BodyPrayer: The Posture of Intimacy with God (Hardcover)

by Doug Pagitt (Author), Kathryn Prill (Author), Colleen Shealer Olson (Illustrator) "The notion of the human body being involved in prayer is not a new one..." (more)
Key Phrases: Holy Spirit

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Pagitt (Preaching Re-Imagined) and Prill provide ideas and specific guidelines for praying using the body—i.e., praying for strength with your hands crossed over your chest or for healing with your palms out, facing up—with a goal of "help[ing] you connect with God at every level of your life—body, mind, and spirit." The 30 short sections of the book provide instructions for specific prayer postures, each with some introductory comments, a prayer, instructions, and room for journaling. Each posture is illustrated with a full-page drawing (which, unfortunately, does not always exactly match the written instructions). Though Christian, the book is informed by an almost New Age sensibility; many of the prayers sound more like self-focused meditations than requests for something from God, and often skirt around the issues they're supposed to address, for example, the prayer for healing: "The power and love of God/ Keeps us from falling/ Washes us clean/ And places us in the kingdom as pure beings." Scripture references are included in the notes but not in the text itself. Some conservative evangelicals will likely be uncomfortable with the book, while those in the emergent church may welcome new physical approaches to prayer. (Nov. 15)
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Review
Praise for
BodyPrayer

“We are called not only to pray without ceasing, but also to pray with our whole selves. BodyPrayer is a gentle guide to doing just that. Simultaneously subversive and traditional, the logic of BodyPrayer is holistic, anti-Gnostic, and potentially transformative.”
–Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath

“By sharing the rich prayer life of his Minneapolis church with the world, Doug Pagitt reflects a whole new way of looking at ‘church’–less in terms of ‘what is your mission statement’ or ‘statement of faith’ and more ‘what are your practices and embodied rituals that are uniquely yours?’ BodyPrayer is one of the first books to appreciate that embodied mediation is a key process by which theology is communicated and lived.”
–Leonard Sweet, author of Out of the Question…Into the Mystery and the trilogy AquaChurch, SoulTsunami, and SoulSalsa

“You can’t get any more biblical than this! God created us to worship Him with our bodies. Because of the Fall, God became incarnate to restore our worship of Him. Because of a body that suffered on the cross and a body that rose from the grave, God redeems us to worship Him–not in some disembodied soul but in, with, and through our bodies. BodyPrayer makes it real.”
–Robert Webber, Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary, author of The Younger Evangelicals

“This small guide to physical prayer is huge in its message. Doug Pagitt and Kathryn Prill here return the body to its original place in, and importance to, Christian worship. We should all be grateful.”
–Phyllis Tickle, compiler of The Divine Hours

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (November 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400071488
• ISBN-13: 978-1400071487
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #699,057 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great resource, November 15, 2005

By	Bob Hyatt (USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a fantastic resource not only for one's private devotional life, but for an entire community, helping to lead through various types of prayer.
Each chapter is a different type of prayer, with a short explanation, a written prayer and a "prayer posture"- a way to stand or gesture to use as you pray this particular prayer that will help you experience it and say it and pray it in a more tactile way. There's also a space to journal at the end of each chapter.

Types of prayers covered include: prayers of kindness, for strength, of praise, for courage, for guidance, of thankfulness, for change, for forgiveness, for the poor...

I could see both myself and my church community as well as communities like us making great use of this book, praying in many different ways, with many different stances. Pastors should consider this book as a good resource to get for those in your communities who help craft the experiential elements.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical, November 7, 2006

By	J. Shay (LaPorte, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For each body prayer, there is a description, a posture and a prayer starter or meditation. It's been a great resource to get our people out of the pews and involving them more in their prayer. Our youth love the postures and have taken the idea to create more of their own.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful concept, exceptional delivery, October 18, 2008

By	grace is enough (in this place, USA) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful little book and filled to overflowing with beautiful ways to offer our body to God in praise, thanksgiving, and wonder. As the Lord abides in us, how much more are we called to respect our bodies and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Thank you to the author and the illustrator, who shared these prayers with us. It is simple in content, but can lead you to deeper connection with God and creation.