Over the past 8 or so years I have made regular use of a prayer book. It has probably been the one thing that has most influenced my spiritual life in a positive manner. I often still struggle with the discipline of prayer, but through the use of a prayer book I have seen my prayer life both deepen and broaden. A prayer book is really a liturgy (or worship outline) of written prayers and readings (primarily taken from the Book of Psalms) which are meant to be said (recited and prayed) at set times during the day (morning and evening most often). It is a practice that Christians adopted from Israel, so followers of the Living God have been following this ritual of prayer for millenia.

I discoverd this practice from an Episcopal Priest. When I mentioned, I was struggling with the prayer habits that I was taught in my evangelical traditions (talk to God, like a friend or use the ACTS outline as a guide to spontaneously speak with God) he recommended I try the Book of Common Prayer. I did and it led me on a study of this practice referred to as, “praying the hours,” “the liturgy of the hours,” and/or “fixed hour praying.” Maybe this is an area of struggle in your life - praying regularly, intelligently, sincerely, and fervantly. If so, I would encourage you to look into the simple practice of using a prayer book.

Scot McKnight has written a great introduction to this practice in his book Praying With The Church. I highly recommend it as an introduction to the “whys and hows” of using a prayer book.

Two of my favorite prayer books for practicing liturgical prayer are:

Phyllis Tickle’s, The Divine Hours

(This is a three volume series to cover the entire year for morning, evening and night-time prayers. It is extremely well-organized and written from a protestant perspective. I can’t recommend this highly enough as a resource for those who want to go full-immersion into this practice.)

Northumbria’s Celtic Daily Prayer

(This is a one volume manual for prayer that includes a liturgy for morning, mid-day, evening, and night-time prayer as well as daily readings. It has a wonderful language and feel - some of my favorite prayers and readings can be found scattered through this beautiful manual of prayer.)

Finally if using a prayer book is an entirely new idea that you have never tried… I can’t do any better than pass on the advice I recieved. Don’t try anything I suggested follow the advice an Episcopal Priest shared with me, “Have you ever tried the Book of Common Prayer, that might be a real help to you.”