Learning to Pray: How We Find Heaven on Earth

by Wayne Muller

In northern California, there is fog in the morning. Slowly, it clears. We know that the mountains, the trees, the sky are there, behind the fog, but we cannot see them with our eyes. Instead, we know them in our bodies; we know them for having seen them, felt them, watched the fog lift again and again…

This is prayer. This is deep, faithful listening, waiting for what is hidden to be revealed. Prayer is not words; prayer is what happens when you listen and wait, beneath the words, for the outline of heaven to emerge.
--From the Introduction Learning to Pray

Many who seek comfort and healing from prayer are unsure about how to pray. They feel awkward or uncomfortable, not knowing the “right” way to pray. What should prayer feel like, and what is it supposed to accomplish?

In this illuminating book, Wayne Muller offers simple yet profound guidance based on the Lord’s Prayer. It is the prayer most prayed in our culture--included in countless services, private devotions, and twelve-step meetings. Yet in its very familiarity we may underestimate its power to heal and transform our lives today. Now, in the same ecumenical spirit with which he approached the Sabbath, Muller gives us a fresh, new vision of this timeless prayer. “Every word, every phrase,” he says, “reveals some potent teaching about prayer.”

Starting with the word “our,” which reminds us that we never pray alone, and continuing phrase by phrase, Muller leads us into the heart of the prayer, to the assurance of a heaven available to us here and now. He explores how God responds to our needs and wants, how we can seek protection in a world full of danger and evil, and how we are called to forgiveness. He also gently confronts the difficulties that some people have experienced with the prayer. Each short section ends with a Prayer Practice to bring these simple teachings alive in our hearts and lives.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Religion, Prayer

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2003

Reviews

[Emily]

I love how Wayne Muller writes about spirituality. I can't wait to read this one.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let’s see now - take some William James on personal mystical experiences of uncertain origin as religion, some Emile Durkheim on religion as defined by the community, some Mircea Eliade on the importance of defining spaces and ritual in religion, a mediocre 100-level “Introduction to Eastern Religions” course and put it all in a blender to turn into mush. Then you’ll have something like this book.

This book is spiritual baby food for people who don’t know what carrots and broccoli and beef and chicken (actual religious beliefs and practices) are yet and don’t know what to do with them. It felt like the sort of book those earnest young people you meet in college who identify as Christian and Buddhist might like. Maybe this spiritual mush is the starter food someone out there needs to come to faith.

In general, I’d say, do yourself a favor and read some books on prayer from some religious traditions. Do you want a serious Christian spiritual book? Try An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. Do you want a serious Buddhist spiritual book? Try How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Learning to Pray simply isn’t worth most people’s time.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for me since we were studying the Lord's Prayer in SS. This book really gave me a lot of insight and helped me to see the LP in a whole new way.

[Sylvie M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep dive into the Lord's Prayer that will bring those powerful covenants to life as you move through your daily grind.

[Gale Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for prayer.