Just what is pastoral prayer all about? When we pray for others and ourselves, what are we attempting to do? As David Sparks explains, as pastoral pray-ers we are about bringing ourselves into right relationship with God, both as individuals and as a faith community. As pastoral pray-ers, we are about expressing our compassion for suffering humanity, and fulfilling God's intention of establishing God's realm on earth. Pastoral pray-ers are also about being involved in the answers to our prayers. There's no trying to persuade God to do what we ourselves could do with some energy and effort here Sparks writes his prayers to awaken in us an awareness of where to put our energy and use our faith to bring about God's kingdom on earth. The paryers cover local and worldwide events, individual and congregational concerns. They are lectionary-based and responsive and can be easily adapted to particular circumstances and used in a variety of settings.