As I prepared for Lent this year, I read two books by Tony Jones on prayer. The first book, Divine Intervention:Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina, tackles a specific type of prayer. This ancient practice of praying scripture has fascinated me for a few years and I’ve tried it at different times. The biggest challenge for me is the need to slow down and listen for God. Jones provides a variety of examples and exercises to help the reader along the path of Lectio Divina. The last 10% provides detailed step by step opportunities to practice this way of connecting with God.

The second book, Ask, Seek, Knock: Prayers to Change Your LIfe, again provides specific examples of prayer and guides the reader through ways to pray. This short book prompts the readers to practice prayer and build prayer into their everyday lives. I think I would refer to this book more if I had not purchased it on Kindle. Many of the interactive books that I have been able to obtain free or very inexpensively prove to be difficult to use to their greatest extent due to the navigation issues of the e-book format.

Both of these books are good guides for practicing prayer. Jones does a very good job of connecting the reader with both the need to prayer, as well as the practical means of praying.