Louise Douglas

I received this book as a free copy in exchange for a review from NetGalley.

I thought this was a great collection of prayers and meditations, although like some previous NetGalley books, I think my experience was diminished by the fact it was an ebook not a physical copy (this is in no way a reflection on the book itself, I just feel like it would lend itself better to something physical).

The book is comprised of contributions from a number of well-known and not so well-known (to me at least) authors, but although I couldn’t directly relate to each chapter, I could tell each one was written filled with heart and soul. Some were written to be read as a prayer, some as a guide to prayer, some as a meditation on how the author experiences prayer.

What the book wasn’t, was a book of straightforward prayers you could just reel off before you go to bed. It was full of challenge and things to make you think more deeply. It was full of ideas to make you think more creatively about the way that you’re praying. For example, one of the ideas was written in the form of a recipe which was so inspired and completely unique.

I think if I read this book a hundred times, a hundred different things would resonate with me, it’s the kind of book you want to come back to again and again to feel lifted and provoked into action by the words contained within.

I would like to share a couple of my favourite quotes, to give you a flavour of what you might expect:

“They prayed living room prayers because you don’t have to be inside the four walls of a church to cry out to the God who made you. Because no matter where you sing or scream or whisper God’s ears can hear you. And despite what the laws say or what our human flaws say God’s ears don’t play favourites.”

Isn’t this a perfect prayer for the situation we find ourselves in now, all separated from each other and from the church building we would usually gather in. How comforting to be reminded that God can always hear us.

“You don’t have to be productive and you don’t have to change the world. You’re already so loved.

You don’t have to be smart. You don’t have to be simple. You don’t have to read all the right books by the right people. You’re already so loved.”

I could share many more quotes, they’re all saved in my phone for me to come back to when I need reminding of how loved I am and how precious my relationship with God is. But I would whole-heartedly recommend you pick up a copy of this book. If it’s physical, make use of the journalling space at the back, and just savour the beautiful words within.

I’ve been following Rev. Chris on instagram for a while and have loved his 60 second sermons that he posts to give a brief moment of pause during the day. When I saw that he was bringing out a book, I had to pre-order it.

Each chapter in the book starts with one of Chris’ 60 second sermons, then continues on with that topic. Topics including Positivity, Prayer, Humble Confidence, Death and Grief, and Love.

Each chapter is part personal story, part sermon/explanation and fully backed with biblical truth. The book equally would suit dipping in and out for a particular topic, or like I did, reading all the way through.

So many times through the book, I felt completely seen, like it was just what I needed to read right now, so perfectly timed.

“The modern world is so noisy and invasive, and nor do we help ourselves much when it comes to finding inner peace. Your alarm goes off in the morning and wrenches you from sleep. You immediately look at the worrying news on your phone, and then move on to your social network feeds. You grab a quick breakfast and put the radio or TV on, then on the commute to work you’ve probably got earphones on, listening to music. Then, once at work, perhaps you put your computer on and go straight into ‘task’ mode. But at what point have you taken a breath and been sufficiently still, to remind yourself that you are an amazing creative human being waking up to a fresh and beautiful day that is full of amazing possibilities?”

I think if I could take one thing from reading this, it would be the need to slow down and spend time with God. The chapter on prayer particularly gave me a lot to think about, but there were valuable and relatable insights to take from each chapter.

“Just as the sea drains all rivers but never fills up, social media consumes all your time and never blinks as it drinks”

I would recommend this book to anyone, Christian or not. There’s a lot to take from it even if you don’t believe, but if you do, there’s so much more depth. I’ll leave you with this closing quote from Rev. Chris:

“I want you to know that God loves you in all your fragility, even when you doubt yourself. Never forget your worth, and that your very life is a miracle.”

Having no art background and having not ever gone to art galleries or spent time looking at art, I’m probably not the target audience for this book.

But then again, maybe I’m exactly the target audience, because I found this book absolutely fascinating.

Filled with some pictures that I’d seen before and a lot I’d never come across, this book opened my eyes to the deeper meanings behind the canvas.

Each picture comes alongside a blurb explaining what we see and a deeper explanation of the meaning behind some of the elements of the painting. Things that I’d never consider, like why a particular painting may be light in one area and dark in another and what significance that might have.

“It is a supremely beautiful picture, where light and shade in themselves are used to tell a story; the darkness, the shadow, is passing away to the upper right and light is coming in, flooding over Jesus and calling him back to the warmth of the world. “

I guess these might be things that other people would just see and understand, but for an art newbie like me, there were some real lightbulb moments.

As I said before, some of the paintings in the book I had definitely seen in the past, but some of them were completely new to me. All of them however had something to say.

I think the only dampener on my experience was the fact that because I’m reading this as an advanced copy from NetGalley, it’s in ebook format and this book doesn’t really lend itself well to an ebook – the pictures were really small so I had to keep Googling them on my phone to appreciate them properly – I’d definitely recommend choosing a physical copy over digital.

I think this would be the perfect book to read over lent, taking a picture each day and allowing yourself time to just sit and appreciate the details, before allowing Sister Wendy’s beautiful words to complete that picture for you and praying over the things that you can see.

What better way to lead up to Easter Sunday than to appreciate how different artists have interpreted the events of Holy Week and Easter, and have those paintings explained to you with such passion and depth of knowledge.