Practicing Prayer A Daily Workbook

by Alexander Goussetis

Developing a habit of prayer is crucial to the Christian life, but many people find the process confusing and intimidating. In this 28-day workbook, Fr. Alexander Goussetis breaks the process down into accessible steps. With each day's exercise, you will practice and journal about a new aspect of prayer, gradually incorporating each one into a sustainable daily prayer rule that is customized for you.

Genres: Christian

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Carrie Gaynor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful guide for opening your mind about prayer. I thought prayers had to be one way - you pray the trisagion, you pray for the people in your life, etc - and this book opened me up to other ways and means of prayer and quiet time. You can read two paragraphs from a saint. You can write a psalm (what!). You can breathe. It’s beginning to feel open and free and I’m eager to explore.

[Theresa Madrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is prayer? I have experienced it as structured words I memorized and telling God what I and those who asked me to pray, wanted, needed and asking for Him to bless and heal us. While those different aspects have their place and we are encouraged to bring our needs and the needs of others before God, what I had never been good about is how to be quiet before God.

One of the practices revolved around reminding us that a dialogue does require that we sometimes be quiet and listen. Fr. Goussetis relates a story about a woman who prayed unceasingly for many years and never felt the presence of God. When asked if she ever allowed God a word, she explained that she was always talking because that is what she thought prayer was. I could relate to that and the excercises that related to silence/stillness/breathing were my favorite ones.

Fr. Goussetis provides simple, structured exercises highlighting many variations of prayer. It is a wonderful tool and I recommend this book to anyone, regardless of how long or recently they have started to pray to God. There were many helpful suggestions and can see myself returning to this book often.

A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review

[Melissa Cleaveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this journal. I have only been introduced to the Orthodox church in the last few years. Growing up in protestant churches, prayer is very informal and there is very little instruction. I have done a Bible study where we used scripture in prayer, but the idea of a prayer space only came up as an idea in the movie War Room. During my life I often wondered how to pray. Father Goussetis does a wonderful job of explaining, in very simple terms, prayer for people coming from any background. He leads us by the hand as we read this book from setting up our prayer space and quieting our minds, to what content we can look to for words to pray. Each day has exercises, and as the days go on there is more space for guided reflection. The kind and gentle words he uses are very encouraging and make me inspired to begin a faithful prayer rule that is so much more personal and fulfilling than I could have imagined that it could be. I appreciate the Orthodox Prayer Book, and the beauty that it holds, but this aptly named workbook takes it one step further guiding us to put the prayers of the Church into our own practice.