Beyond Grocery-List Prayers

Praying is the key discipline to spiritual growth and gradual transformation, but do you ever feel like your default prayer mode is like bringing a grocery list to God?  Sometimes we struggle with how to pray meaningfully.  I have found that written prayers are a springboard for deepening my prayer life, especially when they also inspire and intertwine with my own spontaneous prayers.  I found an excellent praying catalyst in Kurt Bjorklund’s prayer book Prayers for Today: A Yearlong Journey of Contemplative Prayer. 

In this book, each day of prayer begins with a Scripture to pray, guiding us to think and pray God’s thoughts after Him.  Following the Scriptural prayer, he provides a prayer written or recited from classical and contemporary sources, many of which I found resonated with me, giving expression to the longings of my heart and soul.  At the bottom of the page, he supplies a prayer for today that prompts spontaneous prayer and reflection, digging into your own personal life and thoughts and turning them over to God.

Each day/page includes a few different styles of prayer, but Bjorklund also categorizes the prayers so that within each day, we focus on a single, particular type of prayers - thanksgiving, confession, affirmation, petition, renewal, praise, guidance, surrender, etc.  I found myself praying new things that I had never prayed before.  If you are looking for a way to revitalize your prayer life, this book provides the means to connecting with God on the great themes of His Word so that you can get to His heart and so that your heart reflects His.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Moody Press in exchange for my honest review.