Description
Winner of a 2023 Illumination Award for Spirituality!
Prayer is a primary way Christians fulfill the Great Commandment to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, and it’s the foundation of everything else we do to show that love. Yet, for something so integral to the practice of our faith, prayer remains stubbornly mysterious. What happens when we pray? Do our prayers change anything? How should we pray? These questions persist.
Although some of these mysteries won't be resolved on this side of eternal life, Jesus calls his disciples to pray anyway and assures us that our prayers matter. In prayer, we consciously devote time to cultivating our relationship with God, trusting that this relationship can transform our souls, our lives, and the world.
But even when we want to pray, the question remains: How do we pray?
Rhonda Mawhood Lee explores practices from the Lord’s Prayer to praying with the psalms and in song, from the eucharist and the rosary to “moving” prayers offered when walking a labyrinth, doodling, baking, or devoting another activity to God. Scripture and tradition show us that when we seek God through prayer, we will find, by grace, the One who has already reached out to us in love. Seek and You Will Find is a comforting, challenging, and instructive companion in your quest to develop the relationship God deeply desires with you.
Also available on Kindle and Apple Books.
A Message from the Author
About the Author
Born and raised in Québec, the daughter of a francophone father and a Scottish immigrant mother, Rhonda Mawhood Lee moved to North Carolina to pursue a doctorate in history at Duke University. There, she found her life’s companion and stayed. She has taught college and worked as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and now serves as an Episcopal priest, writer, and spiritual director.
Lee’s essays on faith and life have appeared in outlets like America: The Jesuit Review, Faith & Leadership, and “Modern Love” (The New York Times). She is the author of Through with Kings and Armies: The Marriage of George and Jean Edwards (Cascade Books, 2012).
Editorial Reviews
“Like a wise and well-traveled guide, Rhonda Lee leads us along various pathways into prayer, providing assistance throughout that is both personal and practical. How shall we pray? We might well ask. As Jesus once said, ‘Come and see.’”
- The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and author of Love is the Way
"Inviting, accessible and user friendly, Seek and You Will Find is a wonderful introduction to the life of prayer, an essential element of the life of the believer."
—James Martin, SJ, author of Learning to Pray
“Prayer is one of the ways we connect with God. Through this connection, we are empowered to live Christ-centered lives. As a priest and bishop, I have had numerous conversations with individuals who struggled with their prayer lives. Sometimes, new converts to the faith sought advice about how to approach prayer. In other instances, the established prayer practices of deeply spiritual persons no longer enabled them to hear God’s voice.
Rhonda’s book about prayer is an excellent resource for anyone who desires to strengthen their relationship with God. The book explores many different types of prayer drawing upon Rhonda’s rich experience as a spiritual director and priest. She provides practical questions and suggestions at the end of each chapter for those who need assistance in getting started. Wherever you are in your journey with the Lord, reflecting on the practices in this book will provide new opportunities for the Holy Spirit to draw you closer to God.”
—The Rt. Rev. Phoebe A. Roaf, Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee
“My favorite chapter of this book is, I think, the chapter on the Psalms—where Lee vivifies the Psalter by way of Frederick Douglass and Toni Morrison. Or maybe my favorite chapter is ‘The Intercession of the Saints,’ which showed me anew who the saints are and why I might wish to talk to them. Or maybe the chapter on the Eucharist, which explores how the Eucharist is abundant with God's presence, while also acknowledging that Eucharistic practice has sometimes been implicated in horrific violence. Can every chapter be a favorite? Grammatically speaking, I suppose not, but every chapter did show me something new about prayer, and every chapter left me wanting to pray. I suspect that will be true for readers who are new to prayer, and for readers newly returning to prayer, as well as for seasoned, longtime practitioners of Christian prayer.”
—Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Wearing God
"Prayer opens our lives—a posture of exposure to the presence of God's love. Rhonda Mawhood Lee offers this insight as an invitation to join her on a pilgrimage into God's life. This book is full of practical wisdom on how to pray—from guidance on the rosary as an aid to sink into our union with God, to instruction on the practice of lectio divina. She describes a life of prayer that is immersed in the world. The personal is political, especially in our prayer lives, because Christ is lord of heaven and earth, soul and society. Rhonda describes the experience of praying Our Fathers and Hail Marys at the Israel/Palestine and U.S./Mexico borders for people caught in the injustices of checkpoints. Throughout, she returns to the wonders of the gospel: that God answers our desolation with belovedness."
—Isaac Villegas, Pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship, president of governing board of the NC Council of Churches, columnist and contributing editor for The Christian Century magazine.
"The people who knew and walked with Jesus only ever asked him to teach them one thing: how to pray. This introduction to the practice of prayer is the sort of guide many of us need, even after spending years in church. Like a YouTube series on the basics of calisthenics or yoga, it demonstrates the basic moves and helps one see how they might progress along a path that others have traveled."
—Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, co-compiler of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals