Understanding prayer

Bishop Doyé T. Agama of the Apostolic Pastoral Association, Manchester has launched a new book, ‘Ancient Prayers for Today’.

The book is a spiritual journey of discovery through the ancient prayer principles of the Bible and it is aimed at increasing understanding of the historic prayer heritage of the church among modern Christians.

Explaining what exactly the book and prayer is about Bishop Agama says; “Prayer is the conversation or communication between the material world, and the unseen world of spirits. Prayer is a link or pipeline between time and eternity. Prayer is also an attitude of the heart in our relationship to God!

“Sometimes, our prayers are simply a cry from our heart that cannot be expressed in word, sometimes spoken in tears.”

‘Ancient Prayers for Today’ traces prayer from its beginnings in the early pages of the Bible, following through to significant examples throughout the New Testament and the early church.

Bishop Agama who is a friend and supporter of OBV and helps with outreach political engagement work in his hometown, says the book is a ‘must-read for everyone interested in Christian prayer, as it fills in the gaps for many modern Christians who may not yet have connected with the true heritage of prayer in the church’.

The book traces the origins of modern Christian prayer back to ancient Israel, and shows how a group of African Monks in the Egyptian desert combined the ancient Jewish prayers into a system still used in most churches today, and how this spread from Africa to Europe; and many other parts of the world.

This book also explains the major differences in how different Christian denominations pray and why.

Bishop Agama presents a detailed analysis of the prayer known as the “Our Father” and gives an overview of the main creeds in their historic context and modern usage.

Bishop Doyé Agama is a Charismatic Bishop and a keen observer of the African Diaspora and African Church History, with links into the Historical Streams of Church Life.

He is the Founding Bishop and Abbot of the Apostolic Order of St Hadrian of Canterbury, which he says, began as a Pentecostal Christian and Educational Order based in the United Kingdom, to uphold the memory of St Hadrian (The African), of Canterbury, and now works ecumenically to research and celebrate the contributions of both ancient and modern African Churches, and other Churches ‘birthed’ outside Europe, to global Christianity.

Ancient Prayers for Today! is published by Chakam Publishing: chakampublishing@gmail.com.
The author can be reached at: doye@hotmail.com.

Ancient Prayers for Today! - Book Launch