{"product_id":"an-african-prayer-book-isbn-9780385516495","title":"An African Prayer Book","description":"Prayer, our conversation with God, needs no set formulas or flowery phrases. It often needs no words at all. But for most believers, the words of others can be a wonderful aid to devotion, especially when these words come from faithful fellow pilgrims.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn African Prayer Book\u003c\/i\u003e is just such an aid, for in this collection all the spiritual riches of the vast and varied continent of Africa are bravely set forth. Here we overhear the simple prayer of the penniless Bushman, the words of some of the greatest Church fathers (Augustine and Athanasius), petitioning and jubilant voices from South Africa’s struggle for freedom, and even prayers from the Africa diasporas of North America and the Caribbean. Here are Jesus’s own encounters with Africa, which provided him refuge at the beginning of his life (from the murderous King Herod) and aid at its end (in the person of Simon of Cyrene, who helped Jesus carry his cross). From thunderous multi-invocation litanies to quiet meditations, here are prayers every heart can speak with strength and confidence.DESMOND TUTU, the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, retired as Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1996 and was later named as Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by Nelson Mandela. He lives in South Africa and lectures throughout the world.Adoration\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll of us are by nature worshipful. We may worship God to whom we ascribe his due, his worth. That is true worship. Or, we may give a false worship to money, to status, etc. When we listen to a superb Beethoven symphony, or something out of Handel's \u003ci\u003eMessiah\u003c\/i\u003e, we are often speechless with wonder and awe. Are we not often awestruck before the grandeur of some imposing mountain range, or when we behold a glorious sunset, or a still, moonlit night with the stars winking in a dark blue sky? I once heard a venerable professor of gynecology, who must have delivered countless babies, confess that he was always overwhelmed by the wonder and mystery of a baby being born. I have heard that scientists wax ecstatic and break into poetic utterance because of the aesthetic qualities of some scientific experiment and the truth that it will have proven. Archimedes ran naked out of his bath when a new scientific truth struck him, shouting \"Eureka, eureka\" (\"I have found it!\") In the presence of a good and holy person most of us will be overcome with awe. Standing near Mother Teresa, or Helder Camara, or Nelson Mandela, or Mahatma Gandhi, you know you are standing on holy ground.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn such occasions words are often so utterly inadequate. The story goes of a farmer who used to sit in church for long periods of silence. When he was asked about this practice, he said of our Lord, \"I look at him and he looks at me and it is enough.\" We too have moments when we are struck speechless, as when we are stunned by the beauty of the snowcapped Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, or the majestic roar of the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Our instinctive worshipfulness then comes to the fore with all these created things; how much more when we encounter the Source of it all--God, who is Beauty, Truth and Goodness? Then we want to fall down to worship and adore the one whose glory fills the heavens and the earth. \"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO all ye big things of the earth\u003cbr\u003ebless ye the Lord . . .\u003cbr\u003e. . . all ye small things bless ye the Lord . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIsn't that beautiful?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll shall be Amen and Alleluia.\u003cbr\u003eWe shall rest and we shall see,\u003cbr\u003eWe shall see and we shall know,\u003cbr\u003eWe shall know and we shall love,\u003cbr\u003eWe shall love and we shall praise.\u003cbr\u003eBehold our end which is no end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSomebody remarked that our praise will not end, because we will for ever discover new aspects of God's beauty, holiness and goodness; for God is infinite, and we are and will always be finite, and so we will be \"lost\" in wonder, love and praise, as the hymn puts it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn adoration we begin where we should--with God--by putting first things first. Our Lord taught his disciples a special prayer and it began with God, \"Our Father,\" and then proceeds to glorify and adore him: \"hallowed be thy name.\" In starting with adoration, we follow the pattern our Lord left us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe day of Pentecost had come, and they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from the sky what sounded like a strong, driving wind, a noise which filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them flames like tongues of fire distributed among them and coming to rest on each one. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them power of utterance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow there were staying in Jerusalem devout Jews drawn from every nation under heaven. At this sound a crowd of them gathered, and were bewildered because each one heard his own language spoken; they were amazed and in astonishment exclaimed, \"Surely these people who are speaking are all Galileans! How is it that each of us can hear them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judaea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabs--all of us hear them telling in our own tongues the great things God has done.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Acts 2:1-11\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn African Canticle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll you\u003ci\u003e big\u003c\/i\u003e things, bless the Lord.\u003cbr\u003eMount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria,\u003cbr\u003eThe Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plain,\u003cbr\u003eFat baobabs and shady mango trees,\u003cbr\u003eAll eucalyptus and tamarind trees,\u003cbr\u003eBless the Lord.\u003cbr\u003ePraise and extol Him for ever and ever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll you \u003ci\u003etiny\u003c\/i\u003e things, bless the Lord.\u003cbr\u003eBusy black ants and hopping fleas,\u003cbr\u003eWriggling tadpoles and mosquito larvae,\u003cbr\u003eFlying locusts and water drops,\u003cbr\u003ePollen dust and tsetse flies,\u003cbr\u003eMillet seeds and dried dagaa,\u003cbr\u003eBless the Lord.\u003cbr\u003ePraise and extol Him for ever and ever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Traditional African\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday Is God\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the beginning was God,\u003cbr\u003eToday is God,\u003cbr\u003eTomorrow will be God.\u003cbr\u003eWho can make an image of God?\u003cbr\u003eHe has no body.\u003cbr\u003eHe is the word which comes out of your mouth.\u003cbr\u003eThat word! It is no more,\u003cbr\u003eIt is past, and still it lives!\u003cbr\u003eSo is God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Pygmy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise from Every Nation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter that I looked and saw a vast throng, which no one could count, from all races and tribes, nations and languages, standing before the throne and the Lamb. They were robed in white and had palm branches in their hands, and they shouted aloud:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll the angels who stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures prostrated themselves before the throne and worshipped God, crying:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour, power and might, be to our God for ever! Amen.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Revelation 7:9-12\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow Great Thou Art\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is thy power and thy wisdom is infinite. And thee would man praise, man but a particle of thy creation, man that bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, that thou resistest the proud. Yet would man praise thee, he but a particle of thy creation. Thou awakenest us to delight in thy praise. For thou madest us for thyself and our heart is restless until it rest in thee. Grant me, Lord, to know and understand which is first--to call on thee or to praise thee? And again, to know thee or to call on thee? For who can call on thee, not knowing thee? For he that knoweth thee not may call on thee as other than thou art. Or is it better that we call on thee that we may know thee?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Saint Augustine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaint Augustine was the greatest theologian of Western Christianity during its first five centuries. A notable sinner (who described his early life in his autobiographical masterpiece, the Confessions) he became bishop of Hippo, the second city of Roman Africa, which he served brilliantly till his death in 430.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLove Ever Burning\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO love ever burning and never extinguished charity\u003cbr\u003eMy God set me on fire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Saint Augustine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat Spirit!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat Spirit!\u003cbr\u003ePiler-up of the rocks into towering mountains!\u003cbr\u003eWhen you stamp on the stones\u003cbr\u003ethe dust rises and fills the land.\u003cbr\u003eHardness of the cliff,\u003cbr\u003ewaters of the pool that turn\u003cbr\u003einto misty rain when stirred.\u003cbr\u003eGourd overflowing with oil!\u003cbr\u003eCreator . . . who sews the heavens together like cloth,\u003cbr\u003eknit together everything here on the earth below.\u003cbr\u003eYou are the one who calls the branching trees into life;\u003cbr\u003eyou make new seeds grow out of the ground\u003cbr\u003eso that they stand straight and strong.\u003cbr\u003eYou have filled the land with people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWonderful one, you live\u003cbr\u003eamong the sheltering rocks.\u003cbr\u003eYou give rain to us people.\u003cbr\u003eWe pray to you,\u003cbr\u003ehear us, O Strong One!\u003cbr\u003eWhen we beg you, show your mercy.\u003cbr\u003eYou are in the highest places\u003cbr\u003ewith the spirits of the great ones.\u003cbr\u003eYou raise the grass-covered hills\u003cbr\u003eabove the earth,\u003cbr\u003eand you make the rivers.\u003cbr\u003eGracious one!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Rozwi, South Africa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat Shield\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThou art the great God--the one who is in heaven.\u003cbr\u003eIt is thou, thou Shield of Truth,\u003cbr\u003eit is thou, thou Tower of Truth,\u003cbr\u003eit is thou, thou Bush of Truth,\u003cbr\u003eit is thou, thou who sittest in the highest,\u003cbr\u003ethou art the creator of life,\u003cbr\u003ethou madest the regions above.\u003cbr\u003eThe creator who madest the heavens also,\u003cbr\u003ethe maker of the stars and the Pleiades--\u003cbr\u003ethe shooting stars declare it unto us.\u003cbr\u003eThe maker of the blind, of thine own will didst thou make them.\u003cbr\u003eThe trumpet speaks--for us it calls,\u003cbr\u003eThou art the Hunter who hunts for souls.\u003cbr\u003eThou art the Leader who goes before us,\u003cbr\u003ethou art the Great Mantle which covers us.\u003cbr\u003eThou art he whose hands are wounded;\u003cbr\u003ethou art he whose feet are wounded;\u003cbr\u003ethou art he whose blood is a trickling stream--and why?\u003cbr\u003eThou art he whose blood was spilled for us.\u003cbr\u003eFor this great price we call,\u003cbr\u003efor thine own place we call.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Xhosa, South Africa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat Is Our Happiness\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat is, O King,\u003cbr\u003eour happiness\u003cbr\u003ein thy kingdom,\u003cbr\u003ethou, our king.\u003cbr\u003eWe dance before thee,\u003cbr\u003eour king,\u003cbr\u003eby the strength\u003cbr\u003eof thy kingdom.\u003cbr\u003eMay our feet\u003cbr\u003ebe made strong;\u003cbr\u003elet us dance before thee,\u003cbr\u003eeternal.\u003cbr\u003eGive ye praise,\u003cbr\u003eall angels,\u003cbr\u003eto him above\u003cbr\u003ewho is worthy of praise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Zulu, South Africa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI Have No Words to Thank You\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO my Father, Great Elder,\u003cbr\u003eI have no words to thank you,\u003cbr\u003eBut with your deep wisdom\u003cbr\u003eI am sure that you can see\u003cbr\u003eHow I value your glorious gifts.\u003cbr\u003eO my Father, when I look upon your greatness,\u003cbr\u003eI am confounded with awe.\u003cbr\u003eO Great Elder,\u003cbr\u003eRuler of all things earthly and heavenly,\u003cbr\u003eI am your warrior,\u003cbr\u003eReady to act in accordance with your will.\u003cbr\u003eKikuyu, Kenya\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Seven Archangels\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeven archangels stand glorifying the Almighty and serving the hidden mystery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael the first, Gabriel the second, and Raphael the third, symbol of the Trinity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurael, Sakakael, Saratael and Ananael. These are the shining ones, the great and pure ones, who pray to God for mankind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe cherubim, the seraphim, the thrones, dominions, powers, and the four living creatures bearing the chariot of God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe twenty-four elders in the Church of the Firstborn, praise him without ceasing, crying out and saying:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHoly is God; heal the sick. Holy is the Almighty; give rest to the departed. Holy is the Immortal; bless thine inheritance. May thy mercy and thy peace be a stronghold unto thy people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHoly, holy, holy, Lord of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Intercede for us, O angels our guardians, and all heavenly hosts, that our sins may be forgiven.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Coptic Orthodox\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHymn to the Blessed Virgin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO my Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, thou hast been likened to many things, yet there is nothing which compares with thee. Neither heaven can match thee, nor the earth equal as much as the measure of thy womb. For thou didst confine the Unconfinable, and carry him whom none has power to sustain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe cherubim are but thy Son's chariot bearers, and even the seraphim bow down in homage at the throne of thy Firstborn. How sublime is the honor of thy royal estate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO holy Virgin, instrument of our strength and power, our grace, deification, joy, and fortune; glory of our human race! Thou wast the means whereby the salvation of the world was accomplished, and through whom God was reconciled to the sons of mankind. And it was through thee that created human nature was united in indivisible union with the Divine Being of the Creator.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat an unheard-of thing for the potter to clothe himself in a clay vessel, or the craftsman in a handicraft. What humility beyond words for the Creator to clothe himself in the body of a human creature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now I cry unto thy Son, O Virgin, saying:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO thou who hast preferred the humble estate of men to the high rank of angels, do not reject thy servant because of the sins I have committed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThou whose desire was to partake of earthly rather than heavenly beings, let me share in the secret of thy flawless Divine Being.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThou to whom Jacob was more comely than Esau, do not scorn me because of my transgressions. For against thee only have I sinned, and much sin have I heaped up upon me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThou didst create me pure and righteous, yet of my own will I became unclean, and through the persuasion of the wicked one went astray. Thou didst adorn me with gifts of priceless worth which I cast away in favor of unrighteousness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMake speed, O Lord, to build me into a fortress for the Holy Spirit, Raise me up lest I crumble into a desolate ruin of sin. Make speed to forgive for forgiveness is with thee.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO Lord, thou knowest the balm to heal my wounds, the help to strengthen my weakness, the path to prosper my progress. Thou knowest all that is expedient to fulfil my life, as the potter knows how to contrive his own vessel's perfection. For the work is wrought according to the design and wisdom of its maker.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO Lord, renew thy vessel with the power of the Holy Spirit. Make the work of thy hands to be lovely and indestructible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO Lord, remember thy descent from the heights of Heaven and thine indwelling within the womb of the Holy Virgin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRemember thy birth from her while she was a virgin, and the suckling of her who wast chaste.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRemember how thou wast laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a stable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eO Lord remembering all this, do not disregard thy sinful servant. Help me with thy deliverance and cover me with the shield of thy salvation for the sake of Mary thy Mother; for the sake of her breasts which suckled thee and her lips which kissed thee; for the sake of her hands which touched thee and her arms which embraced thee; for the sake of her spirit and flesh which thou didst take from her to be part of thyself . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI believe, O Lord, that thou art the Son of the Father in thy Godhead, and the Son of Man in thy humanity . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI believe, O Lord, that thou art the Firstborn Only Son to him who begat thee and the only Son of her who gave birth to thee. Thy birth in Heaven was unique, and thy birth on earth was unique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have sought but could not comprehend the mystery of thy first birth. I contemplate thy second birth and marvel in wonder. I give glory to the former though it is beyond my understanding. I give homage to the second in prostrate adoration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now without doubt, and in the fullness of faith, I glorify thy birth from the Father and give praise to thy birth from the Virgin. The Virgin's womb is greater than the mystical chariot of light, loftier than the heights of the firmament, more sublime than the distances of space, more glorious than the seraphim and cherubim.","brand":"Image","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300751003877,"sku":"NP9780385516495","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780385516495.jpg?v=1767721478","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/an-african-prayer-book-isbn-9780385516495","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}