The Basic Book of Catholic Prayer: How to Pray and Why

One problem I have with lots of books on prayer is they get too deep for me. This one was an easier read. It is not a "prayer book" in that it does not contain all the basic prayers, but focuses on how & why to pray. Loaded with references to scripture and chock full of statements on prayer from saints, this is a good resource to help get a bit "unstuck" in prayer life. It has five sections: 1) Develop an understanding of prayer, 2) Practice the forms of prayer, 3) Develop the qualities that make prayer effective, 4) Perfect your prayer, and 5) Let prayer permeate your life. This book has something in it for almost any Catholic, because those sections are written almost as a ladder, climbing from the bottom (understanding) to the top (permeation). I found the 'Forms of prayer" especially helpful at my stage in life, with a focus on meditation (that is not like the eastern transcendental movements). Nice book - recommend!

I really enjoyed reading this. It was a good primer on how to pray and why. There were many Biblical quotes and quotes from saints on prayer. The only downside, for which I don't think merits any loss of stars, is that I would have liked to have seen a recapitulation at the end of the text on best practices for prayer - perhaps a bulleted list. Otherwise, I highly recommend the book.

love it taught me a lot about prayer in which i was lacking.

Great Book, I love it!

Helped me a lot. Prayer is essential for a Christian to remind us what we believe and so that Our Lord can give us grace.

A good book on prayer, but it didn't resolve my problems with why God doesn't answer prayer.

Great book.

Good