A prayer book that’s almost as old as I am was the inspiration for an article I wrote for the online magazine, SU Mag. As I’m not quite in my writing and blogging rhythm yet, I thought I’d share the article with you. It’s a particularly relevant one as we start the year. 

 

Last year, on my bookshelf, I rediscovered a prayer book that I had bought at a second-hand bookstore a few years earlier. The book’s previous owner had inscribed her name and a date on the inside cover—Sister Francis, 1974. The spine is a little fragile and the pages dog-eared. One has the impression Sister Francis used the book well.

I began to dip into these prayers in my Quiet Times. Despite the many ‘Thee’s’ and ‘Thou’s’, the prayers often expressed my own deep desire for God. If a prayer resonated with me, I wrote it in my journal and began to memorise it. I found that—much like meditating on Scripture—repeating the prayers worked the words into my heart and made them my own.

Invitation to Deeper Prayer

Before this time, most of my slightly erratic prayer life was reactive, along the lines of ‘please help Auntie Dora with her gout.’ But the prayers in this book were different. These men and women were seeking to know God deeply and to be transformed by him.

As I’ve started praying through the prayer book, I’ve sensed God inviting me to write my own prayer, one that gives words to my struggle with—yet longing for—Christ-like change.

I invite you to join me on this journey to write a personal prayer for growth and transformation in 2022.

Click to continue reading SU MAG article…