Many ways of talking to God

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33941, 6 September 1975, Page 10

Many ways of talking to God

Prayers for Everyone. By Pat Lawler. Hawthorn Press. Melbourne. N.Z. price $2. Pat Lawlor, a well known Roman Catholic author from Wellington, has collected prayers, thousands of them, over the last 30 years. This book contains a few hundred of the best, arranged under some 20 headings, with here and there a helpful comment from the author. The treasures of the ages, inside and outside Christendom are presented. Mr Lawler says he has left out prayers that might seem too “churchy” and has avoided like the plague the outpourings of the “hot gospeller.” A revolution in written prayers has taken place since the Second World War. Writers like the Frenchman, Michel Quoist, the American, Malcolm Boyd, and the New Zealander. Bob Lowe, have written prayers which describe a human scene or situation so graphically that our hearts are touched, and almost unconsciously we find ourselves in a spirit of prayer. Here the list of subjects is exciting—prayers to

be used by, or used for fathers, mothers-in-law, policemen, motorists, petty officials, children, old men, and many more.

But more exciting than the range of subjects are the challenging sentences and thoughts. For example, al) of us have often thought first with our hearts, and second with our heads. Here it is in a prayer: Forgive that cooling second thought That brought a generous urge to nought. Who would use a book like this? Any Christian would enjoy it for his own use, the clergy would get some new leads, and those involved in Bible classes, study groups, schools and prayer circles would discover new dimensions in intercession. This is not only a book of prayers. It will make the sophisticated Christian muse or ask himself new questions; it will interest and, even, influence the agnostic and the humanist. These are pravers for everyone.