Prayers from the Cloud: 100 Prayers Through the Ages (Pete James) - A Review

PRAYERS FROM THE CLOUD: 100 Prayers Through the Ages. By Pet James. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2024. Xii + 220 pages

Prayer is a central part of the Christian experience, as is true of other faith traditions. For many Christians, it is the Psalms, part of the Hebrew Bible, that informs their prayer life. Down through the ages, Christians have written prayers and hymns that reflect their spiritual experiences. Many of these prayers and hymns continue to speak to the hearts of people. While God welcomes our extemporaneous prayers, God also welcomes prayers written by others, whether contemporary or ancient. These words may provide a foundation for one’s prayers, especially when words are difficult to find. Fortunately, there are many such resources available. Prayers from the Cloud is one more contribution.

Prayers from the Cloud is the product of the work of Pete James, a retired Presbyterian pastor, who also serves as an adjunct professor, trustee, and pastor-in-residence at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. The title of the book, Prayers from the Cloud is suggestive of the source of the prayers, the great cloud of saints who are no longer with us but who continue to speak to our hearts. The subtitle: 100 Prayers through the Ages lets us know what we will find when we open up this book of prayers. Here are one hundred prayers and hymns written by members of the great cloud of saints, beginning with Polycarp, a second-century martyr, and ending with Henri Nouwen, one of the important writers on spirituality of the late twentieth century, with ninety-eight more in between. Some writers will be well-known and others not so well-known. You will encounter prayers by Augustine and Karl Barth, as well as prayers by Samson Occam and Anna Waring.

Pete James writes in his preface that early in his ministry, he found prayer to be a challenge since he was not a contemplative person by nature. I think many of us can sympathize. Seeking help, as an avid reader of history, he discovered the value of "reading old prayers." After retirement, he discovered a book titled 2000 Years of Prayer, a book filled with old prayers. When he started reading he reports that he was hooked. Then in 2022, he started sending prayers to a cousin who was recovering from back surgery while quarantined with COVID-19. That began a journey that led to the production of this book. The prayers found in this book are prayers he uncovered in the first year of his project. There are more at his website: https://prayersfromthecloud.com.  

As I noted, Prayers from the Cloud includes one hundred prayers written from that great cloud of saints. It’s important to note that there is just one prayer from each saint of God, beginning with the second century and continuing to the twentieth. All of the writers have since passed on, joining that great cloud of heaven. This collection of one hundred prayers includes a brief one-page reflection about the person who wrote the prayer and then on the next page, a prayer. While some are just a few lines, some are much longer. Nevertheless, each prayer fits on one page. Thus, this book should meet a need on the part of many who seek assistance in their prayer life.

To conclude this brief review, I would like to share a couple of the prayers so as to give a taste of what one might find.

From the Venerable Bede (ca. 672-735):

O Christ, our Morning Star,

Splendor of Light eternal,

Shining with the glory of the rainbow,

Come and waken us

From the grayness of our apathy,

And renew in us your gift of hope

Amen.

From Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

                Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart,

                Which no unworthy affection may drag downward;

                Give me an unconquered heart,

                Which no tribulation can wear out;

                Give me an upright heart,

                Which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.

                Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God,

                Understanding to know you,

                Diligence to seek you,

                Wisdom to find you,

                And faithfulness that may finally embrace you.

                Amen.

Finally, Teresa of Avila (1515-1582):

O my Beloved! It appears that you are determined to save me. May it please you do it! You have already poured such a bounty of blessings upon me. What I don’t understand is why you have allowed this dwelling of my soul, where you have chosen to live, to remain in such a terrible mess. It is not for my own advantage that I ask, but for your honor and glory . . .. Blessed are you, O Lord, who have put up with me for so long! Amen.

These and others can serve as the foundation for one’s own prayer life. Thus, we can be thankful for Pete James' gathering of the prayers, organizing them chronologically, and introducing them.