Best prayer books according to redditors

Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land. (And its sequel.)

James Finley, Christian Meditation.

Peter Torkington, The Hermit (and two remaining books in the trilogy).

I know it's trendy, but I enjoyed Praying Backwards by Chapell.

I quite enjoyed the book Fasting by Fr. Slavko Barbaric.

The best fast is supposedly on bread and water alone, but you can start off slow with fasting from certain foods on certain days (meat, junk food, alcohol, etc.). Fasting on Fridays was a previous Catholic tradition to commemorate his death, but the Church thought people were simply doing so out of habit and changed fasting to only 2 days a year. If you do choose to fast, Wednesday's are also good days to choose from as that was the day Judas sought out to betray him, the beginning of his passion.

Also, one cannot fast from their sins. We are all called to repent of them and leave them in the confessional. Fasting is of good things, not the bad. It is giving up something good out of love for Christ. Imagine you would say, "I shall give up my sin 2 days of the week, and sin the other 5..." you get the point.

This is a thought for your current bible study, rather than going online.

Recently a student-led bible study began at my university chaplaincy with students who don't really know scripture well enough for someone to read it so they took up the practice of Lectio Divina and everybody is benefiting from it greatly.

If it's done right it takes the burden off of one person and lets the group actually sink really deeply into the text and into meditation on the text and then to share your experiences and thoughts with one another.

>This method of prayer goes back to the early monastic tradition. There were not bibles for everyone and not everyone knew how to read. So the monks gathered in chapel to hear a member of the community reading from the scripture. In this exercise they were taught and encouraged to listen with their hearts because it was the Word of God that they were hearing.

The idea as outlined below is that a passage is read in the group three times. In between each reading there is a time of silence for each person to think about and meditate on what was read. Following the three readings you open up and talk.

>Lectio Divina can also be an effective form for group prayer. After a passage is read, there can be some extended silence for each person to savor what he or she has heard, particularly noting whether any word or phrase became a special focus of attention. Sometimes groups invite members, if they so desire, to share out loud the word or phrase that struck them. This is done without discussion. Then a different person from the group would read the passage again with a pause for silence. Different emphases might be suggested after each reading: What gift does this passage lead me to ask from the Lord? What does this passage call me to do? The prayer can be concluded with an Our Father.

The idea as I have come to understand it is that you read it multiple times and just wait for a passage, sentence, or word to shine out at you. Don't look for it. Don't go into the reading hoping to find answers to some question or problem that's burning in your head--leave yourself open to what God wants to reveal in the reading and it will be revealed. Maybe one word strikes you as being particularly beautiful--well, when the time comes tell the group and engage discussion.

I only bring it up because it has been really effective and good for all of us who don't have someone leading it. We also wanted to engage with it in a prayerful way--praying the scriptures, not just reading them.

I also mention it because I really believe in the efficacy and importance of being gathered in person for this sort of thing. I don't believe the internet and virtual ways of coming together, video or not, can force us to face one another or be in community in quite the same way as is necessary for this sort of practice. Others may disagree.

Here are some resources:
http://www.amazon.com/Lectio-Divina--The-Sacred-Art-Heart-centered/dp/1594733007/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383071024&sr=8-1&keywords=lectio+divina

http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html

http://www.ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina

>Let me know if I am wrong.

Well, you asked.

From Tibetan Buddhism: Here is a nice prayer composed by the Dalai Lama, in praise of some scientific masters.

From Chinese Buddhism: Here is a collection of prayers from a Mahāyāna Sūtra

From Theravāda Buddhism: Here are some evening prayers recited daily at a Thai temple.

From Zen: Here is a book of prayers by Thich Nhat Hanh, and here are morning prayers being chanted at a Zen temple in Japan.

Prayers are not at all uncommon in Buddhism. In fact, forms of Buddhism that don't involve prayer are quite rare.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EGX21IG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

A different approach would be to bring your practice into the mystical side of Christianity. Here is a link to a book by a Baptist pastor , just a hundred pages or so, where the non-duality of the Christian teachings are highlighted. It's right there in plain sight in the Bible, the same insights that Buddhist practice is supposed to lead to. I had similar reactions from my family and in 25 years I never really made any progress in getting them to respect any alternatives to their beliefs. They just see me as confused at best or at worst, lost. If you use the language they are familiar with to describe your practice, then you sidestep a lot of drama, and also retain the possibility of helping them go deeper into their own faith. The Zen practice of "just sitting" comes to mind, call it "devotions" and they won't give it a second thought.