A few weeks ago Raymond mentioned the book “How to Pray” by Pete Greig. It is subtitled “A simple guide for normal people”. Here are three different excerpts.
1. Good Advice on Prayer
“The best bit of advice I ever received about how to pray was this: keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up. You’ve got to keep it simple so that the most natural thing in the world doesn’t become complicated, weird and intense.
You got to keep it real because when life hurts like hell, you’re going to be tempted to pretend you’re fine. And then, at other times when you make a mess of things, you’re going to be tempted to hide from God (which never really works) and end up hiding from yourself (which works quite well).
And you got to keep it up because life is tough and the battle is fierce, and the journey of faith demands grit.”
2. Four Letters
“Our journey is going to be paced around an easy four step rhythm P.R.A.Y.– Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield. I’m not a big fan of acronyms but this particular one just works because it’s simple, sensible and sneakily profound. Try not to take its four steps as hard and fast rules – rungs on a ladder to some Seventh Heaven. They are more like dance steps: fluid, interactive and open to creative interpretation. Give P.R.A.Y. a chance and it will lend your prayer life structure and an easy flow whether you’re on your own or praying in a group. (With children you might want to swap the tricky word “Yield” for “Yes”.”
3. A Closer Look at Prayer
To start, we must stop. To move forward we must pause. This is the first step in a deeper prayer life: put down your wish list and wait. Sit quietly. Be still. Become fully present in place and time so that your scattered senses can centre themselves on God’s eternal presence. Stillness and silence prepare your mind and prime your heart to pray from a place of greater peace, faith and adoration. In fact, silence is in itself an important form of prayer”
If you would like to buy the book you can always get it on Amazon. But eden.co.uk is better because it is a specifically Christian company. And there is no telling what else you might find when you are on here.