P R AY E R / D E V O T I O N A L
Morning and Evening Prayers
Praying the Psalms with Beads
Where the Eye Alights
Cornelius Plantinga
A Book of Daily Prayers
Marilyn McEntyre
In this little book, Cornelius Plantinga offers a month’s worth of prayers, with two for each day: one for the morning, looking forward, and one for the evening, looking back. Each prayer expresses some essential Christian longing on behalf of self and others—for faith, hope, love, wisdom, gratitude, peace—yet also makes space for any state of heart or mind by rejoicing with all who rejoice and weeping with all who weep. Articulate yet unassuming, Morning and Evening Prayers is for anyone seeking fellowship with God—from those who have prayed their whole lives to those who have yet to find the words.
Nan Lewis Doerr
Lent is about more than going to church on weekdays and giving up chocolate or social media. It’s also a time to form one’s heart and mind through study and prayer. In Where the Eye Alights, Marilyn McEntyre offers forty short meditations, based on excerpts from Scripture and poetry, that guide readers on a devotional journey from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday. As in lectio divina—the spiritual practice of reading Scripture repetitively and meditatively—McEntyre invites us to notice words that may give us pause and summon us to reflection. This book calls our attention to how the Spirit speaks through phrases that can open doors to deep places for those willing to sit still with them.
Faithful God, I have awakened to your new day. Let me rejoice and be glad in it. I turn to you at its threshold because I depend completely on your strength. I have not made myself, cannot keep myself, could never save myself. And so, loving God, I give myself to you for this day—my creator, keeper, and savior. Before I lie down to sleep, I commend all your children to your tender care. Be present with those who watch, or wake, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, good God. Rest your weary ones. Bless your dying ones. Soothe your suffering ones. Shield your joyous ones—all for your own love’s sake. Amen.
Cornelius Plantinga is president emeritus of Calvin Theological Seminary and senior research fellow at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. His previous books include Beyond Doubt, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, and Engaging God’s World, and his many articles and essays have appeared in such periodicals as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, and The Christian Century.
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The Psalms made intimate and tangible Life is often so busy and chaotic that even when we do find time to pray, our minds cannot settle and our thoughts drift to the stresses and concerns that pull our attention elsewhere. With the use of beads, however, our bodies are incorporated into the act of praying, allowing us to remain present with God in a state of peaceful meditation. Praying the Psalms with Beads guides the reader in a daily devotional habit that distills the entire book of Psalms into 182 five-minute prayers, allowing one to go through this whole cycle twice a year, gaining deeper familiarity with the psalms each time. By virtue of this repetition, the psalmists’ praises, laments, and supplications become something deeply felt instead of only distantly understood. The Lord is my shepherd, in whom I place all my trust. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall never be in want. You make me lie down in green pastures and lead me beside still waters. O Lord, you are my shepherd in whom I place my trust. Lord, you revive my soul. You guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Nan Lewis Doerr is an Episcopal priest who has served in six parishes, on two university campuses, and in one mission in the diocese of Texas. She is also the coauthor, with Virginia Stem Owens, of Praying with Beads.
Phrases for the Forty Days of Lent
Lent is a time of permission. Many of us find it hard to give ourselves permission to pause, to sit still, to reflect or meditate or pray in the midst of daily occupations—most of them very likely worthy in themselves—that fill our waking minds and propel us out of bed and on to the next thing. We need the explicit invitation the liturgical year provides to change pace, to curtail our busyness a bit, to make our times with self and God a little more spacious, a little more leisurely, and see what comes. The reflections I offer here come from a very simple practice of daily reflection on whatever has come to mind in the quiet of early morning.
Marilyn McEntyre is the award-winning author of several books on language and faith, including What’s in a Phrase? Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause (winner of a Christianity Today 2015 book award in spirituality); When Poets Pray; Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict; and Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies.
978-0-8028-7881-6 | Hardcover | 144 pages | $19.99 US $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK | Available May 2021
978-0-8028-7833-5 | Paperback | 223 pages | $15.00 US
978-0-8028-7698-0 | Jacketed Hardcover with Ribbon 144 pages | $19.99 US | $26.99 CAN | £15.99 UK Available January 2021
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