Last week I promised to share with you places you can find the words of others which you can employ as your own words to God. I am not sure what Rabbi Abraham Heschel means when he wrote “It is not safe to pray alone.” Of course, the point of prayer is you’re never alone; his friend Martin Luther King, praying in agony at midnight after his house had been firebombed, heard God say “I will never leave you alone.” Still, it is heartening to know we always pray with others, and that we can even offer up the very words of others who may have tiptoed closer to the mind and heart of God than we have.

First, a story. When my kids were little we visited the York Minster, which is one stunning cathedral. I noticed a placard saying they would have a prayer service at 4pm – only about a 20 minute wait! I told my kids we should go. After moans, groans, and objections, of course, we went anyhow. In the Church of England, you pray from a prayer book, filled with prescribed prayers you read together for every day and for that particular day. On our way out, one of my children said, “Daddy, they made me pray things I wouldn’t normally pray.” Not a complaint either. We’d remembered the Queen, hunger across the globe, families in distress, immigrants on the run, and more personally our hidden and unacknowledged sins. Like Heschel said, It’s not safe to pray alone. Others, like the greatest teammates, urge you onward and upward toward fuller and more faithful praying.

Some wonderful books of prayers I’ve found beneficial? Walter Brueggemann’s Prayers for a Privileged People, Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human, Reuben Job’s A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People, Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart, Shaine Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, Brian Doyle’s quirky A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle and Muddle of the Ordinary, Peter Scazzero’s Daily Office (or by its other title, Day by Day), Richard Foster’s Prayers From the Heart, Henri Nouwen’s Heart Speaks to Heart: Three Prayers to Jesus, and Evelyn Underhill’s Prayer Book. There are plenty more I’m probably forgetting.

Our youth pastor Jason Rhymer recommends Jeremy Steele’s The Book of Everyday Prayer – which he loves so much that he gives one to every graduating senior! Amy Jo Alspaugh, who leads our children’s ministries, recommends Ash & Starlight by Arianne Lehn, Celtic Prayers by Robert Van de Weyer, Prayers for Faithful Families by Traci Smith, and To Light Their Way by Kayla Craig. Rev. Hannah Howell suggests A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey and Prayers for the People by Terry Stokes. Of course, the Psalms are prayers that were Jesus’ favorites, and there are 150 of them right there in your Bible waiting to be prayed by you.

My friend Bishop Leonard Fairley puts out these pretty remarkable “reels” on Facebook and Instagram: he prays into the camera, and you sense (rightly) that this man is holy and can usher you into God’s presence. And my friend and our own church member Kathy Mansfield puts out a daily inspirational quote, often with an elegant photo to elicit deeper thought; these are really quite good, and you can receive them by emailing Kathy!

Then there’s nothing quite like praying with someone else, or some others. This may feel awkward among friends or in a marriage or while dating. It’s not a performance though. If you have someone you trust who’s also seeking after God, you can sit in the quiet, and perhaps offer words to God in turn, or read some published prayers or Psalms together.

Perhaps you have discovered prayer books or subscriptions that have been a boon to your spiritual life. Click reply and share!