50 Ways to Pray: Practices from Many Traditions and Times

I love this book! I am a chaplain on a chemical dependency unit and one of the tasks I have given myself is to include prayer as part of the Spiritual Care Curriculum. This offers several different types of prayer--prayer is individual and offering different ways to pray provides for clients an opportunity to select their own way of connecting to their Higher Power.

I am using this book for a spiritual exercise class. Most take around 1/2 hour, so it's not a big time committment. People are really enjoying the experience of meditation/silence. There are 50 exercises to choose from - all have been great so far! I highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in the more contemplative side of religion.

Blythe has gathered an incredible number of spiritual practices and disciplines, and has put them together in meaningful and useful ways. Further, the facilitator's guide at the end of the book is practical and helpful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all people who are facilitating spiritual growth groups or spiritual retreats.

How grateful I am to have a book that offers practical and loving instructions for prayer, without being didactic, paternal or narrow. I especially appreciated the way Blythe reminds us that what we most need to do when attempting prayer, is show up and let God take it from there. Read her introduction to "general principles of group leadership" on page 133 to see what I mean; she counsels small group leaders to call on their gifts and skills while also recognizing that God will work in ways both seen and unseen. I was also glad to be able to learn more about various spiritual exercises that I have heard about and wanted to try, but wasn't sure how or where, to start, or who to ask. As I read 50 Ways to Pray I continually thought of people I know who would appreciate this book, including teenagers. It would form an excellent basis for a group retreat or workshop, as well as personal spiritual exploration. Through her matter of fact yet reverent approach to the Mystery, Blythe offers the reader a model of how we might do the same.

If your prayer life is, as Anne LaMott puts it, basically "Help me, help me, help me!!!!" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" and you want to do something about it, this book is for you. The author goes through 9 different prayer styles - contemplative prayer, praying with scripture, praying with the imagination, praying with media, to name a few - and within each style gives several different ways to pray in that particular style. She gives a very brief history of each style, and clear, step-by-step directions on the specific prayers. Also included is a leader's guide for use with groups. I am using it with my group with great results. We are a varied mix of ladies in age, education, experience with praying, and all are finding it helpful and enriching of our prayer lives. As the leader, the book is very user friendly and easy to use while maintaining the depth and integrity of the subject.