The intention with this book was to produce a resource for daily prayer and worship that was easy to use. Hopefully it is the sort of volume that can be used when we are praying on our own, in a home study group, or when traveling.
Delighting in God's love is crucial if we are to pray regularly. It's when we don't have a sense of God's presence with us in our devotional life that we can end up deciding that regular prayer doesn't need to be a priority for us. Trying to find the "right" words to say is much less important than praying from the heart. As we use this book, it is assumed that we'll be spending time in silence enjoying the presence of God and that the words we say will be an expression of a daily experience of God's grace.
As in most things, when it comes to prayer, balance can be very important. In a balanced approach to prayer, written worship material like this has its place. It can help us to pray appropriately regardless of how we feel at the time. In addition to this, however, it's important that we are not afraid to talk to God using free prayer. Only when we use ordinary words in this way can we pray about things that are on our minds and in our hearts. Short prayers, as we go about our ordinary tasks, can develop our awareness of God throughout the day. Day by day, in silence, with an awareness of God's Spirit, in free prayer, and in prayers written by others, we can pray without ceasing and be nourished by it in the process.
In both the Epistle of James and 1 Peter, a verse is quoted from the Greek translation of the book of Proverbs (3:34). This reminds us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. An appropriate balance of confidence in God and personal humility are important as we pray. In humility it is right for us as Christians to recognize that our understanding of Scripture and spirituality can be enriched when we make time to take Jewish teachers and scholars with the seriousness they deserve. After all, the Jewish community has been praying for centuries alongside the church. We can learn a great deal from their insights and expertise. I hope that my interest in Jewish understandings of Scripture and prayer will have colored these pages.
I've not given Bible references in the prayer and worship material because Scripture passages used have been substantially shaped and reworked with prayer and worship in mind. Even when we are praying on our own, we are joining in prayer with all the people of God wherever they are. For this reason the material here is presented in the plural.
Cilybebyll, South Wales
March 2008