A Beginner's Guide to Prayer: The Orthodox Way to Draw Closer to God

by Michael Keiser

This is a book for those struggling to establish an effective life of prayer. Written neither for seasoned monastic nor lofty scholar, "A Beginner's Guide to Prayer" speaks to the average man or woman on the street who desires a deeper relationship with God but is unsure how or where to begin. Drawing from nearly 2000 years of Orthodox spiritual wisdom, the author offers warm, practical, pastoral advice whose genius is to be found in its homespun simplicity and straight-forwardness of style. If you've been desiring to make prayer a meaningful and regular part of your life, this book will help set you on your way. But be careful! Prayer can be habit forming! In fact, the advice offered in this book may just change the course of the rest of your life. So, in the words of the author, "What are you waiting for? Start to pray!"

Genres: Prayer, Religion, Christianity, Spirituality

104 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2003

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great primer on the prayer life with clear direction. I especially liked the chapters on honesty in prayer and meditation - I never had a clear understanding of what meditation is until I read that part. I think everyone can get something out of this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy read for any Christian, Orthodox or not. Helpful for the beginner or for those whose prayer is more "advanced". Easy to read and engaging.

[Rani H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that this is probably a great book for many. And I did learn some new things. But it felt full of “church talk” that I’ve heard a lot. Maybe this is a problem on my part—suspicious of what my church tells me about prayer, going to a book for “professional” help, and then doubting the advice because it echos what my church has been telling me all along.
A reminding sort of book rather than a fresh approach. Whatever that means.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on prayer. Love the way the author seemed to encourage rather than condemn.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 100 page book gets to the heart of the matter quickly. It starts with a very essential question of why we should pray and answers it beautifully with the words, "We pray as a response to love, and we pray in order to love." He then goes on to give practical advice of using the KISS method (Keep it short and simple) and setting up an icon corner in your house as a central point for prayer.

In the two longest chapters, Mr. Keiser deals with something we all struggle with when praying: distractions and demons. Distractions so far are the problem I have the most when praying. I might be encountering demons. I am unsure on that one, and don't want to speculate one way or the other. But these are two things that we all struggle with and must be aware of and fighting against in order to pray more effectively. He also reminds us not to get too cocky in our prayer life, as that is a sure fire way to slip up and fall.

Overall, I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars as it was a highly beneficial book to me, even though I am not Orthodox Christian. The language is clear. The message is solid. And it is just the right length for beginners, though you can still get something out of it if you are an intermediate or advance prayer. Check out my other book reviews at http://stuartsstudy.blogspot.com

[Andrew Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many times have you heard a sermon suggesting you pray more? Yeah - me too. And then no clue as to what to do - so you end up telling God what he already knows then telling him what you think he ought to do about it.

This little book gets you started - it isn't rocket science, but requires some discipline. The author also flags up pitfalls - how to keep going, avoiding waffle, avoiding pride, etc. Great work.

[Russel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good, encouraging book. It gives advice on how to get started with prayer and also on ways to avoid common pitfalls. It is written from the Orthodox perspective, but I think that it would be a worthy read by any Christian. It's a short, practical book.

[Justin Aldrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I didn't understand prayer or why it was important. Apparently though, as this book points out, prayer is the very essence of relationship to God. A very good read.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little book. Highly recommend.