WHY BOTHER PRAYING?

This accessible volume is less about how to pray, and more about why we pray and what it does for us, for God and for the world. The author explores the context within which we pray, what is distinctive about Christian prayer, praying to Jesus, what communal prayers do, how Mary and the Saints help us pray, and finally, what the point of prayer is – sending us out with Christ to witness to the reign of God in our world. “In this book I have suggested that one of the reasons some of us give up on prayer is because we may not have been introduced to its riches. Prayer is making space for God to love us, for us to hear that, and then through the community of faith, to have the courage to return the compliment. It changes lives. The best of prayer engages our vivid imaginations and a vast array of biblical images to develop a set of ideas that reflect various personal theologies for God that will suit every season under the sun. One size does not fit all. This enables us to enter more deeply into a relationship with God who accompanies us through the events of our lives.”