A prayer book is a book containing

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifi ...

s and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are termed "service books" or "

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...

s", and are thus not prayer-books in the strictest sense, but the term is often used very loosely. A religion's

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pract ...

s might also be considered prayer books as well.

Jewish prayer books

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, the

Siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...

is a prayer book "containing the three daily prayers; also the prayers for Shabbat, ''Rosh-Chodesh'' and the festivals."

Christian prayer books

Breviaries

Breviaries A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such as ...

are prayer books used in many Christian denominations by believers to

pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...

fixed prayer times Fixed prayer times, praying at dedicated times during the day, are common practice in major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism Jewish law requires Jews to pray thrice a day; the morning prayer is known as Shacha ...

the canonical hours seven times a day, a practice that has its roots in .

Daily devotional

Throughout the year, and especially during certain seasons of the Christian liturgical kalendar such as

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

and

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and L ...

, many Christians pray a

daily devotional A daily devotional is a Christian religious publication that provide a specific spiritual reading for each calendar day. Many daily devotionals take the form of one year devotional books, with many being tailored specifically for children, teenage ...

, which contains a prayer for each day along with a reflection on a passage from the

Christian Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Notable prayer books

The following are among the many books to which the term may loosely refer in various churches, although in strict usage a prayer book is likely to mean a miscellaneous book of prayers as opposed to the standard service books as listed in the last group below: ; Actual prayer books: ''General'' * Daily Watchwords (Moravian Christian) * Raccolta (Catholic Christian) * Saint Augustine's Prayer Book (Anglican Christian) * Vatican Croatian Prayer Book (Catholic Christian) ''Breviaries'' * Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox Christianity) * Anglican Breviary (Anglican Christianity) * For All the Saints (Lutheran Christianity) *

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bis ...

(Roman Catholic Christianity) *

Shehimo Shehimo ( syr, , ml, ഷഹീമോ; English: Book of Common Prayer, also spelled Sh'himo) is the West Syriac Christian breviary of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the West Syriac Saint Thomas Christians of India (Malankara Jacobite Syrian C ...

(Indian Orthodox Christianity) *Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book (Mennonite Christianity) * The Brotherhood Prayer Book (Lutheran Christianity) *

Book of Hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

, a prayer book that contains the canonical hours in various branches of Christianity * Common Worship: Daily Prayer The first prayer book published since the Reformation by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

containing the complete round of services of the Word for every day of the year:

Morning Prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion *Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism: ** Morning offering of C ...

Prayer During the Day Prayer During the Day is a liturgy of the Church of England from the service book ''Common Worship''. Along with Night Prayer (or "Compline"), it is a daily prayer service to supplement Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. The Church of England' ...

Evening Prayer Evening Prayer refers to: : Evening Prayer (Anglican), an Anglican liturgical service which takes place after midday, generally late afternoon or evening. When significant components of the liturgy are sung, the service is referred to as "Evensong ...

and Night Prayer, also called

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or Liturgy of the Hours, office) of the day in the Christianity, Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are Christian p ...

. ; Service & liturgical books: *

Lutheran Service Book ''Lutheran Service Book'' (''LSB'') is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing Hou ...

, in Lutheranism *

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 ...

(BCP), first published in 1549 for the

and has considerable literary influence in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Agenda (liturgy) The name Agenda ("Things to be Done"; Germ. ''Agende'' or ''Kirchenagende'') is given, particularly in the Lutheran Church, to the official books dealing with the forms and ceremonies of divine service. Equivalent terms prior to the Reformatio ...

, in

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Move ...

, in Anglicanism * Alternative Service Book (adopted in 1980), in the Church of England * Directory of Public Worship, adopted in certain areas of the Church of England in the 17th century

References