Book Review: Prayer in Motion
(This book review is being given in exchange for a copy of the book. No money was exchanged for this review. All opinions are my own.)
Prayer in Motion by Jennifer Tucker is a beautiful book filled with colorful art, scriptures, tools and techniques for learning to “be fully present, connect with God and pray with your whole self.” (Quote from front book cover.)
Jennifer Tucker is a wife, mom, author, artist and mental health advocate. You can see more on her About Page here. She has written two other books, Breath as Prayer, and Present in Prayer. You can also purchase her art work on her page here.
Prayer in Motion takes a look at cultivating the rhythm of prayer revealing that the rhythms we hold to in our lives reveal what is important to us. We might think that we do not have the time to add more prayer to our day. We are lucky if we can get in a quick prayer before we head out the door in the morning, or one with our families before supper; how can we possibly expect to find more time? But Tucker makes an excellent point to the purpose of more prayer.
“Prayer keeps us tethered to God when the storms of life rage or worries weigh us down. When the stress and anxieties of our circumstances press in and overwhelm us, having rhythms of prayer can help us remain attached to the safety of God’s love and keep us securely anchored to hope.”
Tucker takes us through the basis for rhythmic prayer starting with the story of Maewyn (St. Patrick). Maewyn was 16 when his hometown was raided by pirates and he was captured as a slave and taken back to Ireland. There he was forces into service as a herdsman. He spent every day and night alone tending to his owner’s sheep. During this time he began to pray. He prayed every day and every night many times over and it was through these times he grew in his understanding and love of God.
“Patrick embodied a life of prayer. Prayer was not some stagnant, monotonous task to complete; prayer was the very heartbeat of his life. He lived and breathed in constant communion with God. Prayer moved within him and through him, through every moment and movement of this days.”
We are reminded that many ancient cultures revolved around the rhythms of life, including the Hebrew culture that took time to pray in the morning, at midday and in the evening.
Jennifer goes on to present the basis for prayer with movement, speaking to the fact that movement can be a conduit to hope and healing. She talks about psychological practices for healing from trauma which includes various physical and mental exercises to give release from anxiety, depression, and fear. She believes these slow, consistent, movements along with scriptures as focus points and prayer can help us to not only process difficult emotions and stress, but bring us into a closer, more intimate relationship with God.
Each section includes possible “embodied prayers” that you can use as you go through the different movements, and it also gives added insights on how to apply each of the ideas expressed to real life. She also includes a quick idea page with her pretty illustrations if you don’t have time to go through her explanations on a particular section.
I want to take just a moment to assure you that this book has no New Age leanings. This is a legitimate way to incorporate scripture, prayer and worship into psychological somatic practices to help believers who have experienced difficulties from childhood trauma, death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job and so on.
I really liked this book, and I am looking forward to putting some of these techniques into practice in my own life after the loss of my mom back in December, and the loss of my husband’s job. With the ongoing, unresolved physical symptoms since 2021 at the bottom of these other big losses, I am looking forward to incorporating more prayer in my day and allowing times of slow movement and breathing to allow my mind and body to center more on Christ and the truth of His word.
I think Prayer in Motion would be a great book for any moms in your life that you will be celebrating for Mother’s Day. It is a beautiful reminder to them to slow down, dig into God’s plan for them and remind them they also need to take care of themselves.