JourneyOnline
Edited by Elizabeth Rankin Geitz, Marjorie A. Burke and Ann Smith
Morehouse Publishing, 2000
RRP $38.95
Reviewed by Karyl Davison.
What an amazingly beautiful collection of prayers from the voices of women.
These wide ranging prayers speak from a women’s perspective, reflecting experiences and feelings that are very real; the ordinary experiences of human life.
Despite the book’s title, many of the prayers would be appropriate for both men and women.
Uncommon Prayers covers an amazing array of topic areas (detailed in a very good index).
There are prayers for daily living, thanksgiving, for those experiencing abuse, and those who are aging.
There are prayers to include in your spiritual life, for ministry and for many stages of life.
The prayers contain rich imagery and help connect with God in some wonderful ways.
I was moved to tears when reading a Lament on the experience of mothering, and the Lament for a Broken Child.
Others helped me connect better with some women in the Bible: The Many Faces of Rachel and I Am Martha, I Am Mary.
Others reflect the everyday, like A Dieters Prayer and the reflection Ten Thinks I’ve Learned in the Garden.
If you are a man, this book presents a rare opportunity to gain a peek into the hearts of women and their prayers to God.
If you are a woman, these prayers will enable you to speak some prayers you have not being able to utter.
This is the best resource for intercessory prayer I have found in recent times and I highly recommend it for both individual devotions and ministry life.
