February Area of Focus - Prayer

Book Recommendations

Prayer is at the heart of our life of faith. It is the way we find ourselves moving deeper into God’s presence and being transformed into the people God created us to be. It is intentional communication with God – speaking our concerns, singing our praises, listening, discerning, communing.

There are a multitude of good books on the subject, but I’m going to focus on just two.

Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard J. Foster is a classic. Written almost 20 years ago, the work holds great value for us today. Presbyterian minister and author, Eugene Peterson has this to say about Prayer. “Richard Foster takes us into the huge forest of prayer and names each tree, points out what is distinctive in each bush and flower. After a few hours in his company, the profusion of detail that at first overwhelmed and bewildered us now delights us, pulling us deeper into the forest . . . .” In his book, Foster groups prayer into three types: inward, upward, and outward. Inward prayer is that which seeks transformation, upward prayer is that which seeks intimacy, and outward prayer is that which seeks ministry. Prayer is an especially good book for those with just 20 or 30 minutes of reading time a day – it has 21 relatively brief chapters that each end with a prayer. I’ve read and enjoyed this book before as have several of my colleagues, co-workers, and friends.

For those who are interested in a simple yet profound book that focuses on just one form of prayer, I highly recommend Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life. The book was written by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn and is a wonderful and easy way to enter into the Igantian spiritual practice of examen. Examen is a form of prayer in which one takes about five minutes to become centered on God’s presence then reflects on two questions: for what moment today am I most grateful and for what moment today am I least grateful? This book and this style of prayer are particularly good for families with school aged children, but can be read and practiced by others as well, both in community and alone.

I invite you to join me in reading and practicing one of these books during the month of February as we seek to enrich and deepen our prayer lives. I’ve already started reading Richard Foster’s book and hope to post some updates on the blog as I read and pray through it. I look forward to your comments and experiences with it as well.

With prayers for a rich and deep experience of God’s presence in our community and in our lives,

Pastor Karen