How many times have you told someone “I’ll pray for you”, and then only remembered once or twice? Have you ever felt there is so much need in our world that it is impossible to pray for all of them, and even only praying for a few can still feel like a laundry list of prayer. Special Intentions: Remembering Others in Personal Prayer provides an interesting alternative: say one prayer, every day, for someone other than yourself, from the almost two hundred intercessory prayers in this book. The prayers are not formal and liturgical, rather they are freeform, almost like poems. And it’s not the kind of book you sit down and read cover-to-cover. It’s more about reading, meditating on and praying one or two prayers a day, either in order, or by theme, or randomly.
The prayers are collated in themes: Love One Another, Carry the Burdens, No Greater Love, With Thanks, For Perseverance, Prayers and Intercessions, Give Each Other Strength, For Unfailing Faith, Imprisoned, The Suffering, and You Are In My Prayers. There are prayers for the homeless, the single mother, the volunteer, the foster parent, the person who knits hats, gloves and scarves for the needy.
I think this is what I like most: the prayers aren’t just for ‘the world’, which is too big a concept. They can be for an individual, a friend, an acquaintance or a stranger. They can be for someone who is a Christian or who isn’t. But what is most special is that most are for unsung heroes, the people who make our cities and towns into communities. Special Intentions would make a lovely Christmas or birthday gift, for yourself or someone else. Recommended.
Thanks to Claire Coleman and MM Book Publicity for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Claire Coleman her website.
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