100 year old prayers for today...

In the tradition of short daily devotions such as A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie and Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, Evening Prayers by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt provides a scripture followed by a short inspirational prayer based on the verse. Blumhardt preceded and influenced a who’s who of theological giants including Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Emil Brunner and Karl Barth although he is not as well known in America. With the release of this book, Plough Publishing hopes to change that.

As with any book of devotions, the impact on the reader depends entirely on how carefully and consistently it is read and the location the reader is in their spiritual walk which will affect the words impact. I always equate it to playing golf on an amateur level (the only level I can relate to). I can play 17 holes of awful, uninspired golf and be on the verge of never playing again but then hit a perfect approach shot to the 18th green and finish my awful day with a birdie and walk off the course with a renewed love for the game and plans to book my next tee time. In much the same way, I can read for two weeks and move between nodding knowingly to a shrug of indifference but then reach a day where every word burns deep within me and my life is changed. And I await the next entry with heightened anticipation.

The prayers recorded in Evening Prayers are based off the spoken word, prayers that Blumhardt actually recited during evening devotions in Germany. I liked that I could hear a voice speaking as I read the daily entries and I appreciate the editors declining to change that. I am comforted that personal petitions to heaven by a German pastor 100 years ago can resonate so deeply in a 50 year-old in America today. God is consistent. God is good.

I recommend this book and I implore anyone to consistently dig in and read it daily with a prepared heart. Anticipate and welcome change.

Handlebar Marketing has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review.