Amy Boucher Pye is an author, speaker and retreat leader. She is the author of the award-winning Finding Myself in Britain (Authentic Media, 2015) and The Living Cross (BRF, 2016), and has written Bible reading notes for over a decade. She writes for Our Daily Bread Ministries and runs the Woman Alive book club. She holds an MA in Christian spirituality from Heythrop College, University of London.

__For Christians, prayer is the main way we communicate with God - but what can we do when we struggle with the question of how to pray or feel our prayer lives are lacking?__  
  
Seven Ways to Pray explores how by looking to ancient prayer practices of Christianity, we can find fresh ways to relate to God today. Discovering these tried and tested tools will not only strengthen our relationship with him but will bring us joy, contentment, growth and transformation.  
  
With warmth and encouragement, Amy Boucher Pye takes us through seven ways to pray to God: praying with the Bible, receiving and extending forgiveness, practicing God's presence, listening prayer, the prayer of lament, praying with the gospels imaginatively and the prayer of examen. Guiding us through their history, she shows us how easily we can make these prayer practices part of our lives and use them to grow closer to God.   
  
Along with prayer exercises to help us engage directly with God, there are questions for individual reflection or small-group discussion, making Seven Ways to Pray perfect to use as a family, in churches or with friends.   
  
This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered how to pray or is looking for ways to revitalise their prayer lives. It will give you an understanding of some of the oldest prayer practices of Christianity, and equip you with the tools you need to renew and refresh your relationship with God.   
  
Come along, and discover Seven Ways to Pray.

Discover Seven Ways to Pray with Amy Boucher Pye, as she explores how ancient prayer practices can help us find fresh ways to relate to God.

Foreword xiii  
Introduction 1  
1 God's Word to Us: How to Pray with the Bible 9  
2 Lectio Divina: How to Pray through the Bible 25  
3 The Indwelling God: How to Practise the Presence of God 41  
4 Hearing God: How to Listen in Prayer 65  
5 The Prayer of Lament: How to Cry Out to God 91  
6 Entering the Story: How to Pray with Your Imagination 113  
7 Remembering in Prayer: How to Move  
Forwards by Looking Back 137  
Afterword Prayer: An Adventure with God 157  
Acknowledgements 165  
For Further Reading 167  
Notes 169

Amy Boucher Pye

Foreword

Introduction

1 God’s Word to Us: How to Pray with the Bible

2 Lectio Divina: How to Pray through the Bible

3 The Indwelling God: How to Practise the Presence of God

4 Hearing God: How to Listen in Prayer

5 The Prayer of Lament: How to Cry Out to God

6 Entering the Story: How to Pray with Your Imagination

7 Remembering in Prayer: How to Move Forward by Looking Back

Afterword Prayer: An Adventure with God

Acknowledgements

For Further Reading 

Notes

For Christians, prayer is the main way we communicate with God – but what can we do when we struggle with the question of how to pray or feel our prayer lives are lacking?  
  
Seven Ways to Pray explores how by looking to ancient prayer practices of Christianity, we can find fresh ways to relate to God today. Discovering these tried and tested tools will not only strengthen our relationship with him but will bring us joy, contentment, growth and transformation.  
  
With warmth and encouragement, Amy Boucher Pye takes us through seven ways to pray to God: praying with the Bible, receiving and extending forgiveness, practicing God’s presence, listening prayer, the prayer of lament, praying with the gospels imaginatively and the prayer of examen. Guiding us through their history, she shows us how easily we can make these prayer practices part of our lives and use them to grow closer to God.   
  
Along with prayer exercises to help us engage directly with God, there are questions for individual reflection or small-group discussion, making Seven Ways to Pray perfect to use as a family, in churches or with friends.   
  
This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered how to pray or is looking for ways to revitalise their prayer lives. It will give you an understanding of some of the oldest prayer practices of Christianity, and equip you with the tools you need to renew and refresh your relationship with God.   
  
Come along, and discover Seven Ways to Pray.

\["Want to see your prayer life flourish?","In this warm &amp; encouraging guide, Amy Boucher Pye takes readers through seven ways to pray","You'll be equipped with tried &amp; tested tools to strengthen your relationship with God"\]

This is a delightfully accessible and refreshingly practical guide to prayer, drawing on a broad range of traditions. Amy’s love for the Lord, and her hard-won experience, shines through every page.

__PETE GREIG, author of How to Pray__

Prayer is communication with God about what we’re doing together. No other book offers so many rich and practical ways to go deeper with him. I wish I had discovered 7 Ways to Pray years ago, and I will be keeping my copy close to

me in the future.

__JAMES CATFORD, chair of Renovaré__

I once read a book on prayer by a well-known author. It was, as I expected, brilliant. But afterwards I noticed something: while reading it, I hadn’t actually been moved to pray. Not so with this winsome, practical book by Amy Boucher Pye. 7 Ways to Pray not only stirred in me a hunger to know God more; it offered creative and accessible ways to do so. Keep this book close by. You’ll be returning to it again and again. Highly recommended.

__SHERIDAN VOYSEY, author of The Making of Us, Resurrection Year, and Reflect with Sheridan__

What a wonderful, inspirational, and much-needed book! 7 Ways to Pray brings ancient prayer patterns and practices bang up-to-date, making them meaningful and applicable in wonderfully new ways. I can’t wait to use this book regularly as a rich but practical companion to prayer – it really is a gift to Christians everywhere.

__CATHY MADAVAN, speaker, writer, broadcaster, author of Irrepressible__

Meister Eckhart, the medieval mystic, summarized prayer by saying, ‘If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is “thank you”, that would suffice.’ Prayer easily becomes a burden for the disciple, when in fact it offers a path into

God’s presence, a space free from anxiety. Amy helpfully invites us to explore approaches to prayer where we find rest for our soul.

__MICHA JAZZ, head of Waverley Abbey Resources, guardian of St Cuthbert’s Oratory__

What a beautiful, powerful, and personal journey into God’s sustaining presence with the loving and sure-handed guide Amy Boucher Pye. A gentle leader and strong companion, she taps into her uncanny ability to make prayer seem both practical and divine, offering fresh and intentional ways to pray – just when we and our hurting world need prayer the most. This will prove a well-loved classic.

__PATRICIA RAYBON, author of I Told the Mountain to Move__

Amy writes with honesty and wisdom from profound experience and learning. Her book is refreshingly practical and accessible for anyone who wants to grow in prayer, and the ways of praying she explores are an invitation to deep encounter and intimacy with God.

__SEAN DOHERTY, principal of Trinity College Bristol__

We’re tempted to think of prayer as something that, while it might be essential in some abstract way, exists at the periphery of ‘real life’. Amy Boucher Pye insists that prayer carries us into the heart of what it means to be human, into the centre of pulsing life. Prayer carries us into God’s expansive world. If we want to be awakened to what is real, if we want to see with the eyes of faith, then we want to learn to pray. And Amy offers us wonderful guidance.

__WINN COLLIER, pastor; author of five books, including A Burning in My Bones; director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination__

Amy has written about tried-and-tested techniques of praying in a fresh and accessible way for a new generation. Each of the seven ways is rooted in stories and offers very practical suggestions to get you praying.

__LIZ HOARE, author, tutor of spiritual formation at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford__

Whether your prayer life is vibrant or ho-hum, 7 Ways to Pray will draw you deeper into the conversation with God you’ve always longed for. Here you’ll find a path forwards to the adventure that prayer is meant to be!

__ELISA MORGAN, speaker, author, cohost of Discover the Word__

Loaded with hands-on prayer practices, this approachable guide features 7 time-tested ways to help you pray

Philippa Linton

The great thing about Amy Boucher Pye’s book is how direct and accessible her writing is. She takes the reader through seven prayer practices: praying with the Bible, praying through the Bible (the ancient practice of ‘lectio divina’, or sacred reading), practising the presence of God, listening to God, the prayer of lament, praying with your imagination (based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius) and finally, the prayer of examen, which Amy calls ‘how to move forwards by moving back’. Each of the seven chapters ends with helpful, practical prayer exercises. The whole book pulses with the warm, clear conviction that a good and holy God loves us dearly and wants to draw us into a personal relationship with him. Prayer, as portrayed in this book, is the adventure of a lifetime. The author brings fresh and vivid insights into these prayer practices, backed up by personal stories and testimonies. I was struck in particular by the chapter on lament, especially the idea of using visual aids to express deep emotion in prayer. 7 Ways To Pray is packed to the brim with good things. Now to put those prayer practices into action, not as tick-box exercises, but as open doorways to a deeper, richer, life-changing intimacy with God. I commend this book highly, both for one’s own personal prayer life, and also for small groups.

Warm, practical and profound

Juliet Mitchell

Very much looking forward to starting this prayer book in January 2022. Discovering new ways to pray and learning about the history of how previous &amp; current believers have engaged in prayer.

Refreshing prayer ideas for 2022

Alison Grafham

This is an absolute gem of a book. I’ve read many books on prayer but none have encouraged me to enter into prayer more than this one. Amy looks at various prayer practices and teaches us how to apply them to our daily lives. Amy knows her subject well and through sharing her own personal experiences and her deep knowledge of past prayer champions she helps place us on a path that leads us into deep communion with God. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so excited about a book on prayer, a book which I can guarantee will make you look forward to praying!

A Must Read

7 Ways to Pray

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