How to Pray

How to Pray: A Practical Guide to the Spiritual Life
published by Our Sunday Visitor Publications January 2021

“There is only one way to perfection and that is to pray; if anyone points in another direction then they are deceiving you.” ~ Saint Teresa of Ávila

In How to Pray: A Practical Guide to the Spiritual Life, spiritual theologian David Torkington offers everyday guidance for entering more deeply into prayer, whether you are a beginner or looking to go deeper in your prayer life. The forty short, easy-to-read chapters in this guide can be read as a devotional, for meditation, or alongside Sacred Scripture. Through prayer, our soul becomes like a lightning rod allowing the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts. The more regularly and the more persistently we pray, the more we are changed.

Reviews for How to Pray

From here to eternity! For those drawn to contemplative prayer, David Torkington offers compelling clarity and common sense. Gentle kindness guides his practical counsel and he is careful to help us see the solid principles in which he roots his insights. An authentic and reliable guard against counterfeits, his wisdom points to the heights and grounded-ness of the Catholic mystical tradition at a time when it is most needed. 

Dr Anthony Lilles STD

Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Theology at St. John's Seminary. California.

This book would be helpful for beginners at personal prayer (and aren’t we all, really?), for those who find themselves in a spiritual rut, or for those with experience in seeking God’s Face who are ready to go deeper. The chapters are short, which lends itself to devotional reading, but there is enough meat in the content to inspire some hours of meditation. At the end, a short order of morning and evening prayer is included for those of us who need a jump-start into the presence of God. All in all, a magnificent book!
Beaubelle

Amazon Reviewer

David Torkington has a great gift for telling a story. You are gripped by the tale and this makes you want to race ahead to learn how it all ends. But during the unfolding of the story he gives profound insights about prayer, explaining its mysteries in such a clear and succinct way. These passages makes one slow down, read again, ponder, sift and try to make them one’s own. This masterpiece has been compelling reading and I was fascinated by the human story. I was also enriched by the easy way deep truths were explained making the book, not just entertaining, but profoundly instructive.
Ian Petit

Monk of Ampleforth Abbey

With remarkable ease Torkington convinces us that everyone can make prayer permeate our bloodstream and thus immerse us permanently in God at every moment of our existence.
Fr Jolanta Czapczyk

OP Poland

It’s the best practical and mystical guide I have read in these many years as director of Spiritual Exercises, publisher, author and Christian who desires to learn how to pray.
Fr R Paiva SJ

Sao Paulo, Brazil

I ws absolutely thrilled to read How to Pray and feel sure it will have a tremendous impact, not only in my country and in Europe, but in the rest of the world.
Fr Jan Katka

O Carm. Prague, The Czech Republic

This little book is a little gem of sane and sound advice. With his utterly practical teaching David Torkington gently encourages us back to spiritual health.
Fr Brendan Thomas

OSB. Belmont Abbey, England

It is a happy surprise to find a book that coincides with your own wandering and even discovers new paths. |It should be essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to pray.
Fr Norbert Ellul-Vincenti

OFM Valetta, Malta

Torkington’s views on prayer and spirituality are based on the thoughts of the Desert Fathers, Dom John Chapman, Bernard Basset, SJ, St. Augustine, Martin Buber and others. Torkington is a master of prayer. His engrossing style masks the depth of his practical advice and specifics about many forms of prayer from the traditional to the new.
Stanley M. Grabowski

Ph.D. in Pastoral Life

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