For Christians, prayer is the main way we communicate with God – but what can we do when we struggle with the question of how to pray or feel our prayer lives are lacking?
Seven Ways to Pray explores how by looking to ancient prayer practices of Christianity, we can find fresh ways to relate to God today. Discovering these tried and tested tools will not only strengthen our relationship with him but will bring us joy, contentment, growth and transformation.
With warmth and encouragement, Amy Boucher Pye takes us through seven ways to pray to God: praying with the Bible, receiving and extending forgiveness, practicing God’s presence, listening prayer, the prayer of lament, praying with the gospels imaginatively and the prayer of examen. Guiding us through their history, she shows us how easily we can make these prayer practices part of our lives and use them to grow closer to God.
Along with prayer exercises to help us engage directly with God, there are questions for individual reflection or small-group discussion, making Seven Ways to Pray perfect to use as a family, in churches or with friends.
This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered how to pray or is looking for ways to revitalise their prayer lives. It will give you an understanding of some of the oldest prayer practices of Christianity, and equip you with the tools you need to renew and refresh your relationship with God.
Come along, and discover Seven Ways to Pray.
Spis treści
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
1 God’s Word to Us: How to Pray with the Bible 9
2 Lectio Divina: How to Pray through the Bible 25
3 The Indwelling God: How to Practise the Presence of God 41
4 Hearing God: How to Listen in Prayer 65
5 The Prayer of Lament: How to Cry Out to God 91
6 Entering the Story: How to Pray with Your Imagination 113
7 Remembering in Prayer: How to Move
Forwards by Looking Back 137
Afterword Prayer: An Adventure with God 157
Acknowledgements 165
For Further Reading 167
Notes 169
O autorze
Amy Boucher Pye is an author, speaker, retreat leader and spiritual director. She writes for Our Daily Bread and other devotional publications, with over a thousand articles published. She’s the author of the award-winning Finding Myself in Britain (Authentic Media, 2015), The Living Cross (BRF, 2016), and a new resource for small groups: The Prayers of Jesus (CWR, 2020). Until recently, Amy ran the book club for Woman Alive, the UK’s only monthly Christian women’s magazine, for nearly fifteen years. She loved earning her master’s degree in Christian spirituality through Heythrop College, University of London (2017) and enjoys her work as a spiritual director. She lives with her husband and their two teenagers in their spacious but drafty vicarage in North London.