Blessing and Beseeching: Seventy Prayers Inspired by the Scriptures

As pandemic lockdowns descended across the world, Gail Ramshaw, scholar, author, and liturgist, settled in to read the Scriptures anew. At each biblical book’s end, she wrote a prayer inspired by what she encountered.

Collected here in a beautifully typeset volume are seventy new prayers that resulted from that work. Surprises and riches are found on every page, as when the book of Leviticus inspires an intercession for guidance in the holy, the book of Esther pleads for good government, and the book of James reminds us of the invisible migrant workers who pick our produce.

By turns bold and humble, universal and deeply personal, Ramshaw’s poetry in prayer will inspire individual reflection and enrich public worship settings alike.