The Book of Christian Prayer and Devotion
An all-in-one prayer and devotional book written and compiled by Pastor Arlyn. This book contains:
An extensive library of over 250 categorized prayers written directly from the scriptures
Collects from the Book of Common Prayer
A 2-year daily Bible reading plan
Guides for daily prayer sessions
The complete volume of My Utmost for His Highest devotional
And more!
Hardcopies will be available by 9/5 on Amazon and 9/17 on B&N
Introduction
This book was born out of my own frustrations with an unstructured prayer life. The demanding work of ministry was always vying for my time and causing me to feel rushed in my private time with the Lord. I always had those thoughts in the back of my mind: “well, I better hurry this along, because I have this and that to get done for the Lord.” I was feeling the need to become more structured and deliberate about my praying. But, how?
As a very unreligious person, I had always reveled in my liberty from formality and liturgical spirituality—and still do! But much to my surprise, I was inspired when researching various Judeo-Christian groups and observing as they prayed and worshiped through more structured methods. I admit that most of it was very undesirable to me and felt dry and lifeless. But there was definitely something there; something that I could learn from; something that I could leverage in my own walk with Christ.
One inspiration behind this book would be the orthodox Jews. The majority of their prayers come from reciting Old Testament scriptures that were collected and categorized in a prayer book known as the Siddur. I was shocked at how their liturgical prayer life was putting my free-from-form prayer life to shame. They prayed about everything, and they did it in the beautiful language of the scriptures! How could that be a bad thing, right? For example, when something good happens to me, or when I hear some really good news, I say, “thank You, Lord.” But, in the same circumstances, an orthodox Jew recites from memory, “Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who is good and does good.” That’s better. Much better. It’s not that they use more words, and not only that they use better wording, it’s that they intentionally take more time to more appropriately acknowledge God. That began to help me see room for personal improvement, and I knew it would require more intention and forethought.
I can hear the argument now: “aren’t free-from-form prayers better than canned and recited prayers?” Well, they can be, for sure, and should be used regardless. But I have heard many a prayer that caused me to think, “it might have been better if they had just read an already written prayer.” Like as in everything, the human element is the limitation to free-from-form praying. If we are praying “off-the-cuff,” we are drawing from our spiritual reservoir, and that can be a deep well or a shallow one. We can only pray from our own knowledge, memory, and thoroughness. And that’s where recited prayers can shine and be a benefit. Recited prayer eliminates much of that by being planned, researched, and developed right out of the Bible. And that’s always what I mean when I refer to recited prayer in this introduction. Those are the only recited prayers that I can personally approve of. That does not mean that they have to be in exact scriptural wording, but they do need to come from truths in the Bible.
The power behind recited prayer—if there is power behind it—is no different than the power behind free-from-form prayer. In either instance, it is only when we say our prayer words from our heart, with our faith added to them, that we are effectively praying. And that can be done just as well through recited prayers as with free-from-form prayers.
There is another benefit of recited prayers: because we are praying from God’s scriptures, it allows us to be more confident that we are praying according to God’s will. And that will be the explanation for some of the prayers that seem to be missing from this book. If it’s not in the Bible, I don’t want it in here. I can attempt what I wish in my free-from-form praying. But I won’t try to build a recited prayer around it if the Bible hasn’t already specified it.
Yet another benefit would be that it offers the person praying the confidence to pray out loud. Many are too timid to pray out loud, because they think they are only allowed to pray “off the cuff (sometimes confused with: from the heart),” and that is a most vulnerable and nerve-racking thing for some. Whereas recited prayer adds confidence to the person praying. They know the prayer is solid, thorough, and beautiful and all they have to do is mean it when they pray it. That’s helpful.
I can also anticipate the argument, “but didn’t Jesus teach us not to use repetition when we pray?” Or course not! That wasn’t at all what He said in Matthew 6:7. First of all, Jesus was talking about the praying of the gentiles (or, heathens), not Jews. Secondly, his issue wasn’t with repetition, His issue was with vain repetitions—vain being the operative word. In fact, the ESV doesn’t even translate it that way. It translates it to say, “empty phrases.” In other words, the heathens were praying to false gods, so their phrases—whether repetitious or not—were empty. Prayer to Yahweh is never empty, not when the heart is behind it and faith is added to it. Jesus knew the Jews had always prayed recited prayers from the scriptures, and He was definitely okay with that, seeing that He had given the Jews the very first prayer book ever written: the Book of Psalms!
But, as far as repetition is concerned, repetition will always be a part of our praying, whether we desire it or not. That’s just the truth! We human creatures will naturally fall into our own repetitious words and ways over time—yes, even in our prayers and worship. Test this for yourself: attend a church for a few months and critically observe (without being critical) the way its leaders do what they do and say what they say. You’ll notice all the repetition they use. Or eat with a Christian for a few months and listen to them pray for their meals. You’ll hear essentially the same prayer every time. They can’t help it! Again, that’s because we human creatures naturally fall into repetition over time, no matter how free-thinking we think we are.
So, if we’re going to naturally fall into repetition, wouldn’t it be beneficial to accept it to some degree and improve upon it where we can, so that we can be more efficient and thorough, at least for a time? That was the question in mind that formed the early stages of my idea for this book. For me, the answer was, yes, at least for a time, as I intentionally broaden my reservoir for prayer and worship using the scriptures themselves. And that’s what I have sought to create in The Book of Christian Prayer and Devotion. If it’s nothing else, it’s something to review in order to broaden our reservoirs for prayer and stick us more closely to the scriptures when we pray free-from-form.
I’m not done fleshing out of the benefits of this book’s approach just yet. Here’s another one: our negative human emotions can oftentimes get so oppressive that we cannot think of what to pray and we cannot motivate ourselves to even try. For example: when deeply grieving, to pray for comfort and peace; or when boiling angry, to pray forgiveness, kindness, and temperance. Having the prayer words already structured is a great solution to this problem. The words that would otherwise be clouded and crowded out by our complex feelings are already available to you, and all you have to do is locate the prayer in the book and pray it from your heart by faith. That is far easier. I learned this lesson years ago when going through unthinkable heartbreak. I just did not have the wherewithal to pray in a free-from-form manner most of the time. So, I simply started reading through the book of Psalms, and that became my praying. I highlighted sections of Psalms that dealt specifically with the way I was feeling and recited (prayed) them out loud to the Lord and meditated on them. It was a powerful experience. When we can’t come up with the words on our own, thank God, He already handled that for us… in the Bible.
To take a step backwards, the Siddur was not my only inspiration for this resource—far from it. I also found inspiration in how the Catholic, the Anglican, and the Episcopal congregant makes use of various versions of The Book of Common Prayer for daily prayer time and devotions. To a lesser extent, I found a little inspiration among the Amish. Though odd, and definitely further removed from modernity, it had a certain appeal to what few religious cells I have in my body. But, without a doubt, The Book of Common Prayer became the backbone for my attempt at creating something to personally assist me—and perhaps others—in my own structuring of prayer and devotion time. I really liked the idea of The Book of Common Prayer, but—of course—its language is grievously repetitious and somewhat dated. It just wasn’t for me. But… what if I rebuilt it from the ground up? What if I improved upon it—for me and for others like me? The Book of Christian Prayer and Devotion is my first attempt at that. And, yes, God willing, this release is just the beginning.
Unless I lose my spiritual fervor for this, I plan to continue to improve upon it with subsequent releases—as many as are needed, to build a more extensive prayer library, and get it to a state that accomplishes my goal. This first edition seems to fall short of that in my own heart. But it is a giant move in the right direction for me, and that is why I am releasing it to others. I have already used the content of this book for my own private time with the Lord, and I have been overwhelmed at how it has blessed me; I have been overwhelmed at my overall increase in perceived spirituality; I have been overwhelmed at how powerful my praying now feels to me; I have been overwhelmed at how this has built my faith in my prayers; I am overwhelmed at how—like never before—I walk away from my prayer sessions feeling satisfied and fulfilled, as though I had really accomplished something. And I am overwhelmed by how it has improved my free-from-form praying, in private and in public gatherings. Using this book has unlocked something in me that my own habits and repetitions had once locked up. Using this book has taught me to become a better pray-er, because I have actually put conscious effort into it.
I believe that if you too use this book (for a while, or indefinitely), that it will also teach you how to pray better. Do you need to be taught how to pray better? Do we? The answer to that question will vary among individuals, depending on my factors. But—to cut to the chase—I believe we can all stand to gain something beneficial from being taught to pray better. To an infinitely greater degree, it must have felt the same way to the disciples, as they listened to the Master pray. They thought (or so I speculate), “wow, we want to be able to pray like that!” So, they asked Jesus, “teach us to pray.” And He did so, without condemnation. And Jesus gave them a liturgical prayer (the Lord’s Prayer). But it wasn’t just liturgy to repeat. More precisely, it was form; form that could be learned from and built upon. And that is the ultimate aim of this book. It’s to be a steppingstone into greater free-from-form praying, by –yes, you guessed it—first learning from form!
Let me give you one more very strong reason for this book. As a Pastor, it is my constant observation, that most Christians don’t maintain any kind of scheduled and consistent prayer and devotion time. Their reasons usually fall somewhere within the arguments I’ve already stated in this introduction. Structuring and ordering it, in the way that I have done here, eliminates all of that. It sets the daily schedule. It holds the individual to remember everything that is necessary to both read (yes, there is a daily Bible reading guide in this book and a complete devotional for every day of the year) and pray daily, and it even gives them the words (or direction) needed to do so.
Stick with this prayer and devotion guide for one month and I believe you will notice a significant improvement in your spiritual well-being. Stick with it for three months, and I believe you will notice the Holy Spirit bubbling up torrents of living water in you. Stick with it for one year and you may explode! Just kidding. But if you’ll use it in the right way for you, I believe it will transform your praying and your whole person.
My highest wish is that you will cherish this book (or more complete future editions of it) second to the Bible, or maybe third to a good commentary, and always have it nearby and ready to be put to use. But my realistic prayer is that you will own this book, learn something from it, and use it in whatever way it can be helpful to you. Special thanks to the Lord Who—I believe—has inspired and helped to bring this first edition to fruition. May—by the grace of Christ—future editions be all the better!
How to Use This Book
The Table of Contents will be your best friend when using this book. You will first find section XIII, the Daily Prayer Sessions, and flip through the four different session numbers to find the right session for you. These are your guides for daily prayers, and they will require you to look up prayers or readings from other sections of this book. So, you’ll want to hop back to the Table of Contents to look those all up. I find that little bit of lookup fun, but if you don’t like even slight delays during your praying, then it’s a good idea to begin your prayer time by browsing ahead and bookmarking any sections you’ll need to reference during your prayer time.
Once you are ready to go with your daily prayer sessions, you can approach this a handful of different ways. You can follow the daily plans exactly, and pray the written prayers verbatim, and you will have prayed thoroughly and biblically each day. Or you can use the prayers as more of a general guide, and first read the prayers to call to mind what you need to pray about and the things you should include when you pray about them, and then pray for that particular topic in your own words. Or you can pray the prayers and elaborate with your own words as your heart leads you.
Whichever approach you take to praying with this book, there are a couple of suggestions I want to make right up front. The first thing I want to say is that—for the most part—I have tried to do a thorough job of indicating within each prayer when the prayer calls for you to state the specific names of the people that you are praying a prayer for, or the individual needs that may fall within a category of prayer, but by all means, any time you are praying any of these prayers, if any specifics come to mind when you are praying—whether names or things—then call them out to the Lord and then continue with the prayer.
Also, I want to let you know that, for the most part, regular text that is not bold or italicized should be thought of as reading, instruction, or explanation to read silently, and on occasion out loud. For example, the devotional is written in regular text, and you can choose whether you want to read that silently or out loud. Italicized text is mostly reserved for all of the scripture or material references, and you will not bother to read those unless you are wanting to really pick apart the prayers and check out the origins behind them. And Bold text, for the most part, will be prayed either silently or out loud, except for the titles of this book. You will not say section titles or prayer titles, you will only read them.
Another way to use this book is simply as a library of prayers. You do not have to follow the daily prayer sessions if you don’t want. You can just sit down with the book at any time, browse through the already extensive prayer library and pray through the prayers you choose.
Finally, a quick word about how to use Amen in this book. Obviously, this would be a matter of preference. If you are praying one prayer from this book individually, it is proper to conclude that prayer by saying, “in Jesus Name, Amen.” But, during your prayer session, that closure on your prayer time really isn’t necessary until ending your prayers. So, you may choose to exclude Amens altogether until your final prayer for the session, and end it with, “in Jesus Name, Amen.” Or you may opt to say “Amen” after each individual prayer, and conclude your prayer time with, “in Jesus Name, Amen.” Again, this is a matter of preference, and whatever seems best to you in your praying.