Prayer for Beginners [Paperback]

Peter Kreeft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2000

Peter Kreeft brings his unique insights to this most important area of our spiritual lives. He claims he himself is still a beginner in prayer, and this book is for all those, like him, who feel that they are not good at praying but desire to become much better at it. Thus, Kreeft offers simple, but profound advice and practical steps for developing a prayer life based on the time-tested wisdom of the saints and great spiritual writers, especially the principles found in Brother Lawrence's classic, The Practice of the Presence of God.

In short, straight-forward and unsentimental chapters, Kreeft covers all the key areas for understanding and developing that intimate form of communication with our Creator that we call prayer. He covers such areas as the necessity of prayer, various motives and methods, steps, patience, suffering, sin, faith, and grace.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This accessible, brief primer on prayer asserts that any Christian can, and is in fact commanded to, pray to God unceasingly. Kreeft, a Boston College philosophy professor who has written more than 25 books on religion, attempts to teach "Prayer for Dummies" and "Prayer for Marthas" (i.e., those who are so busy attending to daily life that they feel they have no time to pray). Kreeft encourages beginners to commence with vocal prayer, regarding silent, contemplative prayer as a more advanced skill. Beginners must learn to "stop, look, and listen," with special emphasis on listening. (Since prayer is a form of conversation, and since we must attend carefully to the wisest person in any conversation, Kreeft asserts that "we ought to be listening most of the time" when speaking with God.) Prayers can begin with a RAPT structure: Repentance, Adoration, Petition and Thanksgiving. Another powerful novice prayer, says Kreeft, is the "Jesus prayer"; simply invoking Jesus' name is in itself a creative, prayerful act. Kreeft offers advice on handling distractions ("Get right back on the horse every time you fall off," he counsels straying minds) and on the more thorny issue of avoiding prayer because of unconfessed sin. Kreeft's approach is basically nondenominational, though references to the catechism and to perfecting prayer in Purgatory suggest that Catholics may find the book more helpful than other readers. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This is the best short introduction to prayer I've read. Read it and pray. --Ralph Martin, Author, Called to Holiness

There's no shortage of good doctrinal material today. But, for the post-Boomer generations, the burning question remains: How do I begin to pray? Peter Kreeft answers that question in a simple, direct way that will reach ordinary unchurched Americans as well as devout Catholics who have hit a dry spell. This book can be a powerful tool in the new evangelization. --Mike Aquilina, Editor, New Covenant

Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898707757
• ISBN-13: 978-0898707755
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #311,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter J. Kreeft (Ph.D., Fordham University) is professor of philosophy at Boston College where he has taught since 1965. A popular lecturer, he has also taught at many other colleges, seminaries and educational institutions in the eastern United States. Kreeft has written more than sixty-seven books, including The Best Things in Life, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Fundamentals of the Faith and The Handbook of Christian Apologetics.

Dr. Kreeft's MP3 audio lectures can be purchased on Amazon, such as
"Christianity in Lord of the Rings".

Free articles, audio lectures, the speaking schedule and more info from Dr. Peter Kreeft can be found at his popular web site:
http://www.peterkreeft.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for those who don't know how to begin., April 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Prayer for Beginners (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful guide for anyone who wants to begin praying in a more meaningful way, but doesn't know how to begin. It has changed my prayer life immeasurably... and I can feel my every day life being transformed as well.

I spent years thinking that I was doing something wrong when I prayed. I never felt any kind of internal "high," which I assumed was a sign that I was truly praying. I always felt rather like a fraud when I prayed, because I was sure I was doing something wrong.

This book helped me in so many ways. It dispelled the myth that there is some kind of special "feeling" you get when you pray. There is a list of ten reasons to pray that really opened my eyes up to why this is so necessary... the first one is that "only prayer can change the world," and that is so powerful all by itself. It doesn't tout a method of prayer, but gives strategies to begin and keep praying. It talks about what faith really means: "God said it, and I believe it, and that's that."

Most helpfully, it opened my eyes to the value and peace of praying in "words." Reciting the Lord's Prayer or prayerfully reading the Psalms isn't taking the "easy way out," as I always assumed. I always had the impression that "real" prayer is some kind of wordless conversation with God, and that only children need words to recite. Peter assures the reader that "mental prayer" is more difficult, and it comes naturally for very few people. The rest of us can be assured that we are not cheating by using the words of others to open ourselves to God.

I am Catholic, and this book is geared toward Catholics. However, I would recommend it for any Christians struggling with getting started.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the second book I have read by this author., October 6, 2000

By 

Peter Canavan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prayer for Beginners (Paperback)

This brief introduction to prayer contained some very helpful kernals of truth for me, e.g. the idea of the presence of God - taken from Brother Lawrence. I find that Dr. Kreeft writes in a very clear and accessible way, while, at the same time, he doesn't dilute the essence of what he wants to say. I found this book had a profound impact on the way I think about prayer, and how I pray. And, as he points out (i.e., from thought to behavior to habit to character) this has lead to a change (I hope) in how I live my life. Not bad for a short (104 pages) little book! The other book by the same author was Back To Virtue, which was excellent, also.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kreeft makes another direct hit, January 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Prayer for Beginners (Paperback)

Kreeft is straight-forward and direct. His thinking and writing are clear. This is book is immensely practical. It is small enough to be completed in a short time and deep enough to warrant re-reading whenever the beginning pray-er needs a boost.

Kreeft's point is that we must begin to pray. Kreeft first motivates. Then he offers an intelligent summary of the major forms of prayer and the progression from rote to contemplative prayer.

Kreeft speaks directly to the reader - to me - when he asks if I really want to pray, or if, by reading a book on prayer, I have deluded myself into thinking that I am doing it. What a challenge! What clarity of purpose!