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Prayer Made Simple
This booklet shows how to pray according to the Christian tradition from the beginning, incorporating helpful advice and teaching from the great saints, monks and mystics over the ages.
It is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.
It is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.
52 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 8, 2018
11 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
David Torkington
37 books24 followersDavid Torkington is a Spiritual Theologian, Author and Speaker, who specializes in Prayer, Christian Spirituality and Mystical Theology.
He has sold over 400,000 books in more than twelve different languages. He was educated at the Franciscan Study Centre, England and the National Catholic Radio and Television Centre, Hatch End, London where he was appointed to the post of Dean of Studies.
He was extra mural lecturer in Mystical Theology at the Dominican University in Rome (The Angelicum). In addition to giving Retreats and lecturing all over Europe, he undertook five prolonged lecture tours to Africa, mainly Equatorial Africa, speaking on Prayer and Spirituality to Religious, Monks, Diocesan Priests and lay people.
His latest book is The Primacy of Loving.
He is a member of The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, London
He has sold over 400,000 books in more than twelve different languages. He was educated at the Franciscan Study Centre, England and the National Catholic Radio and Television Centre, Hatch End, London where he was appointed to the post of Dean of Studies.
He was extra mural lecturer in Mystical Theology at the Dominican University in Rome (The Angelicum). In addition to giving Retreats and lecturing all over Europe, he undertook five prolonged lecture tours to Africa, mainly Equatorial Africa, speaking on Prayer and Spirituality to Religious, Monks, Diocesan Priests and lay people.
His latest book is The Primacy of Loving.
He is a member of The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, London
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 5, 2019
David Torkington is the author of a prayer series I have been following for some weeks now on Spiritual Direction one of my two daily email subscriptions. The more I have read his posts, the better I have liked him, so I eventually broke down and ordered this little book. I confess I wanted to buy his whole corpus of work, but I know my days are limited … not mention the books which already cry out to me from every room in the house.
Prayer Made Simple delivers what it advertises. The book is diminutive and can be easily slipped into a pocket, purse or Bible case. The chapters are concise and each good for individual meditation. My favorite was the one on Thanksgiving where he suggested thanking God simply for BEING God, ‘When I first began to thank God for being God, it was as if I was raised beyond myself and into God’s world, if only for a brief moment when my prayer life reached higher peaks than ever before.’
He suggests we try this little experiment, which I did. And while it is true we do not pray for ecstasies or the good feelings we get from prayer, I was indeed lifted up and out of my own petty little world of trivial thoughts and foolish worries. I intend to make that specific prayer a regular part of prayer time from now on, because as he goes on to write, ‘Thanking God for being leads into the heights of prayer where thanksgiving leads to praise, and praise to glorifying God. Glorifying God leads to adoration when we just want to gaze upon Him with a profound reverence and awe that takes us out of ourselves ... (which) has paved the way for our love to enter into God and his love to enter into us in a way and on a level that has not happened in quite the same way before.’ So, if for no other reason than this wisdom, I found this book worth its weight in gold.
But there is more, Mr. Torkington has also given us a mnemonic for the ‘Our Father’ which is helpful for remembering and organizing our Morning and Evening Prayer requirements. The ‘Our’ covers the Morning essentials and ‘Father’ is Nighttime checklist:
O: The Morning Offering
U: In Union with the Mystical Body
R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
F: Faith in Our Risen LORD
A: Abandonment
T: Thanksgiving
H: Holy Communion*
E: Examination of Conscience
R: Repentance
EXCELLENT! For neophytes as well as those whose prayer lives may have stalled out.
*As for Holy Communion coming as an Evening or Nighttime Prayer, Torkington reminds us that when Jesus gave us this prayer, daily Mass was not available as it is today for so many in the West. He reminds us to reflect on the Holy Communion taking place between us and Our Savior who dwells silently within, waiting for us to acknowledge His mysterious Presence.
Prayer Made Simple delivers what it advertises. The book is diminutive and can be easily slipped into a pocket, purse or Bible case. The chapters are concise and each good for individual meditation. My favorite was the one on Thanksgiving where he suggested thanking God simply for BEING God, ‘When I first began to thank God for being God, it was as if I was raised beyond myself and into God’s world, if only for a brief moment when my prayer life reached higher peaks than ever before.’
He suggests we try this little experiment, which I did. And while it is true we do not pray for ecstasies or the good feelings we get from prayer, I was indeed lifted up and out of my own petty little world of trivial thoughts and foolish worries. I intend to make that specific prayer a regular part of prayer time from now on, because as he goes on to write, ‘Thanking God for being leads into the heights of prayer where thanksgiving leads to praise, and praise to glorifying God. Glorifying God leads to adoration when we just want to gaze upon Him with a profound reverence and awe that takes us out of ourselves ... (which) has paved the way for our love to enter into God and his love to enter into us in a way and on a level that has not happened in quite the same way before.’ So, if for no other reason than this wisdom, I found this book worth its weight in gold.
But there is more, Mr. Torkington has also given us a mnemonic for the ‘Our Father’ which is helpful for remembering and organizing our Morning and Evening Prayer requirements. The ‘Our’ covers the Morning essentials and ‘Father’ is Nighttime checklist:
O: The Morning Offering
U: In Union with the Mystical Body
R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
F: Faith in Our Risen LORD
A: Abandonment
T: Thanksgiving
H: Holy Communion*
E: Examination of Conscience
R: Repentance
EXCELLENT! For neophytes as well as those whose prayer lives may have stalled out.
*As for Holy Communion coming as an Evening or Nighttime Prayer, Torkington reminds us that when Jesus gave us this prayer, daily Mass was not available as it is today for so many in the West. He reminds us to reflect on the Holy Communion taking place between us and Our Savior who dwells silently within, waiting for us to acknowledge His mysterious Presence.
January 1, 2022
Wow! This is a wonderful little volume. Over the last few years I have read over 250 books from the Catholic Truth Society, many from the Prayers and Devotions Series. There are so many wonderful books and booklets from the CTS. And this is an excellent offering. And it looks like the beginning of a wonderful trilogy, for in the end of the book it mentions two companion volumes:
Meditation Made Simple
Contemplation Made Simple
I am very much looking forward to those volumes. But back to this book. The description of this book is:
“This booklet is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.
This booklet shows how to pray according to the Christian tradition from the beginning, incorporating helpful advice and teaching from the great saints, monks and mystics over the ages.
It is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.”
It is a simple guide on prayer but it is also a very profound book. I could easily see it becoming a Christian classic along the lines of The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. The chapters in this book are:
1 The Sun that Never Sets
2 Where Time Touches Eternity
3 The Spiritual Escalator
4 It’s All in the Trying
5 It is in Giving that we Receive
6 The Quality of our Endeavour
7 From Here to Eternity
8 Journey’s End
9 The Journey Begins
10 O: The Morning Offering
11 U: In Union with the Mystical Body
12 R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
13 F: Faith in Our Risen Lord
14 A: Abandonment
15 T: Thanksgiving
16 H: Holy Communion
17 E: Examination of Conscience
18 R: Repentance
19 Morning Prayer
20 Evening Prayer
21 The Prayer without Ceasing
At the beginning of this book, after the title page the author states:
“If our main preoccupation is prayer it does not mean that we are blind to the political, social or theological problems that beset the world. It means rather that we realise what must come first. Seek first God and his Kingdom of love and then everything else will be given to you.
Prayer is the place where this search begins.”
The book is one on great value. It is a small volume but an excellent work. Torkington provides excellent insights into the why and the how of prayer. He also gives us a mnemonic for the Our Father:
O: The Morning Offering
U: In Union with the Mystical Body
R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
F: Faith in Our Risen LORD
A: Abandonment
T: Thanksgiving
H: Holy Communion*
E: Examination of Conscience
R: Repentance
This is a great tool no matter how much work you believe your prayer life needs, or even if you have progressed well in your personal discipline of prayer. David has a true gift for teaching about the spiritual life, and especially prayer. This book is neither too basic nor too complicated. It is an excellent little book that I believe every Christian could benefit from reading. It is another amazing resource from the Catholic Truth Society.
Read reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society on my blog Book Reviews and More.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!
Meditation Made Simple
Contemplation Made Simple
I am very much looking forward to those volumes. But back to this book. The description of this book is:
“This booklet is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.
This booklet shows how to pray according to the Christian tradition from the beginning, incorporating helpful advice and teaching from the great saints, monks and mystics over the ages.
It is a simple, practical guide on prayer, and how to implement and benefit from it in daily life, not least in acts of love and a new ‘worship in spirit and truth’.”
It is a simple guide on prayer but it is also a very profound book. I could easily see it becoming a Christian classic along the lines of The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. The chapters in this book are:
1 The Sun that Never Sets
2 Where Time Touches Eternity
3 The Spiritual Escalator
4 It’s All in the Trying
5 It is in Giving that we Receive
6 The Quality of our Endeavour
7 From Here to Eternity
8 Journey’s End
9 The Journey Begins
10 O: The Morning Offering
11 U: In Union with the Mystical Body
12 R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
13 F: Faith in Our Risen Lord
14 A: Abandonment
15 T: Thanksgiving
16 H: Holy Communion
17 E: Examination of Conscience
18 R: Repentance
19 Morning Prayer
20 Evening Prayer
21 The Prayer without Ceasing
At the beginning of this book, after the title page the author states:
“If our main preoccupation is prayer it does not mean that we are blind to the political, social or theological problems that beset the world. It means rather that we realise what must come first. Seek first God and his Kingdom of love and then everything else will be given to you.
Prayer is the place where this search begins.”
The book is one on great value. It is a small volume but an excellent work. Torkington provides excellent insights into the why and the how of prayer. He also gives us a mnemonic for the Our Father:
O: The Morning Offering
U: In Union with the Mystical Body
R: Reviewing the Day Ahead
F: Faith in Our Risen LORD
A: Abandonment
T: Thanksgiving
H: Holy Communion*
E: Examination of Conscience
R: Repentance
This is a great tool no matter how much work you believe your prayer life needs, or even if you have progressed well in your personal discipline of prayer. David has a true gift for teaching about the spiritual life, and especially prayer. This book is neither too basic nor too complicated. It is an excellent little book that I believe every Christian could benefit from reading. It is another amazing resource from the Catholic Truth Society.
Read reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society on my blog Book Reviews and More.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews