A Prayerbook

Some people struggle with prayer. They struggle to begin, or they struggle to keep their mind focused, and some struggle much over whether or not it is doing any good. My own belief are that there aren’t compelling answers to the problems with prayer, and there aren’t any sure-fire methods that will get us over the hump. But I do know that for many people prayer books are of great help in rekindling a prayer life.

I want to recommend a new (anabaptist-shaped) prayer book: Take Our Moments and Our Days Volume 1. Kris and I have used it for two months or so, we took it to Australia, and it is a good prayerbook. The first volume (link above) is for the weeks of Ordinary Time (between Pentecost and Advent, or roughly May through November), and it focuses (as it ought in Ordinary Time) on the life of Jesus. To take us into the life of Jesus, we have weeks focused on the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, parables and signs and wonders. Each day’s readings — and it has a morning and evening reading — includes a call to praise (psalm, thanksgiving, song, confession — evening readings), a call to discipleship, with either Zechariah’s Benedictus or Mary’s Magnificat or Simeon’s Song, a call to intercession and a benediction. Each reading includes the Jesus Creed (and I know of no other prayer book that does this as consistently) and the Lord’s Prayer.

The second volume is shaped for that time of the Church Calendar from the advent of Christ through Lent and Holy Week and all the way to Pentecost: Take Our Moments and Our Days, Volume 2.

These prayerbooks are eminently useful and user-friendly. For an introduction to using prayerbooks, including a biblical discussion, see Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today.