Praying by Heart - by Stephen Cottrell

About the Book

To know something 'by heart' is an interesting English expression. It means we have memorised something; we can recite it without needing the text in front of us. But could it be more than this? Could it mean that these words and what they convey have moved from the head to the heart? That they have lodged themselves deep in our consciousness, where we are not only able to recall them instantly, but they are shaping how we see and interpret everything else, including how we act? Praying by Heart is a book about the Lord's Prayer for those who know it but don't know it, as well as for those who don't yet know it at all. In it, Stephen Cottrell explores the words of the prayer Jesus taught us - its plainness, its grandeur and its profound inclusivity - to discover not only a pattern for prayer, but also a pattern for life.

Book Synopsis

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell argues that the first two words of Christianity's most famous prayer - the Lord's Prayer - encapsulate the radical heart of the Christian faith: that we belong to each other, and that we all have access to God. And if we could understand both these ideas they would truly change our lives - and the world.

Unpacking each clause of this ancient prayer both for those who want to encounter it afresh and those beyond church circles, this is the Lord's Prayer recast as a manifesto for the 21st-century church and all who are searching to belong.

About the Author

Stephen Cottrell is the Archbishop of York and was for almost ten years Bishop of Chelmsford; before that he was Bishop of Reading. He has worked in parishes in London and Chichester, as Canon Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral, as Missioner in the Wakefield diocese and as part of Springboard, the Archbishop of Canterbury's evangelism team.

He has written widely on evangelism, spirituality and discipleship. Among his most recent books are On Priesthood (2020), a series of Lent and Holy Week meditations, The Things He Carried (2008), a follow up of reflections for Easter Day, The Things He Said (2009), The Nail: Being part of the Passion (2011) and Christ in the Wilderness: Reflecting on the paintings of Stanley Spencer (2012). His bestselling I Thirst was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book for 2004.