A Comedian's Prayer Book by Frank Skinner 

'A gem, a slim volume with some laugh out loud moments, and food for thought about the mystery, challenge, and privilege of prayer'

A Comedian's Prayer Book 
By Frank Skinner 
Hodder & Stoughton 
ISBN 978-1-529-36896-3
Reviewed by Robert Draycott

 

For me this was a gem, a slim volume with some laugh out loud moments, and food for thought about the mystery, challenge, and privilege of prayer. After an introduction there are 16 chapters which are meditations on things like God knowing what we are going to pray, whether God does indeed need praise, about Hell, the Holy Trinity thing, 'I would love a Laughing Jesus in my living room', etc etc.

I found this a joy, something to return to and reread.

Here is one extract which encapsulates why this is called the Comedian's Prayer Book: 'One of the joys of prayer is that you get all my references. I could do a joke about El Greco or Efrem Zimbalist Jr, but there'll never be the need for footnotes. It's beautiful. You're the audience I've dreamed of.'

This is the sort of book that could be a welcome present to a wide range of people with a wide range of views on and experience of the mystery, challenge and privilege of prayer. 
 

Robert Draycott is a retired Baptist minister (various pastorates here and in Brazil), and a former chaplain of Eltham College