Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
Week 9: Chapter 8 — Wonder
Read Chapter 8 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Primary passages: Psalm 8; Romans 1:20; Matthew 6:28–30.
Previewing Week 9 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
Staton argues that wonder is not merely an emotion but a posture of prayer — a way of receiving the world as a gift that constantly points beyond itself to the Giver. Come to these questions ready to slow down and look.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Staton opens the chapter with an observation about how familiarity kills wonder — we stop seeing what we see every day. Think about something in your life right now — a relationship, a place, a physical sensation — that you have stopped seeing with fresh eyes. What would it take to see it again?
2.He argues that wonder is the natural response of a creature before a Creator — that awe and gratitude are not manufactured emotions but the appropriate posture of a being who did not make itself. Does that framing resonate with you? When did you last feel genuine wonder at the fact that you exist?
3.Staton draws on the Psalms as schoolbooks of wonder — particularly Psalm 8, which moves from the vastness of the cosmos to the smallness of humanity to the astonishing dignity God places on both. What does it do to your prayer life to hold those two realities — your smallness and your belovedness — at the same time?