Study Guides by
John Mark Comer
5 discussion guides available
God Has a Name
What you believe about God is the most formative belief you hold. In God Has a Name, pastor and New York Times bestselling author John Mark Comer takes readers on a careful, line-by-line journey through Exodus 34:6–8 — the moment on Mount Sinai when God reveals his own name and character to Moses. Comer's central argument is disarmingly simple: many of us are relating to a God of our own imagining rather than the God of the Bible, and that gap between our projected "God" and the real God is quietly warping our souls. The good news is that the real God — the one who has a name, Yahweh — is not just different from our distortions; he is far better. This book is an invitation to let God define himself on his own terms.
View Discussion GuidePracticing the Way
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer is a clarion call to rediscover what it actually means to follow Jesus — not merely to believe the right things about him, but to apprentice ourselves to him as a way of life. Comer argues that we are all being spiritually formed, constantly, by the world around us — by our phones, our schedules, our habits, and our desires — and that the urgent question is not whether we will be formed, but by whom. His answer is a return to the ancient path: becoming disciples who are with Jesus, who are becoming like Jesus, and who are doing what Jesus did. The vehicle for that transformation, Comer argues, is a Rule of Life — a set of intentional practices and relational rhythms that open us up to God's transforming work in the ordinary hours of our days.</p><p>This study guide is designed for small groups or individual study over twelve weeks, with one week devoted to the book's introduction, one week per chapter, and a final week of review and reflection. The best way to use this guide is to read the assigned chapter before your group meets (or before you sit down to journal), then work through the questions slowly — pausing to think, write, and pray before moving to the next one. You don't need to answer every question every week; let the ones that provoke the most resistance or resonance guide your time. A brief closing prayer is included each week to help you move from reflection into response.</p><p>By the end of this guide, you will have a clearer picture of what spiritual formation actually is and how it works, a honest assessment of what is currently forming you, and — most practically — the beginnings of your own Rule of Life. Comer is not asking you to become a monk; he is asking you to become a disciple. These questions are designed to help you take that invitation seriously, not as a self-improvement project, but as a response to the love of a God who wants you to become fully alive.
View Discussion GuideLive No Lies
In Live No Lies, John Mark Comer argues that the greatest threat to our spiritual and emotional health is not external persecution or doctrinal error, but the lies we absorb — and then live. Drawing on the ancient Christian framework of "the three enemies of the soul" (the devil, the flesh, and the world), Comer offers a rigorous and surprisingly practical diagnosis of why so many people who follow Jesus still feel anxious, restless, and spiritually stuck. His thesis is disarmingly simple: deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life looks like get lodged in our bodies and our habits, and they quietly sabotage our peace. The answer is not willpower but truth — practiced, embodied, and pursued in community.
View Discussion GuideGarden City
Garden City by John Mark Comer is a sweeping, theologically rich exploration of what it means to be human — and what it means to work, rest, and live in the way God originally designed. Drawing on the creation narratives of Genesis, Comer argues that work is not a curse to be endured but a calling to be embraced. From the very first pages of Scripture, humanity was placed in a garden and given a commission: to rule, cultivate, and create. Comer's central thesis is that what you do matters just as much as who you are — that vocation, creativity, rest, and everyday life are all spiritual. The book traces this vision from Eden through the fall, through the cross and resurrection, and into the coming new creation, showing that God's ultimate goal is not to evacuate us from the world but to renew it — and to renew us as his image-bearing workers within it.
View Discussion GuideThe Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer is a passionate, pastoral argument that the greatest threat to the spiritual life in the modern West is not heresy or persecution — it is hurry. Drawing on the wisdom of Dallas Willard, the rhythms of Jesus, and the ancient practices of the church, Comer contends that we have mistaken busyness for productivity and noise for meaning. The cure, he argues, is not merely time-management but a wholesale apprenticeship to the unhurried Jesus — learning to live the way he lived, at the pace he lived it. The book is structured in two movements: first diagnosing the disease of hurry and its spiritual consequences, then prescribing four ancient practices — Sabbath, simplicity, slowing, and silence/solitude — as the path back to a life with depth, joy, and genuine connection with God.
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