Word is Very Near You

This is one my favorite books on meditative prayer. Assigned by my spiritual directors program, it was a real delight to read and incorporate in my daily prayer life. The first couple of chapters are worth the price of the book. Unlike another reviewer, I did not find any "theological jargon" in the book at all! Nor is it "episcopal" (by the way, it was assigned by a catholic, and I'm methodist)! I can't help but wonder if the prior reviewer was talking about another book.The first few chapters describe our approach and connection to God in prayer, God's initiative in all prayer, our experience of God and practical examples of what that looks like, including tips on where/when and incorporating the body in prayer. The next few chapters describe (without using these theological words), the practice of lectio divina, ignatian prayer (entering the stories), and praying with icons/word pictures. Each kind is described in step-by-step fashion, followed by interviews from new practitioners so that you can get a realistic feel for what that meditative prayer practice is like. The second half of the book is basically a mini topical concordance, where various scriptures are listed by topic as an aid for choosing in prayer. I found this section less helpful, because I really didn't need it. But for those who really don't know what scriptures to start with in meditative prayer, it's a great section.

One of the best spiritual formation books I've ever read. Accessible to laity, too.

Great

This book was recommended (and loaned)to me by my pastor, and I rapidly decided that I needed my own copy. It provides instruction on a number of different kinds of prayer that can be done using scripture that is clear, succinct and helpful, but it also provides a lot more than that. The introduction has a good discussion on the hows and whys of scriptural prayer, and the back of the book has extensive lists of scripture readings broken into topical sections so that those who are fairly new to studying the bible, can nonetheless find appropriate passages for in depth prayer on a variety of topics. Highly recommended for anyone interested in increasing the depth of their prayer life.

This book is just more of the same theological jargon of the Episcopal church. No substance or meat. This is the view of our entire women's study group. Don't waste your time.

This was a new approach to scripture for me, and I found it really helpful, and very practical. It was in contrast to my rather rational and evangelical approach to the bible. E.g. how to be closer to Jesus by thinking of yourself as being part of the gospel stories, as if you were actually there. Try it, you don't have to agree with everything in the book.

This was recommended by our parish non-stipendiary priest who regularly admits she hasn't got the answers to a lot of questions people ask her. She says it has helped her a lot - I hope it will help me too.