Sister Wendy on prayer - Wendy Beckett

Sister Wendy, who has been dedicated to a life of prayer for more than half a century, has always resisted writing a book on the subject. Her reasons mix humility with a conviction that prayer is simple: books about prayer can be a dangerous distraction. Yet, when she does speak about prayer, often in response to the questions of ordinary people, she does so with an eloquence that speaks directly to her hearers in ways that make practical sense.

Now, in her older age, Sister Wendy is willing to set down some of what she has learnt over a lifetime in a series of meditations. The format of the book is deliberately non-linear: where prayer is concerned, Sister Wendy says, it is simply a matter of trying to turn to God as honestly as the person you are in the circumstances you find yourself in.

Her co-author, David Willcock, who has worked with Sister Wendy for many years producing her television programmes, adds to her text a biographical sketch about being a nun and at the same time one of the art world's most acute and revered commentators and a TV personality.

Illustrating this unique book are a dozen pieces of artwork: no book by Sister Wendy would be complete without this dimension.