We
Christians know prayer is important. Our lives are to be marked by
prayer. Yet is is often the most difficult spiritual discipline some
of us experience. Knowing how believers in different Christian
traditions have prayed over the centuries is a good way to help us
know how to shape our prayers.
I
really appreciate this collection of prayers. I understand they are
not to replace my prayers but rather to be a springboard, inspiring
me to pray as Christians have done for centuries. I like that the
prayers are grouped around the liturgical year.
Some
readers may be put off by the archaic language in older prayers. I
found the use of “Thee” and “Thou” was a good way of
reminding me how reverence for God was expressed in times past.
Perhaps
my favorite prayer is on February 15 from The Exeter Book dated
around 950.
Give
me, O Lord,
patience
and a sense of purpose in each
of
the things which You send to beset me... (p. 49)
The
prayer goes on to ask for protection but I love that it reminds me to
first seek God's purpose in what is happening in my life, even the
events that beset me. The prayer also reminds me to fix my hope on
God and to lift my thoughts to Him.
That's
an example of why I like this prayer book. It takes me out of the
frequent shallowness of contemporary Christian spirituality and
firmly places me in the deeper prayers of earlier believers.
I
highly recommend this prayer book to those who would like to be
exposed to the thoughtful prayers of Christians from around the
world, from different Christian traditions and from believers of
earlier times.
My
rating: 4/5 stars.
Jeanie
Gushee is a published poet with a BA in English literature from the
College of William and Mary.
David
Gushee, PhD, is a Christian ethicist who serves as distinguished
university professor of Christian ethics and director of the Center
for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. He and his wife
live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thomas
Nelson, 400 pages.
I
received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My
comments are an independent and honest review.
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