50 Ways to Pray: Practices from Many Traditions and Times

By Teresa Blythe

Book Overview

For individual or group use "It is my hope that this book will provide at least fifty ways you may take steps in a lifelong walk with God. It is written for you, the seeker and sojourner, as well as you, the church leader, youth minister, retreat facilitator, or worship planner. It is for all of us who thought we only knew one way to pray." --from the introduction The explosion of interest today in Christian mystics, ancient prayer practices, and guided meditations speaks to a need for more hands-on tools that will help us pray in traditional as well as new and exciting ways. This book is intended to address that need. Each of the exercises includes not only instructions on how to use it as a prayer practice, but also some background, an introduction, a statement of intention, and tips to help you become comfortable with the practice. For those of you wanting to lead these practices in a group, there are special instructions and information in the Leader's Guide at the end of the book. "Rich with wisdom drawn from the wellsprings of Western spirituality, this remarkable book is a sustained experience of spiritual direction offered by a seasoned spiritual guide." -John S. Mogabgab, editor of Weavings journal "This book does more than point to ways of prayer; it serves as encouragement, guide, and partner for those who want to connect in prayer in ways that move beyond words." -Doug Pagitt, author of BodyPrayer and pastor of Solomon's Porch "This is a basic, balanced, and accessible guide to the variety, promise, and practice of prayer. Read it to deepen your understanding of prayer; use it to deepen your life in God." -Frederick W. Schmidt, author of What God Wants for Your LifeClick here to read a sampleTable of ContentsTeresa A. Blythe is a writer, spiritual director, and frequent conference speaker on topics of popular culture and spirituality. She has co-authored Meeting God in Virtual Reality and Watching What We Watch, along with numerous essays and reviews for Beliefnet, Spirituality & Health, and Publishers Weekly. Teresa serves as Program Coordinator for the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, AZ.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0687331048
• ISBN13: 9780687331048
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

50 ways to pray

I love this book! I am a chaplain on a chemical dependency unit and one of the tasks I have given myself is to include prayer as part of the Spiritual Care Curriculum. This offers several different types of prayer--prayer is individual and offering different ways to pray provides for clients an opportunity to select their own way of connecting to their Higher Power.

50 Ways to Pray - Excellent

I am using this book for a spiritual exercise class. Most take around 1/2 hour, so it's not a big time committment. People are really enjoying the experience of meditation/silence. There are 50 exercises to choose from - all have been great so far! I highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in the more contemplative side of religion.

A Facilitator's Tool

Blythe has gathered an incredible number of spiritual practices and disciplines, and has put them together in meaningful and useful ways. Further, the facilitator's guide at the end of the book is practical and helpful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all people who are facilitating spiritual growth groups or spiritual retreats.

Wonderful resource

How grateful I am to have a book that offers practical and loving instructions for prayer, without being didactic, paternal or narrow. I especially appreciated the way Blythe reminds us that what we most need to do when attempting prayer, is show up and let God take it from there. Read her introduction to "general principles of group leadership" on page 133 to see what I mean; she counsels small group leaders to call on their gifts and skills while also recognizing that God will work in ways both seen and unseen. I was also glad to be able to learn more about various spiritual exercises that I have heard about and wanted to try, but wasn't sure how or where, to start, or who to ask. As I read 50 Ways to Pray I continually thought of people I know who would appreciate this book, including teenagers. It would form an excellent basis for a group retreat or workshop, as well as personal spiritual exploration. Through her matter of fact yet reverent approach to the Mystery, Blythe offers the reader a model of how we might do the same.

Fabulous Resource

If your prayer life is, as Anne LaMott puts it, basically "Help me, help me, help me!!!!" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" and you want to do something about it, this book is for you. The author goes through 9 different prayer styles - contemplative prayer, praying with scripture, praying with the imagination, praying with media, to name a few - and within each style gives several different ways to pray in that particular style. She gives a very brief history of each style, and clear, step-by-step directions on the specific prayers. Also included is a leader's guide for use with groups. I am using it with my group with great results. We are a varied mix of ladies in age, education, experience with praying, and all are finding it helpful and enriching of our prayer lives. As the leader, the book is very user friendly and easy to use while maintaining the depth and integrity of the subject.