Original Prayer

Original Prayer by Lavinia Byrne was published by SPCK in August 2008 and is our 18661st best seller. The ISBN for Original Prayer is 9780281059997.

This book offers various themes from the Christian tradition to help the reader to pray. Its title makes a play on words, for original prayer is prayer that looks to its roots. So there are chapters that look consciously at great historical figures from the Christian story. Teresa of Avila takes us to medieval Spain and visions of growth in prayer that are strikingly contemporary in their psychological astuteness. With Francis of Assisi we learn to put God at the centre of everything and to let go of worldly ambition, finding instead true simplicity and contentment. Benedict takes us to the monastery as a ‘school for the Lord’s service’, a place where we can learn how to live and pray in an organic way. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us to ‘seek and find God in all things’ and to discern the will of God in all our activities.

Treasures from the Orthodox tradition come to us through the ‘Jesus Prayer’, as timeless as history itself. The chapter on the Taize community leads to the theme of pilgrimage in chapter six, while music and art too have a contribution to make and we learn to use both when coming into the presence of God. Then there is a chapter about online prayer and the book’s title is given fresh force. The final chapter retreats from cyberspace and faces the really difficult question of how we pray when we are ill. Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (John 11.26). How do we prepare ourselves to face eternal life?