Pray A to Z


I was interested in reading Amelia Rhodes' book Pray A to Z: A Practical Guide to Pray for Your Community because I live in a rather difficult community. Crime and poverty are high, employment is low, and Christians and non-Christians alike are suffering with so many needs, I can't even count them all. Sometimes when I start to pray, I don't even know where to start or what to say. Pray A to Z is a specific plan for praying for personal needs, church needs, community needs, and so much more. The back cover says:

"Pray A to Z: A Practical Guide to Praying for Your Community will help you topically organize your prayer requests and lay the burdens of your community at the feet of our Heavenly Father. Whether you are praying for a friend's adoption journey, a neighbor's bankruptcy, or a family member's cancer, this book will give you Bible verses, prayer prompts, and prayer starts to guide you through praying for even the most difficult issues that affect the people you know and love. Perfect for either individual or group prayer, Pray A-Z will help you experience the peace that comes from communicating with God."

Yes, this is a book about praying for your community in general, but I was surprised at how specific it is and how personally applicable it is as well. My mind started filling in people who I know personally from church who have needs in these different areas, as well as praying generally for people in the community struggling with these needs. This is a small book with the most adorable cover ever (seriously, it looks so friendly and inviting that it just begs you to pick it up!) and is divided, obviously, into 26 sections (one for each letter of the alphabet). Each letter contains three prayer request topics (ie, A - Adoption, Abuse, Alcoholism) and two "praise" prayers (ie, A - Abundance, Almighty). A short scripture, explanation of the topic, and example prayer are included for each. It gives you a simple yet powerful plan for prayer, and has given me so many new ideas and areas of prayer. I really loved the quote in the introduction of Pray A to Z, which seemed to capture the heart of the book: "I'm finding prayer can happen everywhere, not just on my knees by the bed or during a few minutes of quiet at church. I'm learning to direct my internal conversations back to God all day long." What a great perspective and challenge. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in order to provide an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

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