Visiting the sick, lonely or downcast is a duty we all have as Christians. It is not to be left to ministers or elders but is a responsibility for all those who seek to follow Christ's perfect example. The problem often arises when we actually make the visit. Discussing the weather or the hospital food is all very well but for our visit to have maximum value we need to try and help the person spiritually. Reading our favourite Bible passage might suffice once but it cannot be apt to every situation and what happens when you visit for a second time?

This is where this book helps. Providing Scripture readings, a prayer and even a suggested hymn for a wide range of possible visits it is a wonderfully useful tool. Written by authors with long pastoral experience it will prove a real help to all those who seek to turn the routine visit into a time of real spiritual growth.

Until his retirement in 2005 David Searle was Director of Rutherford House, a theological research and study centre in Edinburgh. Prior to that he pastored two Churches of Scotland before moving to Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland where he pastored Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church for eight years from 1985.

A Consultant Cardiologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for some 25 years, David Short was appointed Physician to Her Majesty the Queen in 1977 and then Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Aberdeen. In addition to his medical career he was both a preacher of God’s Word and a pastor, particularly to the sick, bereaved and discouraged. Together with his wife Joan, he prayed faithfully and systematically for the many whom God laid on their hearts. He died in May 2005.