Prayer: A Guide for the Perplexed: (Guides for the Perplexed)

Central to the Christian life is the practice of prayer. But what, theologically speaking, is going on when we pray? What does prayer have to do with religious belief and action? Does prayer make a difference? Prayer: A Guide for the Perplexed addresses these and other key questions regarding the Christian theology of prayer. Beginning with Evagrius of Ponticus's 'On Prayer', Ashley Cocksworth finds in this early document a profound expression of the 'integrity' of the experience of prayer and theological thought. Seeking throughout to integrate systematic theology and the spirituality of prayer, individual chapters explore the meaning of some of the core doctrines of lived Christian faith – the Trinity, creation, providence, and the Christian life – as they relate to the practice of prayer. Complete with an annotated bibliography of sources on prayer to promote further reading, this volume appeals to academics and general readers alike.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. 'Kneeling theology': Evagrius of Ponticus on prayer 2. On the 'integrity' of prayer and theology 3. 'Enlarge our minds': prayer and the Trinity 4. Christ the pray-er, Christ the prayer 5. Petition and providence 6. The Christian life and the politics of prayer Appendix – An annotated bibliography of selected sources on prayer

About the Author :
Ashley Cocksworth is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Practice at the University of Roehampton, UK.

Review :
Written in an accessible style, it seeks to integrate prayer, theology and practice. This book hits a sweet spot in the market. By providing a framework for understanding the theological backdrop to prayer, the author seeks to fill a gap ... Here is a book that steps back a pace and tries to analyse what an understanding of doctrine can bring to the party, integrating prayer and theology in a historical analysis. This little book on prayer is one of the very best of its kind, and all the better for its limpid prose, unpretentious learning and accessible style. It probes back to the origins of Christian prayer and its theological base, tracing how its implicitly trinitarian shape was there from the start and has always animated Christian renewal. Along the way the reader will learn afresh of some of the great theorizers of prayer in the Christian tradition; but more importantly, the call to integrate prayer, theology and compassionate practice shines out as the Leitmotif of this remarkable little Guide'. So many reasons might draw potential readers to this admirable book, but piecemeal commendations would entirely miss the creative power of this deeply perceptive work. Here is a book in which prayer can be seen, and at least in part understood, transforming human minds, lives and social struggles by drawing them into the mystery of an inexhaustible Communion of life – a book in which we come to see how that Communion has been hidden at work all along, resourcing prayer and communicating a beckoning goodness beyond all bounds