Prayer: Part 2

But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. Matthew 6:6

After last weeks post on focusing more on my prayer life, I've done some further research I love research, if you ever need help with research, message me, I'm serious!), read a bunch of books (or am in the process of reading some of them at least) and working on how to be more diligent in my prayer life. Below is a list of some resources I'm using for this journey.


Prayer - 10th Anniversary Edition: Finding the Heart's True Home-According to my Kindle, I'm at 21% completion on this one. This book is trying for me to read and I have to read it in small gaps but it is full of great information!

A set of Prayer Journals  from Val Marie Paper. I've always been a big journaler (yep, not a word, don't care) and enjoy seeing my thoughts written down to meditate on later. From her website, each month has the following sections: 

• The World
• The Nation
• My Loves
• My Family
• My Friends
• Those Hurts
• Personal
• 3 Untitled Sections – Create your own titles (i.e. “Trying to Conceive”, “Businesses”, “Projects”)Answered PrayersScriptureQuotes

Contemplative Prayer (Image Classics)-I'm about halfway through this book and really enjoying it. It is definitely different from most of the books I read since the author, Thomas Merton, was a former Trappist Monk. The reason for reading Thomas Merton is that I see him mentioned so often in other books, that I want to be able to read his words for myself. Also, I get to go visit Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani next year, where he is buried and where he lived. 

Monastic prayer begins not so much with “considerations” as with a “return to the heart,” finding one’s deepest center, awakening the profound depths of our being in the presence of God, who is the source of our being and our life.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray by Andrew Murray. I haven't gotten very far with this one yet. One of the first things I read was 

Lord, teach us to pray.' Yes, to pray. This is what we need to be taught. Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeble child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One.

I think I'll like this book. 


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