Product Description

Feeling separated from God is a lonely place to be. Many circumstances can cause it: busyness, trials, lack of direction. We feel frustrated; our faith stagnates. But there is a way back, an ancient way that leads us to new union with God.

"Long ago," Calvin Miller writes, "when the Celts built their own rustic kingdom of God in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, their fervour in prayer washed their world in the vitality of revival." In uncertain and dangerous days of high infant-mortality rates, leprosy and plagues, the Celts breathed candid prayers out of the reality of their lives. Desperate prayers for protection. Praise for the God who was king over all creation. Honest prayers of confession. In these pages, Miller introduces us to six types of Celtic prayer that can connect us to God more deeply by helping us pray out of the circumstances and uncertainties of our own life.

"This book is aimed at ending our amputated feelings of separateness from God," says Miller. What was true for the Celts is still true for us: "union with Christ . . . is a hunger that keeps us talking to God till our separation is swallowed up in our unending togetherness with him." As rich as the faith they describe, these pages lead us on an ancient path that gives guidance for present and future prayers, until the day the Celts longed for, when all separation is gone and we live forever in the presence of God.

• Disciplers, spiritual directors, life coaches
• Emergent church
• Fans of the author
• Pastors
• People interested in spiritual formation

• Covers five unique types of Celtic prayer: Trinity praying, scripture praying, long-wondering prayer, poetry and praise in the ordinary life, the Lorica (self-protective) prayer
• Well-respected and trusted evangelical author
• Includes many wonderful Celtic prayers
• Shows how we can practice Celtic traditions in our l

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148954 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 170 pages

About the Author
Calvin Miller (M.Div., Ph.D., Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is currently a professor at Beeson Divinity School. The author of more than forty books and many more articles, Miller is also well-known as a poet, artist, novelist and speaker. His latest works include Preaching (Baker), O Shepherd Where Art Thou? (Broadman) and Conversations with Jesus (Harvest House). He sums up his primary rule for life in four words: "Time is a gift."

Customer Reviews

A True Gem
I found this book to be one of the most helpful books on Christian spirituality that I have ever read. The author is an exceptional writer able to distill profound thought into few words. How Much did I like the book? We bought four more for members of our family.

Everyone's Approach to Celtic Prayer
I do appreciate the practical level on which Dr. Miller has put this book together. His book avoids the numerous traps and myths that tend to accompany research on the issue of celtic spirituality. While not extensive on the subject, at 161 pages of text, the book provides a good foundation for prayer life of those desiring a deeper relationship with the Creator. He remarks to his readers that the "book is not a history nor a cultural examination of the Celts" but a guide for prayer (pg 8). The primary source material used and quoted is invaluable for anyone's research. It is a simple read that students of Celtic Christianity will refer to many times over.

praying with the celts
This short book by Calvin Miller is not a technical study of Celtic theology, history, or even prayer, but rather a practical manual that intends to help people deepen their practice of prayer. It takes its general inspiration from Celtic prayer and is not an indepth study of the Celts. "In this book," writes Miller, "I hope to offer you some aspects of Celtic spiritual practices as a springboard that might enable your prayer life to reach new heights." After a short introductory chapter, Miller devotes one chapter each to six principles or types of prayer that he has gleaned from Celtic spirituality: Trinity Prayer; Scripture Prayer; Long, Wandering Prayer; Nature Prayer; Lorica Prayer (lorica is Latin for breastplate); and Confessional Prayer.

Miller tends to romanticize Celtic spirituality as a "faith of great vitality," and characterize as lackluster modern habits of discipleship. But whether the past was so great and the present so bad is a debatable generalization. Also, in proposing "a kind of prayer that can end our amputated feelings of separateness from God," Miller treads a thin line between offering yet one more "technique," as opposed to careful advice about a lifelong spiritual discipline. I nevertheless enjoyed his many references to and examples of Celtic prayer, and the exercises at the end of each chapter take the reader from mere theory to practice. Many people have lamented the ignorance on the part of contemporary believers for our spiritual forbears, and Miller's popular book aimed for a general readership is a good place to begin to connect with saints who have gone before us.