Ordinary Prayers in Ordinary Places
Here is a book of prayers written by my father some years ago. It was only ever published online as a PDF file, but I think it deserves a wider audience. It contains much wisdom acquired over a lifetime in the church.
Sadly, he is now in care home with quite advanced Alzheimer's disease.
I hope you find the book useful—please post here if you do.
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Title: Ordinary Prayers in Ordinary Places
Author: Pitts, Basil J
Copyright: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution–non-commercial 3.0 unported licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Type: Monograph
Language: English
Abbreviated title: OPOP
Subject heading: Prayer
Publisher and publication date: Dr Jonathan Pitts 2000
Over recent years there has been considerable change in prayers used privately and in services of worship. Overall there has perhaps been a move away from the formal to the informal and there are signs of it returning the other way. This is true both in the sense of church worship and private prayer. The truth is that prayers of all types have their place.
Books of prayers have become commonplace, and many excellent books are available. They vary in format, language and area covered. However, there are many facets which have not been covered.
The purpose of this book is to try to fill some of the gaps and also to augment the prayers already available.
One such area is repetitive situations. Into this category fall prayers in the vestry, prayers of thanks at communion and prayers in the pew before and after the service.
I know that some of these prayers have been a help to people of my acquaintance, and they have been kind enough to say so. If these prayers now finally reach you I hope that they will help you and assist in making prayers in public and in private places more than a repetition of words.
Comments
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thank you, I will definitely look into it.
Maybe you know a suitable cover image for this book? It looks better in your library [Y]
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This is the cover I use with it: my favourite photo of him, looking suitably scholarly.
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Thanks for sharing this Jonathan. I know your intent to honor your father through this and I think that by offering this you are doing just that.
My mother who is 92 and my sister who is 68 are both in the same Long Term Care facility because of dementia issues so I am familiar with the difficult situation of not being able to have deeper conversations that we used to share.
I went through your book and read bits and pieces and I really liked the style of personally commenting on a section and then reading prayers regarding that topic.
You should be proud of your father. Thanks again.
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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Bruce Dunning said:
You should be proud of your father...
I agree. [Y]
Thanks for sharing this work. It's a personal personal book! [:)]
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Peace, Jonathan! Wow! I just looked at this file for the first time; and I am quite overwhelmed by the power and beauty of it! Fantastic!Jonathan Pitts said:Here is a book of prayers written by my father some years ago. It was only ever published online as a PDF file, but I think it deserves a wider audience. It contains much wisdom acquired over a lifetime in the church.
Sadly, he is now in care home with quite advanced Alzheimer's disease.
I hope you find the book useful—please post here if you do.
_____
Title: Ordinary Prayers in Ordinary Places
Author: Pitts, Basil J
Copyright: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution–non-commercial 3.0 unported licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Type: Monograph
Language: English
Abbreviated title: OPOP
Subject heading: Prayer
Publisher and publication date: Dr Jonathan Pitts 2000
Over recent years there has been considerable change in prayers used privately and in services of worship. Overall there has perhaps been a move away from the formal to the informal and there are signs of it returning the other way. This is true both in the sense of church worship and private prayer. The truth is that prayers of all types have their place.
Books of prayers have become commonplace, and many excellent books are available. They vary in format, language and area covered. However, there are many facets which have not been covered.
The purpose of this book is to try to fill some of the gaps and also to augment the prayers already available.One such area is repetitive situations. Into this category fall prayers in the vestry, prayers of thanks at communion and prayers in the pew before and after the service.
I know that some of these prayers have been a help to people of my acquaintance, and they have been kind enough to say so. If these prayers now finally reach you I hope that they will help you and assist in making prayers in public and in private places more than a repetition of words.
Thank you for sharing it! I'm going to make it a Personal Book! Later this afternoon! AND! Then set up a reading plan for it so that I begin to be enriched by some of the magnificent and wonderful thoughts!
How wonderful for you to share this with your Brothers and Sisters on the Logos Forums, Jonathan! *smile*
I'm using your father's picture for the cover, and I look forward to the time -- in Jesus!!! -- when we can meet together and discuss the wonderful Grace of God personally!
Am truly eager to begin meditating and reflecting on these "down to earth" Christian words!
Jonathan, Logos! *smile* Please get together here on this "Magnus Opus"! I think it could be a VERY welcome and popular book in the Logos catalogue! Yes! It is indeed a Magnus Opus! *smile*
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Milford, I don't think I've read a more enthusiastic forum posting! A tribute to you, and to Jonathan's dad's work! [Y] [:D]
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Thank you, Paul! *smile* I guess it's sort of like a "tuning fork," eh??? When one receives the "right" frequency, one responds naturally! I really do "vibrate" in tune with Jonathan's dad!
Psalm 29:11
Also, guess it's sort of like "sympathetic highlighting," eh??? Better that than being "The Lost Chord" *smile*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord
Edit: Jonathan, with all the posts on these very, very large Logos Forums, I hope you notice this one and would be pleased if you would share that you "noticed" it .... I really am grateful for your posting it ......... and I'm quite serious that this is a high-quality work that could find a niche in Logos' "Stable" ....... *smile* Perhaps in a slightly different format, but it's pretty great the way you've sent it ....
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Paul-C said:
Milford, I don't think I've read a more enthusiastic forum posting!
We should all get together and try to cheer Milford up [:D]
But seriously, I must have missed this one the first time around. Glad it got bumped up again.
Thanks, Jonathans I & II
macOS (Logos Pro - Beta) | Android 13 (Logos Stable)
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Jonathan Pitts said:
Here is a book of prayers written by my father some years ago. It was only ever published online as a PDF file, but I think it deserves a wider audience. It contains much wisdom acquired over a lifetime in the church.
Sadly, he is now in care home with quite advanced Alzheimer's disease.
I hope you find the book useful—please post here if you do.
Brother Jonathan,
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful labor of love. I will definitely share this loving message with my loved ones and the forgotten and broken of this world. Your father is a soldier who has certainly fought the good fight of faith. My favorite section is Prayer in the Latter Years.
I will immediately place this in a special "warfare" bookmark to share at moments that require the fire of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, thank you thank you. Comfort and peace to your father and the whole of your family. And a special blessing for you.
-Beloved
Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.
International Standard Version. (2011). (Lk 2:52). Yorba Linda, CA: ISV Foundation.
MacBook Pro MacOS Sequoia 15.2 1TB SSD
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Thank you all for your generous words.
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Jonathan, thanks for sharing this excellent book. I agree that it deserves a wider audience. I've tagged it WorshipLeading so that I can use it to find prayers for church services I'm involved in planning. I will also spend time poring over it for myself. I love the last section especially, showing people who don't know how to pray in certain situations what to say.
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