Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit:
52 Prayers for Today
by Paul Chilcote

The sermons of John Wesley are a great treasure of the church. I experienced a spiritual re-awakening while reading a book of Wesley's sermons for a class in seminary several years ago. That experience taught me that the sermons are much more than a source of doctrine and teaching; they are also a means of grace.

In Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit, Dr. Chilcote has taken 52 of Wesley's standard sermons and turned them into prayers. He beautifully summarizes the message of each sermon in prayers that speak to the mind and heart of the reader. A stanza or two of a Charles Wesley hymn that reinforces the message accompanies each prayer. This is an excellent resource for those who are new to Wesley and have never read his sermons. Reading and praying the prayers will inspire them to read and study the longer works. For those who have read them, the prayers will reinforce their messages and serve as an excellent resource for daily devotions.

Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit is an excellent resource for use by Covenant Discipleship groups. The group could live with one of the prayers/sermons for each week of the year. A brief time could be set aside during the weekly meeting to pray the prayer together and discuss how God had moved through the prayer during the week. The group could also sing the Charles Wesley hymn accompanying the prayer.

If you are looking for a book to bring new life to your daily devotions or for something to add to your weekly Covenant Discipleship group meeting, I recommend Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit.

The author Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit is Paul Chilcote, Professor of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary-Florida Campus, Orlando, Florida.

Upper Room Books, 2001. ISBN 0835809501.
Available from www.upperroom.org/bookstore and www.cokesbury.com, 1-800-672-1789.

Surrendering to God
Living the Covenant Prayer
by Keith Beasley-Topliffe

In Surrendering to God, Keith Beasley-Topliffe provides an excellent guide for incorporating a prayer that has played a major role in Methodist spirituality into daily devotional life. His goal is the goal of the prayer: to form people as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who love God with all they have and all they are. Praying the Covenant Prayer helps children of God mature in faith and love in a way that conforms their will with the will of God. The prayer encourages us to surrender to God.

Beasley-Topliffe takes the reader through each petition of the prayer. Along the way, he shares his own story of struggle, growth, questioning, resistance, and surrender to God through daily encounter with the Covenant Prayer. He writes beautifully about surrender, God's call, acceptance, what it means to be laid aside, status, emptiness, addictions, and yielding everything to God.

The Covenant Prayer has played an important role in the development of Methodist spirituality. It has been part of the annual Watch Night service of covenant renewal that was traditionally held on New Year's Eve or Day. Today many United Methodist churches include a service of covenant renewal or baptismal reaffirmation on the first Sunday after the New Year. The Covenant Prayer, UM Hymnal #607, is often included in such services.

I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Surrendering to God is recommended for all Christians seeking to grow in faith and love of God and neighbor. It is particularly recommended for Covenant Discipleship group members.

The author of Surrendering to God, Keith Beasley-Topliffe, is pastor of Fifth Street United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the editor of The Upper Room Spiritual Classics and a major contributor to The Spiritual Formation Bible.

Paraclete Press, 2001. ISBN 155725284X. Available from www.cokesbury.com, 1-800-672-1789.

Steve Manskar is Director of Accountable Discipleship, United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, Nashville, Tennessee.