Yo, God, Whaddup?: I Come to You in Prayer

By Catherine Taylor

Yo, God, Whaddup? introduces a new approach to prayer as it promotes growth on your spiritual journey. Catherine Taylor takes you by the hand and invites you to engage in a more active prayer life as she shares the process she developed to help alleviate anxiety about prayer. Yo, God, Whaddup? provides you with a variety of prayers written for both formal and informal prayer styles. Empower yourself to embark on a prayerful journey as you build your spiritual practice and strengthen your own personal relationship with God. Any time of the day or night, the guidance for just the right prayer is as close as your desk, nightstand, backpack, purse or wherever Yo, God, Whaddup? finds its home in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504328852

Catherine Taylor

Catherine Taylor was born in Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand, and grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Formerly publisher at The Folio Society and deputy director of English PEN, she is now a freelance writer, critic, and editor. Her essays have appeared in Granta, Aeon, and the collection Trauma: Art and Mental Health (Dodo Ink, 2021). She edited The Book of Sheffield: A City in Short Fiction (Comma Press, 2019), chosen as the 2020 Big City Read by Sheffield Libraries. She lives in London. This is her first book.

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Copyright © 2015 Catherine Taylor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-2884-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2886-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2885-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903254

Balboa Press rev. date: 3/19/2015

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 About Prayer

Chapter 2 This Is Your Walk

Chapter 3 Compose a Prayer in Five Easy Steps

Chapter 4 How to Use This Book

Chapter 5 Prayers by Topic

To the many family members and friends who have

supported and encouraged me throughout my life. If you’ve been a part of my life, it is likely that you have contributed to my success and inspired me in some way. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you who reads and uses this book as a means to improve your life. If I touch one life, I have accomplished all that I have come here to do.

PREFACE

For as long as I can remember, prayer has been one of the most intimidating aspects of my spiritual practices. In my mind, the feat of composing prayer was always best suited for religious officials who had been specially trained in these sorts of endeavors. In other words, I was comfortable with trusty standbys, such as the Lord’s Prayer and The Serenity Prayer.

Oftentimes I would be asked to pray for others or for a particular situation, and in those moments I was inevitably overwhelmed with anxiety. It was very much like being asked to stand before a room full of people and issue an impromptu speech. Quite frankly, requests for prayer would scare the pants off me. It feels odd expressing this, considering that I have served as a volunteer at my church in the role of prayer chaplain for several years now. Of course, I have chosen to serve in ways that best suit my personality. For instance, I have fallen back on more comfortable mediums, such as text messages, blogs, e-mail, or handwritten notes, rather than verbalize a prayer that I had personally composed.

One Sunday morning I was sitting in church thinking about why the idea of praying with others was such an intimidating concept for me, and what I came up with was that I had all of these preconceived ideas of what prayer was supposed to be. I had convinced myself that it was necessary for prayer to be rigid and structured. I had conceived some outlandish idea of what God expected from me in regard to prayer and I had adopted a fear of letting God down. On top of these concerns, I felt inclined to add the egotistical fear of what others might think or not like about the prayers I would deliver.

Then it sank in for me: what if prayer was as simple as me having a