For many people prayer is difficult. This collection helps us to be less bothered with our uncertainties about what we should be saying when we pray. We can read a prayer and then sit quietly for a few minutes, allowing the particular words and thoughts to meet with our inner self, with our soul, which is linked to the energies and wisdom of the Creator of all things. The prayers here are not to be read in a rush. They are not about a small God, but about One who at every moment is at the very heart of both our personal lives and the life of the world. A God whose goodness, healing and tender grace are at the core of humanity. In the reading of them may our hearts become more loving and aware, for each prayer invites us into a reality much wider than ourselves - the whole world in its contradiction and promise - and brings us close to our sisters and brothers who, like us, are on a journey in which both light and shadow, sadness and joy are regular companions. Living God, like leaves that turn to the sun so we turn to you, the source of all life, for your love to sustain us, your will to strengthen us and your wisdom to guide us. Amen - Chris Polhill

Neil Paynter is the author of other books such as The Still Small Voice, Going Home Another Way, 50 New Prayers from the Iona Community,Living Letters of the Word and many more.