BAREFOOT PRAYERS

A meditation a day for Lent and Easter

Stephen Cherry

First published in Great Britain in 2013

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

36 Causton Street

London SW1P 4ST

www.spckpublishing.co.uk

Copyright © Stephen Cherry 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-281-07125-8

eBook ISBN 978-0-281-07126-5

eBook by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

For Rachel: daughter, friend and companion

The voice of prayer is never silent.

John Ellerton

Contents

An introduction in three parts

The voice of prayer

Barefoot praying

When the silence stops

Week 1

Gatherings

Sunday: Love

Monday: Fullness of Life

Shrove Tuesday: Feast

Ash Wednesday: Repentance

Thursday: Breath of God

Friday: Bread

Saturday: Hospitality

Week 2

Awakenings

Sunday: Awakening

Monday: Psalm of the Dawn

Tuesday: Important Commission

Wednesday: To Do List

Thursday: May This Day Be Blessed

Friday: The Day Looks Dull

Saturday: Litany for a New Day

Week 3

Occasions

Sunday: On Receiving Thanks

Monday: Coffee Break

Tuesday: Listening Day

Wednesday: Speaking Day

Thursday: Moving House

Friday: After a Holiday

Saturday: Evensong

Week 4

Puzzles

Sunday: Mindful

Monday: Bodies

Tuesday: Loneliness

Wednesday: Emptiness

Thursday: Hatred

Friday: Disappointment

Saturday: The Unlovely

Week 5

Responses

Sunday: Doing Justice

Monday: On Hearing the News

Tuesday: Rain

Wednesday: The Lost

Thursday: People With Nowhere to Sit

Friday: Those Who Cry Out

Saturday: A Heart of Grace

Week 6

Virtues

Sunday: Patience

Monday: Simplicity

Tuesday: Gentleness

Wednesday: Irony

Thursday: Courage

Friday: Kindness

Saturday: Generosity

Week 7

Deeps

Palm Sunday: Hosanna

Monday: Pain

Tuesday: Untie My Depths

Wednesday: Monochrome

Maundy Thursday: Too Difficult

Good Friday: Mysterious Cross

Holy Saturday: Contemplation

Week 8

Horizons

Easter Sunday: Embracing the Mystery

Monday: O Thou!

Tuesday: Reconciliation

Wednesday: Joy

Thursday: Breeze

Friday: Dying

Saturday: Amen

Thanks

An introduction in three parts

The voice of prayer

Prayer is an extremely common human activity. As John Ellerton put it in a famous hymn, ‘the voice of prayer is never silent / nor dies the strain of praise away’.1 It takes myriad forms and transpires in countless contexts. Yet it is also strange and riddled with paradox. We associate it with our ...

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About Barefoot Prayers: A Meditation a Day for Lent and Easter

Stephen Cherry’s latest book is a sequence of beautifully crafted prayer meditations, providing simple yet profound spiritual nourishment for the Lenten season. Barefoot Prayers gives an engaging introduction to the different ways that prayer can work in the lives of the busiest of Christians.

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Table of Contents