Prayers for People under Pressure [eBook]

Jonathan Aitken’s conversion occurred at a time when he was experiencing the pressures of political life, a public trial, pleading guilty to perjury, being divorced by his wife, going to prison, and returning to “normal” life. Amid all the pressure of those years, he was discipled in such a way that he learned the discipline of daily prayer and kept extensive prayer journals. It is from these that he mined the material for this book.

Essentially following the ACTS approach to prayer-Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication-Aitken also adds an element of contemplation: Our Relationship with God. His acronym, then, is ACTORS, and his collection of prayers and reflections is accordingly divided into five parts, all preceded by a narrative of his introduction to a life of prayer. “Since direct communication with God in prayer is surely the truest path for a spiritual journey,” writes Aitken, “my prayer is that this small book may help others along that path.”

JONATHAN AITKEN was a Member of Parliament for twenty-three years, serving in the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and also as Minister of State for Defense. He is president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a director of Prison Fellowship International, and executive director of The Trinity Forum in Europe. He is the author of twelve books, including the award-winning Nixon: A Life and Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed.

“Prayers for People under Pressure is for those in the thick of things, and both the selection of prayers and the accompanying reflections are brilliant. Jonathan Aitken’s transparent, unassuming, down-to-earth, in-God’s-presence style as he speaks of God and ourselves has huge force, taking us often to the edge of eternity. This is an anthology I shall treasure and use.”
—J. I. Packer, Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College

“Brilliantly written, thoroughly biblical, persuasively convicting, and powerful. I highly recommend it.”
—Robert Wolgemuth, Author, She Calls Me Daddy