Two Reviews in One!

Morning and Evening Prayer Book

Y’all, I LOVE prayer. The fact that we can ‘approach the throne of grace with boldness’ (Hebrews 4:16) and talk to the Creator King of the universe blows my ever lovin’ mind. Not only can I pray for you and for myself, but I can sit down with God and chit-chat. About anything. About everything. But sometimes, I get lost in what to say, how to say it or what to even pray. When that happens, I love having a prayer book close at hand to give me the words to say, a jumping point to start from.

 

I am head-over-heels for this book. A Morning and Evening Prayerbook has been such an immense blessing to my prayer life. First of all, the edges of the pages have a rough, torn look which I adore. It gives the whole book an old-fashioned, worn feel that keeps me reaching for the book. Secondly, the book is the size of an average novel. I truly was expecting a pocket-sized book. It fits nicely in my purse, but it has a beautiful weight to it. And lastly, the pages are filled with a morning prayer and an evening prayer for every single day of the year. And the prayers are not just from one denomination. The prayers are drawn from “Christian prayer throughout the ages,” from Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox treasuries. And it’s beautiful. Y’all, it’s absolutely beautiful. I look forward to praying with this book daily, and I know that you will too.

The Golden Thread

I remember when “Shout to the Lord,” sung by Darlene Zschech, hit the airwaves in 1993.  It was a massive hit, and continues to be today. And while I liked the song, the biggest impact it had on me was introducing me to Darlene. I loved her voice, her passion, her music. (Still do!) So when I saw that she had released a book, I jumped at the chance to read it.

Now, let me preface by saying that the passion Darlene displays in her music, she also exhibits in her writing. Also, let me say right now that I know, without any doubt, that this book is going to bless so, so many.

But, for me personally, it fell flat.

I found Darlene’s story impossibly hard to relate to. I did not put God first, as I should have, during my teenage years and my early twenties. So to step into the author’s shoes, who did always put Christ first, was very difficult. Her experiences, the denomination she was raised in, living on her own at sixteen…truly, I don’t exactly know how to explain my reaction. I love reading stories from women who have walked vastly different paths, so it wasn’t that she had a different journey than me that turned me off. Her writing just didn’t resonate with me. I suppose that’s the whole of it. Give the book a try; you just might like it.