In under 70 words, it is a manifesto for the heart. Learning it, saying it, getting to the heart of it, can change the world. As we learn this prayer and say it each day, we come close to the heart of God and learn to live God’s way.
Stephen Cottrell describes The Lord’s Prayer as ‘a pattern for our living as well as our praying.’ It is a ‘declaration of intent’, he writes, which should come with a health warning – ‘don’t say this prayer if you are not prepared to be changed.’ Drawing on his own personal and professional experiences – from childhood adventures and his journey to faith through to his pilgrimage along the Camino and an audience with the Pope – and on Bible passages and various writers and theologians, he takes us through The Lord’s Prayer, phrase by phrase, exploring its meaning and its significance for us today.
Themes explored include: addressing God in intimacy and awe; unconditional love; the beautiful challenge of belonging; adoration; the relationship between need and desire; good stewardship and creation care; temptation; sin; and grace and forgiveness. The book includes a final section with questions, discussion starters, and notes for leaders for those who wish to use it as a small-group resource for Lent, Advent, or any other time of the year.
Hardback, 176 pages, 978-1399805308, £14.99, publishing 10 October 2024.
Praying by Heart will be available to buy from Church House Bookshop and other retailers.
Archbishop Stephen explains more about the book in this video:
