How to Pray: Reflections and Essays

by C.S. Lewis

The revered teacher and bestselling author of such classic Christian works as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis here offers wisdom and lessons that illuminate our private dialogue with God—prayer—in this collection drawn from the breadth of his writings.

C. S. Lewis’s insights on Christianity and his reflections on Christian life continue to guide us more than fifty years after his death. How to Pray showcases Lewis’s enduring wisdom on prayer and its place in our daily lives.

Cultivated from his many essays, articles, and letters, as well as his classic works, How to Pray provides practical wisdom and instruction to help readers nurture their spiritual beliefs and embrace prayer in all its forms. While many people would like to speak to God, they often don’t know how to begin. Lewis guides them through the practice, illuminating the significance of prayer and why it is central to faith.

A welcome addition to the C. S. Lewis canon, How to Pray offers a deeper understanding of our personal tradition of prayer, our faith, and what is means to be a Christian.

Genres: Christian, Prayer, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith, Religion, Theology

176 pages, ebook

Published June 5, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]

Reviews

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

C. S. Lewis's reflections on how to pray are very interesting and precise. This is definitely a book that I'll be looking at again. Very inspirational. 😊

[Nick Imrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love C.S. Lewis, but this was a disappointing book. I don't want to be unkind to the publishers but it feels a bit like a posthumous cash-in.

This is a slim book, made up of short little chapters lifted from other works by C. S. Lewis where he touches on the subject of prayer: letters, essays, and fiction. In many of these chapters it was far too obvious that the text has been ripped right out of the middle of a completely different conversation - whether it's half-way through a letter to a friend, or a small segment of a larger argument in an essay. And obviously, since these are just pieces cut out of other works, the chapters don't really flow together.

And above all, not one of these snippets is actually about 'How to Pray'! 'Some partial thoughts on prayer' would be a more accurate title, although perhaps less popular with the marketing bods.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I love C. S. Lewis and all what he has written.

This one edition about prayer is no exception at all of the wit and intellectual stamina of the author behind it,

As a Christian writer, he mingles his experiences with his Witt and knowledge of the bible.
A very good collection, much to be recommended!!!

PS:
I know my reviews are very short now!
Thanks to you all for reading them.
Love you all!!!

[Chautona Havig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewis always takes complex topics and makes them make sense in a way that makes us go, "Well duh!" Doing that with prayer? EEEP!

My favorite quote from the book really had nothing to do with prayer. It goes: "The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express that same delight in God that made David dance."

Walking away from this book has me reconsidering everything in the light of prayer. Is my quiet contemplation of this book prayer? Maybe... Probably. Is my journaling about my day prayer? Certainly more often than I mean it to be! And that' is what "pray without ceasing" is, isn't it? Wow.

[Rhonda Braithwaite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t really describe to anyone, intelligently, what I read. I felt like this was the rambling thoughts of someone, jotted down in no particular order. 2 stars for a few standout sentences that spoke to me.

[Lucia M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful, addressing a lot of difficult questions and thoughts about prayer not with easy answers but with Lewis’ characteristic clarity. As someone who really struggles with consistent meaningful prayer I’ve found this curated volume really valuable (although towards the end some selections seemed a little less relevant to the heading question, but I still found them helpful (: )

[Paige Cuthbertson| Turning_Every_Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of Lewis’ thoughts on prayer. I made SO many highlights. My main issue is that, since the editors pulled from so many different works, some of these chapters/essays/selections are missing context, which can rob them of some meaning/readability. Still very well worth the read though!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó el libro, esta obra no solo ofrece consejos prácticos, sino que también profundiza en el sentido de la oración, ayudando al lector a entenderla no como una lista de peticiones, sino como una relación con nuestro Dios.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding up from 3.5
There’s a lot of great stuff in here. It is CS Lewis, after all. But since this book is a collection of passages from various books and letters, it is a bit disjointed.

[Caleb Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew going into it that it was just a collection of his essays and reflections but I couldn't help but think that it just didn't really fit together well.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

C. S. Lewis' nonfiction works are admittedly hard for me to understand. While I simply could not grasp every word, I held on to a little, and my faith was deepened just a bit more. "How to Pray" left me with more questions than I went in with, but left also a new reverence for prayer as a whole. Prayer is essential to the Christian, and I hope I can one day have it flow from my heart as effortlessly as breathing!

[Madison Block · Rating 2 out of 5]

loveeee lewis, but this book was difficult for me to get through because each chapter/question was pulled from a different book/work of his. because his writing is so deep + rich, i had a hard time following + understanding his points without being able to read how he sets them up, if that makes sense!!

[Briann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a part of my Lenten spiritual practice. I hoped that this book might better develop how I view prayer, religion, and God. I found C.S. Lewis’ book philosophical and contemplative. I think it is interesting to note that the book was not composed by C.S. Lewis, however. Also, I was not a huge fan of poems being thrown into the middle of chapters (I found it very distracting). Overall, the book was pretty good. Some chapters, phrases, poems, metaphors, and analogies stuck with me. Others were complicated and confusing and ideas I might have to revisit and meditate on at a later date. The book also made me want to read Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.

I have included some parts that I found meaningful below.

✝️ Part of the poem “Prayer” ~ “Then, seeing me empty, you forsake the Listener’s role, and through my dead lips breathe an into utterance wake the thoughts I never knew. And thus you neither need reply nor can; thus, while we seem two talking, thou art One forever, and I no dreamer, but thy dream.”
🙏 "In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not. After that the idea that prayer is recommended to us as a soft of infallible gimmick may be dismissed.”
✝️ "For He seems to do nothing Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, or to fail. Perhaps we do not fully realize the problem, so to call it, of enabling finite free wills to co-exist with Omnipotence. It seems to involve at every moment almost a sort of divine abdication. We are not mere recipients or spectators. We are either privileged to share in the game or compelled to collaborate in the work, “to wield our little tridents.” Is this amazing process simply Creation going on before our eyes? This is how (no light matter) God makes something – indeed, makes gods – out of nothing.”
🙏 "Does God then forsake just those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, ‘Why hast thou forsaken me?’ When God becomes man, that Man, of all others, is least comforted by God, at His greatest need. There is a mystery here which, even if I had the power, I might not have the courage to explore.”
✝️ "No one ever attempted to show in what sense Christianity fulfilled Paganism or Paganism prefigured Christianity. The accepted position seemed to be that religions were normally a mere farrago of nonsense, though our own, by a fortunate exception, was exactly true. The other religions were not even explained, in the earlier Christian fashion, as the work of devils…. But the impression I got was that religion in general, though utterly false, was a natural growth, a kind of endemic nonsense into which humanity tended to blunder. In the midst of a thousand such religions stood our own, the thousand and first, labeled True. But on what grounds could I believe in this exception?”
🙏 From The Screwtape Letters ~ “When the patient is an adult recently reconverted to the Enemy’s party, like your man, this is best done by encouraging him to remember, or to think he remembers, the parrot-like nature of his prayers in childhood.”
✝️ From The Screwtape Letters ~ “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
🙏 "St. Augustine says, ‘God gives where He finds empty hands’. A man whose hands are full of parcels can’t receive a gift. Perhaps these parcels are not always sins or early cares, but sometimes our own fussy attempts to worship Him in our way.”
✝️ "The root principle of all these precautions is the same: to guard the things temporal.”
🙏 "Our life as Christians begins by being baptized into a death; our most joyous festivals begin with, and center upon, the broken body and the shed blood. There is thus a tragic depth in our worship which Judaism lacked. Our joy has to be the sort of joy which can coexist with that; there is for us a spiritual counterpoint where they had simple melody. But this does not in the least cancel the delighted debt which I, for one, feel that I owe to the most jocund Psalms.”

[Aron De Kraker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tegenvaller. Niet inhoudelijk, c.s. Lewis is steengoed, maar de opzet van het boekje is een blamage. Voelt aan als een poging om nog eens geld te verdienen over de rug van Lewis. Het is een bij elkaar geraspte collectie aan knipsels uit de werken van Lewis rondom het thema gebed. De redactie van het boek heeft boven elk stukje een vraag gezet waar het een stukje een antwoord op zou kunnen geven; een enkele keer doet het dat ook.
De genialiteit van Lewis ten spijt, een tegenvaller.

[Jake Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s hard not to give this one 5 stars. It’s a selection of excerpts from Lewis on prayer… and it’s CS Lewis, so they’re good.

While CS Lewis didn’t write this book in one contiguous sitting, as it is more of a coagulation of writings, the publisher did their job of posing a question about prayer in each chapter and then answering it with the chosen passage. I found myself both wanting to pray more frequently and honestly.

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of Lewis' best writing on prayer. He always claimed to desire to write a book ab out prayer, but didn't feel up to the task. Perhaps if he had lived longer he would have done it. But his other writing is filled with reflections on prayer, born out of a life devoted to prayer. This is helpfully collected here in this volume. Very much recommended.

[Juliana Petito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caro amigo leitor, antes de ler esse livro, tenha em mente de que não se trata de um obra única, que Lewis tenha escrito com introdução, desenvolvimento e conclusão. Não!

O livro foi publicado postumamente, e se trata de compilados de textos extraídos das inúmeras obras do autor.

Não espere também encontrar um manual ou cartilha com inúmeras regras que lhe guiará em uma jornada pela vida de oração. Longe disso. Os textos retratam o modo como o autor viveu e testemunhou uma caminhada de conversa íntima com Deus.

Cada capítulo é independente, e para os que nao têm essa intimidade com Deus, pode servir de guia, principalmente para os iniciantes.

Com relação à mensagem principal, para mim é: seja honesto, ao conversar com Deus não use máscara, não tente o engano ou autoengano. Seja humilde confie e entenda que até mesmo o "não" é resposta à nossa oração.

Ler C S Lewis é ter a certeza que sempre teremos grandes ensinamentos, já que seus textos mais do que palavras, são registros de sua Jornada.

"Palavras ensinam, exemplos arrastam!"

[Stephanie Sheaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is packaged in a lovely format - a small hardcover with a crisp navy and cream design. It's a book worthy of gift-giving.

That being said, I much prefer to read Lewis' books in their entirety rather than these topical excerpts. Because the book features letters and parts of his books, I didn't feel that I was able to truly capture the "essence" of what Lewis was saying.

[Marcos Vinicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sou suspeito para falar dos livros do C.S. Lewis. Esse livro reúne uma série de obras do autor, no qual, ele expõe as questões profundas da oração. Esse livro é recomendado para aqueles que querem refletir a importância da oração e como podemos utilizá-la para uma vida de comunicação harmoniosa com Deus. Um livro com muita sabedoria e reflexões profundas.

[Rodrigo Lira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por meio desta coletânea é possível compreender um pouco do pensamento de Lewis sobre a oração. Muitos insights preciosos estão contidos nesse livro.

[Jonathan Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

(An important note to make, as given by the subtitle of this book, is that this is not a book from C.S. Lewis. This is a collection of his essays and reflections in his other works)

Overall, I found this book to help remind me of the power of prayer!! Here are some key takeaways I had from this book:

1. Prayer is equally important for accomplishing God's will as our actions

· We are promised that God hears every prayer according to His will (1 John 5:14). However, we are not guaranteed that He will answer every prayer the way we asked Him to. This should not let me lose heart in prayer, however. God is an all-loving and all-loving Creator, and He knows what is best for me and His creation. Even if my prayers have been continually denied, there may be a future event's occurrence that is dependent upon my prayers for God's help. He invented both prayer and physical action to allow us to cooperate in His will (20)

"He made His own plan or plot of history such that it admits a certain amount of free play and can be modified in response to our prayers" (20)


2. I should pray to God with whatever I'm feeling or thinking about (in reverence/respect), not what I feel "obligated" or pressured to pray about!

· God knows the motives of my heart, so I shouldn't pray dishonestly about events or topics with a fake "devotional mood" or "spiritual feeling". I shouldn't try to manufacture these feelings or emotions within prayer. As Matt Chandler simply put it once, "Pray what you got!" Even if I believe many of the things I'm praying for may be excessive or minor, I should give it to God and let Him sort through my prayers as He desires to.

"It is no use to ask God with factitious earnestness for A when our whole mind is in reality filled with the desire for B. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us" (38)

"If we lay all the cards on the table, God will help us to moderate the excesses. But the pressure of things we are trying to keep out of our mind is a hopeless distraction. As someone said, 'No noise is so emphatic as one you are trying not to listen to'" (39)

3. God desires my whole-hearted devotion to Him, not any half-hearted or lukewarm efforts

"He can give that only in so far as our self-affirming will retires and makes room for Him in our souls...He cannot bless us unless He has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There is no bargaining with Him" (102)

Overall, I found these key takeaways to make my experience with this work enjoyable. I did feel many times that the organization and titles of the chapters weren't properly selected for the best coherence. Overall though, it was a great introduction for me to the works of C.S. Lewis. I plan to read his books in the future!

[Davi Fonteles Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

A estrutura de livros por vezes não são percebidas por nós, só quando elas fogem do convencional progressivo, ou mexa-se a temporalidade dos capítulos, zooms de perspectiva, etc, etc. Mas a estrutura mais física, que não faz parte da história, nem da narrativa de maneira incisiva, a nomeação dos capítulos e a expectativa de um sumário não é algo pensado, é mais implícito (suponho) para nós.

O ponto que quero chegar é que, quando livros são forjados por um elencar de junções supostamente unitárias para a publicação, como cartas, capítulos de outros livros e citações incluídas como complementação, a estrutura mais óbvia chama atenção. Chego então a um paradoxo positivo de que esse livro "Como Orar" (tradução BR) é problemático na expectativa estrutural de divisão de capítulos e ao mesmo tempo um excelente trabalho de propor uma narrativa relativamente didática sobre oração.

Bem, é o C.S Lewis, quando você menos espera ao terminar seu livro já está escrevendo como esse literata britânico. No mais, o ÓTIMO desse livro está realmente na finalização anti racional...que a oração é profundamente emocional, de pensamentos muito elevados em suposições como todo o complexo simples de oração funciona submetido a Deus.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“One mustn’t make the Christian life into a punctilious system of law ... for two reasons
1. It raises scruples when we don’t keep the routine.
2. It raises presumption when we do...” pg 90
“I sometimes suspect that what we feel to be our best prayers are really our worst; that what we are enjoying is the satisfaction of apparent success, as in executing a dance or reciting a poem...” pg 92
“Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith. I don’t agree at all they are afflictions not sins. Like all afflictions they are if we can so take them our share in the Passion of Christ. For the beginning of the Passion —the first move so to speak is in Gethsemane “ pg 146
These are some of the quotes that I found helpful in this little book of collected reflections and essays.
If you are serious about praying and appreciate the challenge of this Christian discipline read this book to find encouragement and comfort as you seek to pray effectively.

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars based on how much I enjoyed going through it. It is hard to read because it's disjointed, but they did try their best. As stated in the intro, C.S. Lewis wanted to write a book on prayer but abandoned the idea. It would be hard to go through all the works of an author and try to pick out their beliefs about a specific theology and then turn that into a cohesive book. So knowing what this book is, I can give it a little bit more grace... But it still was kind of hard to read because some things felt like they were taken out of context. I love C.S. Lewis's writings! Some of these were from books I've already read and some of them were from books I haven't read yet so I enjoyed revisiting material. Overall conclusion though, there are so many other books on prayer I would probably skip this one.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Pray by C.S. Lewis is a collection of his writings on prayer. Sourced from various other writings including both fiction and non-fiction books as well as letters, it is impressively patched together by the editor to provide a coherent discussion on various topics related to prayer. At times it is clear that it is a patchwork of other writings; however, since C.S. Lewis seemed to have very developed and consistent ideas on prayer, the ideas are consistent throughout even if there may be a few abrupt transitions.

One of my favorite ideas that C.S. Lewis explored was the idea of there being two ways in which we, as humans, are invited to take part in the Lord's plan - through action and through prayer. I think connecting prayer as a spiritual counterpart to physical action is a helpful framework.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally made time to read this in the mornings of a bookish retreat I attended over the weekend. I could read Lewis's work a million times and somehow it always feels like the first time. I always get something new out of it.

I loved this collection of essays and excerpts from some of my personal favorite works of his (The Screwtape Letters and A Grief Observed). Just when you think you know everything about prayer, you're hit with Lewis's wisdom and realized you have much more reflection and praying to do.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to be closer to God or be reintroduced to Him.

[Arianne See · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good collection of essays on the theology of prayer. Many philosophical and metaphysical concepts of time, free-will and determinism. Really really altered my view on prayer, it’s purpose and God’s response to our prayer. Of course that means it provided me with a better understanding of how God works too, and gave me a greater appreciation of who He is. Many moments in the book where I went “Wow God is really so so powerful and in control since He is truly beyond the constraints of time and space”. Deepens my trust in Him because of His great power.

[Kingslee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read through this collection very slowly but I feel as though you have to with good ole Lewis!

Really sweet as I started to process through what prayer really is this Summer! So many great points and quotes

“For he claims all, because He is love and must bless. He cannot bless us unless He has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with him.”

“Here is the Holy Ground, the bush is burning now”

So many more I could share !

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitate to even make a review, as this supposes one has "consumed" this book and put it back in its place on my pretty bookshelf, moved on from, finished, not to be revisited. But these little books of wisdom are to be read and re-read, thought over, enjoyed, and humble me in the process. These essays were short enough for devotions and ready for a quiet word as needed; I was not in a rush to finish; I savored every word. I hope some of it sticks but it will be re-visited.

[London Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow…just wow. This book was incredible. Lewis’ mind existed on a different plane that the average man will never even glimpse.

I have never read a better book on prayer. Ever.

If you have questions, read it thoroughly.

If you have no questions, read it much more thoroughly because you still have something to learn. Trust me.