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Pray Fully: Simple Steps for Becoming a Woman of Prayer
“I feel silly trying to make up prayers myself.”
“My mind starts to wander as I am speaking to God.”
“I just don’t have time to pray.”
Do you recognize yourself in any of these statements? Then Pray Fully is for you. Michele Faehnle and Emily Jaminet—bestselling authors of Divine Mercy for Moms and The Friendship Project—share the rewards and frustrations of their own prayer journeys to create a practical guide that combines testimonies, tips, and journaling space to help you spend quality time with God. Whether you want to learn how to pray aloud in a group or to stop your mind from wandering during prayer, Faehnle and Jaminet have practical advice and the real-life experience to help you overcome obstacles to everyday prayer.
Both raised in Catholic families who spent time in prayer, Faehnle and Jaminet wanted to experience a relationship with God that consisted of more than Sunday Mass and an occasional panicked Rosary or a rushed cry for help. They each found that the noisy, self-centered monologue of their youth grew into a fuller, more mature dialogue of love when they gave time to God and began to truly listen to him.
In Pray Fully, Faehnle and Jaminet share basic prayer principles that have helped them to become women of prayer:
make time for personal, daily communication with Jesus
spend time meditating and engaging in other spiritual practices such as adoration or the Examen
recognize the critical times of each day when you need a “prayer boost”
live deeply in the sacraments and enrich your life with sacramentals
record your intentions and thank God for answered prayer
Encouraging stories and practical advice—including tips from the lives and writings of the saints—questions for personal reflection and private meditation, and journaling space will help you develop a lifelong dialogue with God.
The book is perfect for individual or group study.
“My mind starts to wander as I am speaking to God.”
“I just don’t have time to pray.”
Do you recognize yourself in any of these statements? Then Pray Fully is for you. Michele Faehnle and Emily Jaminet—bestselling authors of Divine Mercy for Moms and The Friendship Project—share the rewards and frustrations of their own prayer journeys to create a practical guide that combines testimonies, tips, and journaling space to help you spend quality time with God. Whether you want to learn how to pray aloud in a group or to stop your mind from wandering during prayer, Faehnle and Jaminet have practical advice and the real-life experience to help you overcome obstacles to everyday prayer.
Both raised in Catholic families who spent time in prayer, Faehnle and Jaminet wanted to experience a relationship with God that consisted of more than Sunday Mass and an occasional panicked Rosary or a rushed cry for help. They each found that the noisy, self-centered monologue of their youth grew into a fuller, more mature dialogue of love when they gave time to God and began to truly listen to him.
In Pray Fully, Faehnle and Jaminet share basic prayer principles that have helped them to become women of prayer:
make time for personal, daily communication with Jesus
spend time meditating and engaging in other spiritual practices such as adoration or the Examen
recognize the critical times of each day when you need a “prayer boost”
live deeply in the sacraments and enrich your life with sacramentals
record your intentions and thank God for answered prayer
Encouraging stories and practical advice—including tips from the lives and writings of the saints—questions for personal reflection and private meditation, and journaling space will help you develop a lifelong dialogue with God.
The book is perfect for individual or group study.
160 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2020
20 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 19, 2020
Such encouragement is found amongst the pages of this book!
Women give their own testimony and tips as their share their prayer journeys with you.
Basic prayer principles and prayer journaling are found within.
"In Pray Fully, Faehnle and Jaminet share basic prayer principles that have helped them to become women of prayer"
You will fully enrich your prayer life with this book and it's encouraging prayers,tips,journaling .
Wonderful addition to the Catholic library.
Expected publication: February 21st 2020 by Ave Maria Press
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
Women give their own testimony and tips as their share their prayer journeys with you.
Basic prayer principles and prayer journaling are found within.
"In Pray Fully, Faehnle and Jaminet share basic prayer principles that have helped them to become women of prayer"
You will fully enrich your prayer life with this book and it's encouraging prayers,tips,journaling .
Wonderful addition to the Catholic library.
Expected publication: February 21st 2020 by Ave Maria Press
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
March 18, 2020
A lot of books cross my desk, and among those books which are both Catholic and for women, there are quite a few that focus on prayer.
We Catholic women are a prayerful lot, aren’t we?
Or, at least, that’s what the publishers must think.
I don’t think they’re wrong.
But I do think it takes a special sort of book to actually, you know, work.
For one thing, how hard can prayer be? Sit in your seat and DO IT.
Easy for me to say, right? I’m a type A person and nearly perfect. Just ask my kids.
According to a survey quoted in the introduction, Michele Faehnle — co-founder of the wonderful Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference so many of us attend and love — reports that “only 51 percent of Catholic women surveyed pray daily.” She continues, “Yes, it can be difficult to carve out time with God, and to learn to pray. On the other hand, prayer cannot be something we leave on the back burner and only pull out in times of need. Prayer is the lifeblood of our faith, a two-way conversation with God that alternately comforts, strengthens, and inspires.”
What follows is seven chapters that have some of the best done journaling prompts and discussion ideas I’ve ever seen in a book of this sort. I’m not a journaler, to be honest, and I usually roll my eyes when there are discussion questions. What Faehnle and Jamimet have done here, though, is amazingly approachable and provoking.
The book alternates between the two voices of Faehnle and Jamimet, and each chapter includes an introduction that will probably make you nod along, tips and practical advice for applying prayer to the situation, an introduction to a type of prayer, a short introduction to a saint, quotes and insight from the saint, and a prayer prompt.
Sprinkled throughout, in ways that are natural and feel almost like a friend interrupting to say, “Hey. Let’s talk RIGHT NOW THIS VERY MINUTE!” are discussion paragraphs. Unlike the three-to-five questions you find at the end of every. single. book. for. women. these days, these feel like they’re actually discussions. Like people are listening. Like someone cares about the answers.
Mind you, I was reading ALONE. BY MYSELF.
I picked this book up with no small amount of skepticism and walked away completely enchanted. At last, a book that will not just tell me the what and how, but whose authors walk with me and serve as companions on the journey to heaven. I not only highly recommend it, I invite you to pray along.
We Catholic women are a prayerful lot, aren’t we?
Or, at least, that’s what the publishers must think.
I don’t think they’re wrong.
But I do think it takes a special sort of book to actually, you know, work.
For one thing, how hard can prayer be? Sit in your seat and DO IT.
Easy for me to say, right? I’m a type A person and nearly perfect. Just ask my kids.
According to a survey quoted in the introduction, Michele Faehnle — co-founder of the wonderful Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference so many of us attend and love — reports that “only 51 percent of Catholic women surveyed pray daily.” She continues, “Yes, it can be difficult to carve out time with God, and to learn to pray. On the other hand, prayer cannot be something we leave on the back burner and only pull out in times of need. Prayer is the lifeblood of our faith, a two-way conversation with God that alternately comforts, strengthens, and inspires.”
What follows is seven chapters that have some of the best done journaling prompts and discussion ideas I’ve ever seen in a book of this sort. I’m not a journaler, to be honest, and I usually roll my eyes when there are discussion questions. What Faehnle and Jamimet have done here, though, is amazingly approachable and provoking.
The book alternates between the two voices of Faehnle and Jamimet, and each chapter includes an introduction that will probably make you nod along, tips and practical advice for applying prayer to the situation, an introduction to a type of prayer, a short introduction to a saint, quotes and insight from the saint, and a prayer prompt.
Sprinkled throughout, in ways that are natural and feel almost like a friend interrupting to say, “Hey. Let’s talk RIGHT NOW THIS VERY MINUTE!” are discussion paragraphs. Unlike the three-to-five questions you find at the end of every. single. book. for. women. these days, these feel like they’re actually discussions. Like people are listening. Like someone cares about the answers.
Mind you, I was reading ALONE. BY MYSELF.
I picked this book up with no small amount of skepticism and walked away completely enchanted. At last, a book that will not just tell me the what and how, but whose authors walk with me and serve as companions on the journey to heaven. I not only highly recommend it, I invite you to pray along.
February 26, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley & Ave Maria Press for a free copy for an honest review
What a delightful book! Although not long, there is an overflowing buffet of ideas, thoughts, stories, prayers, meditation & prayer exercises throughout. It covers almost any mood, state of mind, experiences that a woman may have had or where they are currently in their faith journey.
I liked the use of a particular saint to correspond with the chapter's topic. It helps in grounding the thoughts in reality. The concept of journaling as you pray is wonderful. If you have the paper version of this book, it sounds like there is blank space at the back to do so. If you have a digital version, you can either make notes on your device or have a separate journal to write in.
I read a little bit at a time during my Eucharistic Adoration hour and incorporated the ideas from this book. It has really helped in deepening my prayer life. While I have heard some of these thoughts before, this book puts many of those together in one package. It may be geared towards women; but anyone could benefit from this.
This would be a fantastic resource to use at a retreat. Highly recommend
What a delightful book! Although not long, there is an overflowing buffet of ideas, thoughts, stories, prayers, meditation & prayer exercises throughout. It covers almost any mood, state of mind, experiences that a woman may have had or where they are currently in their faith journey.
I liked the use of a particular saint to correspond with the chapter's topic. It helps in grounding the thoughts in reality. The concept of journaling as you pray is wonderful. If you have the paper version of this book, it sounds like there is blank space at the back to do so. If you have a digital version, you can either make notes on your device or have a separate journal to write in.
I read a little bit at a time during my Eucharistic Adoration hour and incorporated the ideas from this book. It has really helped in deepening my prayer life. While I have heard some of these thoughts before, this book puts many of those together in one package. It may be geared towards women; but anyone could benefit from this.
This would be a fantastic resource to use at a retreat. Highly recommend
March 1, 2020
Do you really pray, or do you just rattle off a rote prayer before bed and go to Mass? This book contains excellent suggestions for praying more fully, and having a meaningful relationship with Jesus. These include telling him all your worries, staying quiet and waiting for answers, and spiritual exercises, It is also important to follow the example of the saints, and to pray more profoundly during Mass. The authors explain how these will help clearly and concisely.
Prayer requires time and effort, and this book will assist you to develop the practice.
I received this ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Prayer requires time and effort, and this book will assist you to develop the practice.
I received this ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
January 2, 2020
I very much enjoyed this book. I love reading stories of prayer, and these book was full of them. It was encouraging but not heavy-handed, and pulled a lot of meditative, Ignatian style prayers alongside lectio divina. It never strayed far from it's goal or into overwrought saccharine piety or complicated long prayer. I think it's good for people who feel pulled to prayer but don't quite "get there" so to speak, whether due to stray thoughts or busy lives or whatever else.
I will say: read with a journal. There are many prompts that will help you jump start your prayer time if needed.
I will say: read with a journal. There are many prompts that will help you jump start your prayer time if needed.
March 20, 2020
This fantastic book really helped boost my prayer. With practical ideas that are helpful to even the busiest of wives, moms and full-time workers Michele and Emily show us why prayer is so important and how we can make time for it. My favorite parts are the personal stories they share that everyone can relate to and the journaling prompts that help you to stop and think how apply their message to your prayer life. Another great part is the stories about various saints and how to mimic their prayer lives.
February 21, 2020
Pray Fully: Simple Steps for Becoming a Woman of Prayer (Ave Maria Press) is written from that friend-to-friend point of view that Michele Faehnle and Emily Jaminet do so well. Taking turns chapter by chapter, they share their own stories of struggles and victories in prayer, offering advice based on what they’ve learned the hard way.
Read my full review.
Read my full review.
June 4, 2025
Pray Fully is an interesting how-to manual written by two women of faith, both Catholics. This would be a great book for a new Christian looking for guidance in her prayer life. Easy to read and understand, I enjoyed this one although I am well versed in prayer. The book also has many stories from women as well.
November 17, 2020
Choose this book for our Catholic book club - wonderful choice! We have read one other book from these authors and their books are truly inspirational. If you are looking for a kickstart or to refresh your prayer life, this book has some really great ideas.
February 16, 2020
This is a lovely book on how to deepen your prayer life, with concrete tips and practices from various saints, journaling questions, and prayers. A rich addition to a Catholic library!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews