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Word by Word: A Daily Spiritual Practice
Beautifully written meditations on fifteen well-chosen words
In What's in a Phrase? — winner of the 2015 Christianity Today Book Award in Spirituality — Marilyn McEntyre showed readers how brief scriptural phrases can evoke and invite. In Word by Word McEntyre invites readers to dwell intentionally with single words — remembering their biblical and literary contexts, considering the personal associations they bring up, and allowing them to become a focus for prayer and meditation.
McEntyre has thoughtfully chosen fifteen words (see below), and she gives each word a week, guiding readers in examining the word from seven different angles throughout the week. She draws on the spiritual practices of lectio divina and centering prayer as she encourages readers to allow these small words to help them pause and hear the voice of the Spirit. "I invite you to discover," says McEntyre in her intro-duction, "how words may become little fountains of grace. How a single word may, if you hold it for a while, become a prayer."
In What's in a Phrase? — winner of the 2015 Christianity Today Book Award in Spirituality — Marilyn McEntyre showed readers how brief scriptural phrases can evoke and invite. In Word by Word McEntyre invites readers to dwell intentionally with single words — remembering their biblical and literary contexts, considering the personal associations they bring up, and allowing them to become a focus for prayer and meditation.
McEntyre has thoughtfully chosen fifteen words (see below), and she gives each word a week, guiding readers in examining the word from seven different angles throughout the week. She draws on the spiritual practices of lectio divina and centering prayer as she encourages readers to allow these small words to help them pause and hear the voice of the Spirit. "I invite you to discover," says McEntyre in her intro-duction, "how words may become little fountains of grace. How a single word may, if you hold it for a while, become a prayer."
234 pages, Paperback
Published August 7, 2016
About the author
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
25 books78 followersMarilyn Chandler McEntyre is a fellow of the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, and she teaches at UC Berkeley. Her other books include Drawn to the Light: Poems on Rembrandt's Religious Paintings, In Quiet Light: Poems on Vermeer's Women, and Patient Poets: Illness from Inside Out.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 25, 2020
I really enjoyed this—daily meditations on individual words. McEntyre draws from the Bible and Christian tradition, and here and there from literature, which for me is always a winning combo. It focuses on one word per week, examining it from various angles and encouraging reflection and spiritual practices springing from each daily reading. So many of the meditations really resonated with me—I’ll come back to this one again.
May 20, 2017
Such a beautiful companion to my days. I've loved this book and the richness in each reading.
November 16, 2019
Inspiring
I enjoyed taking a word and ruminating on it each day. It was a good way to start my morning. Marilyn McEntyre’s writing affects my thinking in good ways - inspiring, nudging, pressing, making me notice what I would not have seen and reminding me of the power of the words we carry into the world daily.
I enjoyed taking a word and ruminating on it each day. It was a good way to start my morning. Marilyn McEntyre’s writing affects my thinking in good ways - inspiring, nudging, pressing, making me notice what I would not have seen and reminding me of the power of the words we carry into the world daily.
March 17, 2018
I loved and savored this devotional. To meditate on different aspects of a single word all week long is a Spiritual practice, and one I immensely enjoyed.
October 18, 2021
Just. So. Wise. It’s as if I should start reading it again at once to keep it in my memory.
February 20, 2025
I loved this book as a daily devotional.
October 3, 2025
📖Annotated, highlighted, and wrote notes on pretty much every page. One of the best Christian books I’ve read this year !!
March 1, 2026
I enjoy McEntyre and her slow deliberate focus on the significance of words in daily life. Used as a morning devotional.
December 8, 2016
The Power of a Single Word
RECEIVE . . . ENJOY . . . LET GO
Freighted with meanings and memories, associations and reflections far beyond their official definitions, words can be an invitation to pay attention.
WATCH . . . ACCEPT . . . RESIST
Marilyn McEntyre has chosen fifteen words as the basis for fifteen weeks of daily meditations, as Word by Word, she challenges readers to let the word of the week become a focus for prayer and for biblical meditation.
ALLOW . . . BE STILL . . .FOLLOW
There is a delight to discovering that “words may become little fountains of grace,” and Marilyn’s brief daily musings amplify the voice of the Spirit, sending me back to the Source.
REJOICE . . . ASK . . . DARE
For those who believingly follow Jesus Christ, meditation begins, not with an empty brain or a blank slate, but with revealed Truth. Our use of language is a mark of the image of God, and the words we use are the basis of our communion with ourselves, with one another, and with God in prayer.
LEAVE . . . WELCOME . . . AND MY FAVORITE: LISTEN
Word by Word reminded me again (I’m a slow learner) of the need to listen with humility and openness, to “notice what I notice,” which is sound advice indeed, especially in the pursuit of Spirit-breathed wisdom.
Throughout Scripture, the faithful found that the voice of God often emerged from the silence. In this season of Advent, I find myself listening in to the four- hundred-year silence between the testaments, the pause that was broken by startling birth announcements and accompanied by angels. John’s first epistle identifies this “manifestation” as The Word of life, a reminder that God’s ultimate self-expression and His message are so inextricably linked that they have been identified by a single term: The Word.
Of course, it should be clearly understood that listening is a risky business, because the listener may be required to act upon what she hears.
Those who dare to engage in the counter-cultural practices of listening, pondering, and praying will find that it turns down the volume on this kingdom of noise and clears the deck for a habit of stillness and a continuing practice of listening — really listening — as we read Scripture in the manner in which it was given: word by word.
//
This book was provided by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
RECEIVE . . . ENJOY . . . LET GO
Freighted with meanings and memories, associations and reflections far beyond their official definitions, words can be an invitation to pay attention.
WATCH . . . ACCEPT . . . RESIST
Marilyn McEntyre has chosen fifteen words as the basis for fifteen weeks of daily meditations, as Word by Word, she challenges readers to let the word of the week become a focus for prayer and for biblical meditation.
ALLOW . . . BE STILL . . .FOLLOW
There is a delight to discovering that “words may become little fountains of grace,” and Marilyn’s brief daily musings amplify the voice of the Spirit, sending me back to the Source.
REJOICE . . . ASK . . . DARE
For those who believingly follow Jesus Christ, meditation begins, not with an empty brain or a blank slate, but with revealed Truth. Our use of language is a mark of the image of God, and the words we use are the basis of our communion with ourselves, with one another, and with God in prayer.
LEAVE . . . WELCOME . . . AND MY FAVORITE: LISTEN
Word by Word reminded me again (I’m a slow learner) of the need to listen with humility and openness, to “notice what I notice,” which is sound advice indeed, especially in the pursuit of Spirit-breathed wisdom.
Throughout Scripture, the faithful found that the voice of God often emerged from the silence. In this season of Advent, I find myself listening in to the four- hundred-year silence between the testaments, the pause that was broken by startling birth announcements and accompanied by angels. John’s first epistle identifies this “manifestation” as The Word of life, a reminder that God’s ultimate self-expression and His message are so inextricably linked that they have been identified by a single term: The Word.
Of course, it should be clearly understood that listening is a risky business, because the listener may be required to act upon what she hears.
Those who dare to engage in the counter-cultural practices of listening, pondering, and praying will find that it turns down the volume on this kingdom of noise and clears the deck for a habit of stillness and a continuing practice of listening — really listening — as we read Scripture in the manner in which it was given: word by word.
//
This book was provided by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
August 26, 2018
This is the most enjoyable, deep, and thought-provoking “spiritual reading” book I have ever read. The word “savor” comes to mind when I think of the reading experience. Each passage is short but deeply poignant, making me savor McEntyre’s ideas and messages of hope throughout each day. She’s bright, open, engaging, and a fantastic writer. She felt like a wise friend guiding me to God in new and surprising ways, always there to welcome each day with hope and intentional, stimulating thoughts.
Could not recommend this more highly.
Could not recommend this more highly.
October 7, 2023
Read this slowly, one a day, as intended, and also read chapters out of order. Made it more meditative and memorable
July 22, 2018
A wonderful thoughtful devotional that is deceptively simple, as the daily reading (labeled Monday - Saturday) contain meditations on various ways of thinking about each week's word in ways that meet the challenges of our complex lives.
December 27, 2020
Inspiration for daily reflection
I have enjoyed reading Word by Word as a daily reflection to start my day! Marilyn McEntyre has provided daily words of wisdom that fit a weekly theme that's easy to follow and inspiring to consider as each new day is started!
I have enjoyed reading Word by Word as a daily reflection to start my day! Marilyn McEntyre has provided daily words of wisdom that fit a weekly theme that's easy to follow and inspiring to consider as each new day is started!
Read
May 16, 2019A good book of reflections to help with mindfulness as one moves throughout one's day.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews