Prayer In Practice - A Biblical Approach

Prayer in Practice – A Biblical Approach (2000) by Pat Collins – Columba Press – Good Condition

Prayer sounds simple enough.

You speak to God.

Then, almost immediately, human beings complicate it.

Should you use formal prayers or your own words? Sit? Kneel? Be silent? Ask for things? Give thanks? Wait for an answer? How do you know whether you are actually praying or merely thinking very intensely in a quiet room?

In Prayer in Practice – A Biblical Approach, Pat Collins explores prayer not as a mysterious spiritual technique reserved for monks, mystics and people who appear unusually comfortable sitting in silence, but as a practical and deeply biblical part of Christian life.

Published by Columba Press in 2000, the book looks to Scripture for guidance on what prayer is, why Christians pray, how prayer develops and what can be done when the whole business feels rather less inspiring than religious paintings tend to suggest.

Because prayer, like most worthwhile activities, can be considerably easier in theory than in practice.

The Bible contains almost every conceivable kind of prayer: praise, lament, thanksgiving, petition, anger, trust, despair, confession and the occasional fairly direct request that God deal decisively with somebody’s enemies.

This is reassuring.

It suggests that biblical prayer is not always composed of serene people saying beautiful things while illuminated by a tasteful shaft of heavenly light. Sometimes it is confused, frustrated, frightened or desperate. Sometimes it contains questions. Sometimes the person praying is not entirely sure what is happening.

Which makes it considerably more recognisable.

Collins approaches the subject through this biblical foundation, examining prayer as relationship rather than performance. The aim is not to discover the correct combination of spiritual words that will cause heaven to dispense the desired result, but to develop attentiveness, honesty and openness before God.

That distinction matters.

Prayer is not presented as celestial online shopping.

Nor is it simply a religious method of positive thinking.

Instead, the biblical approach places prayer within the wider life of faith: listening as well as speaking, trust alongside uncertainty, and persistence even when there is no obvious answer arriving by return post.

The book is therefore concerned with actually practising prayer.

That may involve learning to become quiet, reflecting on Scripture, recognising different forms of prayer and allowing ordinary life to become part of the conversation rather than assuming one must first achieve a suitably holy frame of mind.

For many readers, that is likely to be one of its most useful qualities.

A great deal of religious writing can accidentally make spiritual life sound as though everybody else is having profound mystical experiences before breakfast. Practical books such as this can serve as a useful reminder that most people begin with distraction, uncertainty and approximately fourteen unrelated thoughts arriving the moment they try to concentrate.

Published at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Prayer in Practice sits comfortably within the tradition of accessible Christian spirituality: thoughtful enough to explore the biblical foundations of prayer, but practical enough for ordinary readers who may simply be wondering how to make prayer a more meaningful part of everyday life.

This copy is in Good condition, having survived previous ownership without apparently requiring prolonged intercession on its behalf.

ISBN 9781856073066.

Ideal for Christians exploring prayer, readers interested in biblical spirituality, church study groups, retreat-goers, those returning to religious practice after an absence, or anyone who has ever begun praying and discovered five minutes later that they are mentally reorganising the kitchen cupboards.

Also suitable for people who suspect there ought to be more to prayer than presenting God with a list of problems and then wondering why no immediate confirmation email arrives.

Sold by Crappy Old Books — where prayers may ascend, books generally remain earthbound, and Good condition is accepted without requiring miraculous intervention.

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