Readings on Prayer

• Praying with Jesus in Solitude by Denise Posie on TheBanner.org reminds us of the importance of taking time alone with God—a discipline modeled for us by Jesus.
• Richard Foster shares five misconceptions about prayer that “keep us from enjoying prayer as a love relationship with God.”
• Kyle Strobel’s post “Where Prayer Becomes Real” explores the truth that “prayer [is] not a place to bypass my pain, but enter it.”
• The blog post “Faith Lessons from the Prayers of the Black Church” by Deb Koster on FamilyFire.com invites us all to learn from Christian brothers and sisters.
• Are You There, God? by Caitlin Visser on TheBanner.org reminds us that because of God’s nature “we know that our own pleading prayers are heard, understood, and held in his good and perfect love.”
• The e-book How Do I Pray? Six Ways to Reinvigorate Your Prayer Life (or Get Started for the Very First Time) is available to subscribers to monthly emails from ReFrame Media.

Some New Ways to Pray

• A great place to start: check out brief, helpful summaries of 25 Christian Prayer Methods You Can Implement by Paige Dean on JustDisciple.com.
• The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun contains many prayer exercises and is a must-read for anyone interested in faith practices.
• In the Renovare.org article The Lord’s Prayer as a Transformative Pattern, Paul Anderson shows how the prayer Jesus taught us can structure a time of morning prayer.
• Sybil MacBeth doodles and draws as she prays. She teaches others to do the same in her Praying in Color books (for adults) and Praying in Color: Kids Edition. Visit her website to access and then share with your whole congregation the wonderful free resources (including Advent and Lent Praying in Color calendars) she makes available.
• Phyllis Tickle has written numerous books on the ancient practice of fixed-hour prayer, most notably The Divine Hours.

Devotional Reading and Collections of Prayers

• Seeking God’s Face by Philip F. Reinders provides a simplified daily office—intended for once-a-day use—designed especially for thoughtful Christians. Inside you'll find an entire year of daily prayers and readings, each featuring seven elements, including an opening prayer, a psalm and Scripture reading, suggestions for personal prayer, a prayer based on a classic creed or confession, and a closing blessing.
• Morning and Evening Prayers by Cornelius Plantinga (Eerdmans 2021) provides 30 days of prayers to offer to God upon waking and retiring. Beautifully written, this collection is a lovely gift for yourself or for someone else.
• A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal by Sarah Bessey is “a companion for all who feel the immense joys and challenges of the journey of faith.” Note: Some of the prayers in this book are intensely felt and expressed, in line with imprecatory psalms in the Bible.
• Check out acollectionofprayers.com, a website that has gathered more than 1,000 Christian prayers, both ancient and modern. The site is a labor of love by Rev. Paul C. Stratman of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
• Prayers from the Heart by Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline, offers prayers that address “three aspects of the human journey: looking inward to the heart, reaching upward toward God, and moving outward to care for others.”

Learning Opportunities

• Does prayer really work? In this episode of Open to Wonder,  Jill Weber, Global Convenor of The Order of the Mustard Seed, responds to that question and more. 

• The Lord’s Prayer: An Intergenerational Event and Worship Experience is a downloadable free resource from Faith Alive and Faith Formation Ministries with which people of all ages can learn about and/or deepen their understanding of the Lord’s Prayer.
• Rich Villodas, pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in New York City, leads a helpful class on “Ancient Pathways to a Life of Prayer” (Part 1) and (Part 2). Also check out the church’s list of prayer resources.