50 Ways to Pray: Practices from Many Traditions and Times

A spiritual director, writer and commentator on popular culture, Blythe can say her prayers in many different ways. This helpful and friendly book is jammed with prayer practices from a variety of Christian traditions. Organized by chapters that group prayers by type (body prayers, prayers of imagination, discernment, etc.), each prayer practice is clearly explained step-by-step. The result is a textbook not only of techniques but also a generous understanding of the many modalities of prayer. Blythe finds that prayer can be walked, talked, breathed, drawn or even inferred from television and movies. The breadth of the book provides an imaginative jump start for anyone with a narrow conception of how to pray or a limited repertoire of rote prayers. A leader's guide at the back of the book provides instructions for anyone working with prayer groups. However, this leader's guide section could be more clearly integrated into the text by including page numbers in each chapter that would take the reader clearly back to the relevant pages in the leader's guide. Overall, this book is an excellent resource with breadth and depth for religious educators, spiritual group leaders and anyone wishing to deepen his or her own prayer life. (Apr.)