Prayers for the People: Things We Didn't Know We Could Say to God

“What a gift Terry Stokes has given us. Like the best of the ancient psalms, these modern collects don’t shy from reality and express trust in a loving God who cares intimately about our everyday lives. This is the prayer book I need right now, full of humor and beauty, candor and holy longing.”—Jeff Chu, co-curator of Evolving Faith and author of Does Jesus Really Love Me? “From the petty to the profound, Terry Stokes’s Prayers for the People gives us the language and courage we need to go boldly before the throne of God in prayer, asking for what we desire and need. The scope of prayers within this book will bless the prayer warrior and the prayer adverse.”—Ekemini Uwan, public theologian and co-host of the podcast Truth’s Table “Wonderfully blending traditional prayer rhetoric with humor and an eye for contemporary concerns, Stokes’s work [is] a stimulating, inspiring resource.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Terry J. Stokes is the associate pastor of youth and community engagement at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, in New Jersey. He weaves together his experience in several church contexts with his theological education, his knowledge of pop culture, and his devotional life to write prayers that encourage the heart of today’s church.