I read lots of books about prayer. One of my most recent
reads is “Prayer in the Making” by Lyndall Bywater. Readers of this blog may
remember that I found her previous book, “Faith in the Making” challenging and
inspiring, so I thought I’d take a look.
I am not a great prayer, but I do take pains to keep my
relationship with God fresh and two-way, so I like to get ideas and be inspired
by others who are perhaps more accomplished pray-ers than me.
Books on prayer can be ‘deep’, otherworldly and guilt
inducing. “Prayer in the Making” is not one of those; it is thoroughly
practical and encouraging, as one would expect from someone who has travelled
the path of discovering prayer herself. Challenging…yes, guilt-inducing…definitely
not!
The sub-title of the book, “Trying it, talking it,
sustaining it’ gives away something of the authors approach, as she invites us
to investigate 12 different ways of praying to find those that suit both our
personalities and our lifestyles…it is about an open door to prayer rather than
a narrow gate opened to the chosen few.
Using a scriptural theme and lots of practical examples we
are taken on a journey through the themes Encounter, Worship, Listening,
Stillness, Action, Intercession, Strategy, Restorations, Voice and body,
Scripture, Warfare and Resilience. Each section finishes with exercises to help
us try it, talk it and sustain it.
When I read a new book, I like to use coloured post-it tabs
to mark pages of interest, and there is a veritable forest of tabs in my copy
of this book. The section about ‘grief and gratitude’ in worship is a firm
favourite, as are the sections on ‘Stillness’, ‘Strategy’ and ‘Scripture’. The
section under ‘Resilience’ that talks about building a rhythm of prayer, and
uses the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ as a template is excellent (I’ve read lots of books
about the Lord’s Prayer, and the section in “Prayer in the Making” is one of
the most helpful and accessible I have found.
This book makes for a great personal read, but would also
provide excellent material for Home Groups, Reading Groups and so on, and would
even provide a useful framework for a teaching series on prayer.
But don’t take my word for it…read it for yourself!
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