelings, or the fears that haunt us—all come from our refusal to admit our creatureliness.
-We keep on hurrying and staying busy and chatting because we are afraid that if we did slow down, stop working, get still long enough to listen deeply, we might have to face our morality and humanness and give up trying to run our lives like little gods.
-May Christ be the magnifying glass through which I see the ordinary today, so that I may have strength to rise above winter moods.
-There are many deaths that we die throughout our life, suggests Rolheiser: the death of our youth, of our spiritual and psychological wholeness, our dreams and our honeymoons, even our ideas of God and church. As Karl Rahner put it, in this life all symphonies are unfinished.
-Like Davy and his family in Leif Enger’s novel, we live between exile and homecoming.
-For me the mountain is a parable: though we all long and look in different ways, the only truly worthy End of our longing and looking is the one true High God, Father of the patriarchs, the prophets and our Lord Jesus Christ.
-The labyrinth, however, is a spiritual tool, a prescribed path, a sort of “embodied prayer” meant to help us put aside our chattering and cluttered mind and walk deeply in the presence of God.
-At the deepest level, the “veils” that keep us from paying attention—whether the speed and noise of our world, the workaholism that wears us down to the bone, the apathy that shuts off our feelings, or the fears that haunt us—all come from our refusal to admit our creatureliness.
-We keep on hurrying and staying busy and chatting because we are afraid that if we did slow down, stop working, get still long enough to listen deeply, we might have to face our morality and humanness and give up trying to run our lives like little gods.
-May Christ be the magnifying glass through which I see the ordinary today, so that I may have strength to rise above winter moods.
-There are many deaths that we die throughout our life, suggests Rolheiser: the death of our youth, of our spiritual and psychological wholeness, our dreams and our honeymoons, even our ideas of God and church. As Karl Rahner put it, in this life all symphonies are unfinished.
-Like Davy and his family in Leif Enger’s novel, we live between exile and homecoming.
-For me the mountain is a parable: though we all long and look in different ways, the only truly worthy End of our longing and looking is the one true High God, Father of the patriarchs, the prophets and our Lord Jesus Christ.
August 29, 2015
PAY ATTENTION! That is what God is calling us to do.
This is a MUST read for Christians seeking a closer & more rewarding walk with God - and for those seeking answers for their purpose in this life.
Quote from the book: "Paying attention is not a way by which we make something happen, but a way to see what is already given to us." This is what the book is about.
This is not a book to just sit down & read through - it takes time and contemplation. I like to journal, and did so with this book. I filled three journals! It is rich in content and very thought provoking.
I was drawn into the book by the authors use of "The Hours of Our Lives". Mr. Ford references a retreat at Mepkin Abbey, a monastery in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where he first experienced "the hours" or "divine hours". As he breaks down these hours, we see how they relate to our day-to-day lives, experiences, relationships, careers, etc. not only day today, but to the stages of our lives - The beginning (Lauds), the middle (Sext), and the end (Compline).
Mr. Ford shows us that "God has been and is at work in each of the "hours" we have lived."
This book has shown me a new way to look at the "hours" of my life, and to "Pay Attention" to be quiet & listen, to wait for God to speak to my heart about those things I have prayed about. It is vital to our spirituality to carve out time daily to spend with God in prayer, reading His Word.
I highly recommend this book, and Mr. Ford, thank you for your obedience in writing the book. God bless you.
This is a MUST read for Christians seeking a closer & more rewarding walk with God - and for those seeking answers for their purpose in this life.
Quote from the book: "Paying attention is not a way by which we make something happen, but a way to see what is already given to us." This is what the book is about.
This is not a book to just sit down & read through - it takes time and contemplation. I like to journal, and did so with this book. I filled three journals! It is rich in content and very thought provoking.
I was drawn into the book by the authors use of "The Hours of Our Lives". Mr. Ford references a retreat at Mepkin Abbey, a monastery in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where he first experienced "the hours" or "divine hours". As he breaks down these hours, we see how they relate to our day-to-day lives, experiences, relationships, careers, etc. not only day today, but to the stages of our lives - The beginning (Lauds), the middle (Sext), and the end (Compline).
Mr. Ford shows us that "God has been and is at work in each of the "hours" we have lived."
This book has shown me a new way to look at the "hours" of my life, and to "Pay Attention" to be quiet & listen, to wait for God to speak to my heart about those things I have prayed about. It is vital to our spirituality to carve out time daily to spend with God in prayer, reading His Word.
I highly recommend this book, and Mr. Ford, thank you for your obedience in writing the book. God bless you.
August 29, 2012
Kind of a nice devotional, and definitely a pleasant read. However, it is kind of like talking to your elder grandparent (and Leighton Ford *is* old) and listening to rambling reminiscences that are difficult to connect together. He couldn't quite decide whether he was using 'the hours' as a metaphor for life, or as a model for prayer and introspection. It would have been better if he had done one or the other, not both.[return][return]In short, I was kind of disappointed because I really would love some great advice on living an intentional and contemplative life in this busy world. I enjoyed this read, but didn't get any of the advice I had hoped for from it.
September 1, 2009
I don't know much about Leighton Ford, but I do know that he is an excellent writer. This is an excellent book about the divine hours and the spiritual life. Ford introduced me to some new resources for my spiritual life.
I have been trying to pay more attention to what Ford calls "discerning God's presence in all things". What he does is remind me that paying attention is not difficult. All of our world is from God and all of it, trees, mountain views, the people should show us God's presence.
I will read this book again and expect to learn more from Leighton Ford.
I have been trying to pay more attention to what Ford calls "discerning God's presence in all things". What he does is remind me that paying attention is not difficult. All of our world is from God and all of it, trees, mountain views, the people should show us God's presence.
I will read this book again and expect to learn more from Leighton Ford.
July 26, 2012
I started reading THE ATTENTIVE LIFE last December while on an Advent retreat and covered a lot of it quickly. But once I jumped back into work and pre-Christmas prep, the reading fell to the side. So I started over again and took it more slowly, as common-sense attentiveness or a good spiritual director would advise. Ford's use of the traditional monastic hours as a template combined with his own life experience, insight, and wisdom make this a valuable book to read and live through. Now I start the harder of the two.
Read
August 3, 2011Leighton Ford is the brother-in-law of Billy Graham and has been doing ministry for over 50 years. He wrote a book about how we can be (and need to be) aware of God presence throughout our day. As he expressed it, "to see God in all things and to see all things in God". It was a good book, but his writing style was a little poetic and contemplative for me. But if you like that kind of style, this could be a great book for you. His concepts and ideas were very good.
March 21, 2014
The beginning and middle of the book were a four, the very end was more of a two. The ending was a little slow for me. Maybe it was supposed to be as it was about the end of life? I may have missed it. This will be a re-read on another Lent, as it did help me to become more attentive in prayer. The author included some interesting quotes from other authors that I now want to read. Very interesting and educational.
July 16, 2017
Ford walks through the various stages of the daily office as his metaphor or spring board into being attentive to God at all times. He shares much of his own journey, struggles and experiences of his growth paying attention to God.
This is a great book to help you slow down, consider the huge reward in paying more attention to God, yet filled with freedom and grace.
Also lots of prayers and ideas to incorporate into your own spiritual practices.
This is a great book to help you slow down, consider the huge reward in paying more attention to God, yet filled with freedom and grace.
Also lots of prayers and ideas to incorporate into your own spiritual practices.
September 25, 2009
Through his own stories and experiences, The author shares his thoughts on how to take the moments and hours in our life and pay attention to them. A wonderful book for those who feel their lives are hurried in so many directions that they can't slow down enough to spend time with God.
April 20, 2017
Maybe I wasn't paying attention (ha ha) but I thought this would have more suggestions about how to live a contemplative life. Instead, I felt like it was a mish mash of the author's experiences with how monks live and quotes that he likes.
July 23, 2016
Ford likened the Divine Hours to both the passage of our days and the movement of our lives, which was interesting and insightful. The narrative strayed at times, but had moments of clarity that I appreciate.
December 30, 2008
This was another good book that has principles applicable to all belief systems. It is a Christian book in very Christian language.. but it is about mindfulness.
Read
February 11, 2009I don't agree with everything in it, but it is very thoughtful and inspiring on the deeper Christian life.
September 3, 2012
Pay attention...Christ is present if we but learn to notice!
July 7, 2009
Contemplative Christianity from an older evangelical leader.
July 8, 2009
Good, easy read book about how to be attentive and aware of how God is working in the world.
October 28, 2009
A recommendation from my pastor. I really liked some of it, but a lot of it was boring, so I had to read it in small portions.
Want to read
February 22, 2010Finding God's presence in all things
July 2, 2012
Opened my eyes to see that I need to slow down and spend more time with God...
September 10, 2012
One of the best and most practical books I've read on Spiritual Discipline and the contemplative life.
May 15, 2013
love this book, reading it a 2nd time.
June 8, 2017
A book I needed at the right time.
February 28, 2021
Read a little slow at times, but I suppose that was kind of the point (see title). It moves through the various rhythms of prayer in a specific monastic life and the author commentates off of it. The rich challenge is that our intentional attention is our greatest commodity, and we must learn to spend it well.
The first thing a man remembers is longing and the last thing he is conscious of before death is the exact same longing.
Prayer is absolute attention… expectant waiting is the foundation of the spiritual life. (Simone Weil)
Inattention is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life (Pascal)
Contemplative literally means “putting together”
From the time we were little children we were told to “pay attention,” as if it were the simplest thing in the world…
Matt 6:34: Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.
Blessed are the clear at center, for they shall see God
The Story of God is one where he doesn’t get bored or remain aloof - he sees everything he made and then takes delight in it… instead of standing at a distance, he comes to visit his creatures in a garden.
The Qur’an has many respectful terms for the greatness of God, but it has no name for God as Father.
He does not force his attention on us, but he focuses it on us. He knocks and waits.
The qualities of attentiveness:
Being fully present in the moment
Looking long enough
Looking freshly at what is familiar
Being available
Becoming aware
Waiting with expectancy
Being mindful
Being wakeful
We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God… He walks everywhere incognito… The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more to remain awake.
Meyers-Briggs: S (sensing) is very aware of what is seen with one’s eyes, while the N (intuitive) person pays attention more easily to what is unseen.
Don’t be so constantly wound up that you become worn down.
He calls us to be a people who watch over His world as He watches over us
Love is both biology and poetry
The path of awakening: the God who loved us before we were born, in whom we live and move and have our being, reaches out to us in the ways He knows will best awaken the seed that has been planted in us from eternity.
The prayer preceding all prayers is this: may it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to. (C.S. Lewis)
Prime is that hour of the day when we pray not to get it over with, but to make everything a prayer (David Steindl-Rast)
Contemplative is the one who looks at life in the presence of God, or might we say with the eyes of God - at any time, not just special times; anywhere, not just in certain places; toward anyone, not just “special” people.
The contemplative life is not a special kind of life; it is the Christian life, nothing more but also nothing less. But lived.
David Benner: it is a wordless openness to the world, knowing the heart of things by the way of wonder - a way of knowing that is intuitive with children.
We are information rich and imagination poor
In a world where there is a wealth of information, there is often a poverty of attention (Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager).
To pray without ceasing requires that we turn our thoughts into conversation. The main question, therefore, is not so much what we think, but to whom we present our thoughts… (Nouwen)
It’s less a question of WWJD and more of What Is Jesus Doing
There is a connection between our speed and the health of our spirit
A certain rich man traveled in a finely appointed carriage, with lanterns on each corner of his vehicle to light the road around and ahead. He went his way in satisfaction and security, assured that his wealth provided him with a good life. One day along the road the rich man passed a poor peasant who had no carriage to carry him, no lamp to light his way. Yet while the rich man pitied the poor peasant who had no money to buy all the creature comforts, the poor peasant could see the stars, which the rich man missed because he was blinded by his lamps. (Soren Kierkegaard)
Denise Levertov:
Sometimes the mountain
Is hidden from me in veils
Of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
In veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,
When i forget or refuse to go
Down to the shore or a few yard
Up the road, on a clear day,
To reconfirm
The witnessing presence.
Sin: the wrong-centeredness of who we are, the profound spiritual dislocation that hides us both from God and from our true selves.
At the end of the day, then, inattentiveness is a control issue: I would rather try to control the trivial than surrender to the Eternal and end up not in control at all. And we refuse to surrender control because we deep down think we have to justify our existence rather than be justified by the free grace of God.
As life goes by, I understand God less, but I trust Him more.
The quickest way to reach the sun is not to go west but instead to head east, to move fully “into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.” (Jerry Sittser)
Did God catch His breath, so to speak, the breath of his creative spirit, not in weariness (for only the obstinacy of his rebel creation would later weary him) but in fulfillment and satisfaction?
Look back with gratitude and forward with trust.
The destination is Christlikeness. The wonder is not only that we will be like him but that when we are like him we will most truly be ourselves.
The first thing a man remembers is longing and the last thing he is conscious of before death is the exact same longing.
Prayer is absolute attention… expectant waiting is the foundation of the spiritual life. (Simone Weil)
Inattention is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life (Pascal)
Contemplative literally means “putting together”
From the time we were little children we were told to “pay attention,” as if it were the simplest thing in the world…
Matt 6:34: Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.
Blessed are the clear at center, for they shall see God
The Story of God is one where he doesn’t get bored or remain aloof - he sees everything he made and then takes delight in it… instead of standing at a distance, he comes to visit his creatures in a garden.
The Qur’an has many respectful terms for the greatness of God, but it has no name for God as Father.
He does not force his attention on us, but he focuses it on us. He knocks and waits.
The qualities of attentiveness:
Being fully present in the moment
Looking long enough
Looking freshly at what is familiar
Being available
Becoming aware
Waiting with expectancy
Being mindful
Being wakeful
We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God… He walks everywhere incognito… The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more to remain awake.
Meyers-Briggs: S (sensing) is very aware of what is seen with one’s eyes, while the N (intuitive) person pays attention more easily to what is unseen.
Don’t be so constantly wound up that you become worn down.
He calls us to be a people who watch over His world as He watches over us
Love is both biology and poetry
The path of awakening: the God who loved us before we were born, in whom we live and move and have our being, reaches out to us in the ways He knows will best awaken the seed that has been planted in us from eternity.
The prayer preceding all prayers is this: may it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to. (C.S. Lewis)
Prime is that hour of the day when we pray not to get it over with, but to make everything a prayer (David Steindl-Rast)
Contemplative is the one who looks at life in the presence of God, or might we say with the eyes of God - at any time, not just special times; anywhere, not just in certain places; toward anyone, not just “special” people.
The contemplative life is not a special kind of life; it is the Christian life, nothing more but also nothing less. But lived.
David Benner: it is a wordless openness to the world, knowing the heart of things by the way of wonder - a way of knowing that is intuitive with children.
We are information rich and imagination poor
In a world where there is a wealth of information, there is often a poverty of attention (Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager).
To pray without ceasing requires that we turn our thoughts into conversation. The main question, therefore, is not so much what we think, but to whom we present our thoughts… (Nouwen)
It’s less a question of WWJD and more of What Is Jesus Doing
There is a connection between our speed and the health of our spirit
A certain rich man traveled in a finely appointed carriage, with lanterns on each corner of his vehicle to light the road around and ahead. He went his way in satisfaction and security, assured that his wealth provided him with a good life. One day along the road the rich man passed a poor peasant who had no carriage to carry him, no lamp to light his way. Yet while the rich man pitied the poor peasant who had no money to buy all the creature comforts, the poor peasant could see the stars, which the rich man missed because he was blinded by his lamps. (Soren Kierkegaard)
Denise Levertov:
Sometimes the mountain
Is hidden from me in veils
Of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
In veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,
When i forget or refuse to go
Down to the shore or a few yard
Up the road, on a clear day,
To reconfirm
The witnessing presence.
Sin: the wrong-centeredness of who we are, the profound spiritual dislocation that hides us both from God and from our true selves.
At the end of the day, then, inattentiveness is a control issue: I would rather try to control the trivial than surrender to the Eternal and end up not in control at all. And we refuse to surrender control because we deep down think we have to justify our existence rather than be justified by the free grace of God.
As life goes by, I understand God less, but I trust Him more.
The quickest way to reach the sun is not to go west but instead to head east, to move fully “into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.” (Jerry Sittser)
Did God catch His breath, so to speak, the breath of his creative spirit, not in weariness (for only the obstinacy of his rebel creation would later weary him) but in fulfillment and satisfaction?
Look back with gratitude and forward with trust.
The destination is Christlikeness. The wonder is not only that we will be like him but that when we are like him we will most truly be ourselves.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews