Church of England launches pocketful of daily prayer reflections

A collection of renowned Christian authors have contributed to a new series of Bible notes, the first daily reflections to be produced by the Church of England.

Reflections for Daily Prayer is a series offering contemporary, stimulating responses to biblical passages in a handy format for Monday to Saturday each week, designed to refresh and inspire times of personal prayer.

Following the Common Worship Lectionary readings for Morning Prayer, the new notes contain the Collect - a prayer chosen specially for that day - and a reflection on one of the day's Bible readings.

This first set of the pocket-sized Bible notes covers Advent to Epiphany, with short reflections on either the Old Testament or New Testament reading for the day covering topics ranging from wishes to secrets, creation to judgement.

Reflections are written by authors from a wide range of backgrounds and specialisms, who each share a passion for making that day's chosen passage relevant for today's reader.

In this first set, the authors include Jane Williams, well-known author and lecturer; Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading; Paula Gooder, lecturer in New Testament studies at the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham; and Gordon Mursell, the Bishop of Stafford.

Jane Williams comments: "The thing I like about Daily Prayer - especially the lectionary readings - is that you don't have to keep inventing a new system every day; it's a system that you know a lot of people will be using, so you are conscious of sharing Scripture with many people all over the world reading the same passages at almost the same time."