A Morning and Evening Prayerbook

by David P. Gushee, David P. Gushee

A collection of morning and evening prayers, a different one for every day and night of the year, drawn from the treasury of Christian prayer throughout the ages.

A Morning and Evening Prayerbook provides a framework for prayerful devotions with two prayers for each day of the year. The morning prayers are ideal for encouraging your heart for the approaching day’s activities and challenges while the evening prayers will help you close each day with reverence, gratitude, and reflection. Selected to mirror the seasons and the liturgical calendar, the prayers are intended not to replace your personal, spontaneous prayers but to serve as a springboard for them.

Editors Jeanie and David Gushee have collected inspiring contributions from Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox sources; from all continents; from the Old Testament; and from each century of Christian history. A Morning and Evening Prayerbook will enrich your commitment to God and personal connection to the Christian tradition and the entire church. 

Genres: Prayer, Nonfiction, Religion

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2018

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

“His greatness is unsearchable.”

A MORNING AND EVENING PRAYERBOOK is a collection of two prayers a day for each day of the year. The collection culls prayers from various Christian faith traditions from across the centuries. There are also prayers by figures of historical and/or literary note (George Washington, Jane Austen, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc.) some of whom I found surprising, and more than a few deeply moving.

I kept this by my bedside and read a prayer each morning and evening for 2021. The prayers are not specific to a year so this text can be read (or reread) at any time. The prayers vary greatly in quality. Some are very astoundingly profound and added to my own reflections, some were spiritless and fell flat. No surprises there.

Here is an example of a prayer from the text. One I particularly liked-

"May you be blessed forever, Lord, for not abandoning me when I abandon you.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for offering your hand of love in my darkest, most lonely moment.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for putting up with such a stubborn soul as mine.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for loving me more than I love myself.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for continuing to pour out your blessings upon me, even though I respond so poorly.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for drawing out the goodness in all people, even including me.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for repaying our sin with your love.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for being constant and unchanging, amidst all the changes of the world.
May you be blessed forever, Lord, for your countless blessings on me and on all your creatures."
~Teresa of Ávila

This text is not a substitute for a prayer life of one’s own, it is just a decent supplement, and if nothing else a nice quite moment to start and end each day.

[Charlotte Guzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book of daily prayers I saw a Goodreads friend had read for 2021. I had to have it and read this book everyday throughout the year of 2022.
I had this book next to my bedside and took comfort in the prayers.
The prayers were from different people and organizations throughout the world and centuries.
Love it as it gave me spiritual comfort.

[Zachary Houle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethicist David Gushee has swiftly become one of my favourite Christian writers. He may be an evangelical, but he swings to the left and has done things — such as openly support the gay community — that leaves me with a bit of a glow as a cheerleader and supporter (and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a pretty good writer, to boot). That’s one reason why I wanted to pick up his (sort of) latest release, co-written and edited with his wife, Jeanie. The other reason is that it is a prayerbook, and as I look to enrich my spiritual life with prayer, I wanted to get my hands on something that was a bit more comforting to me than other prayer guides that have fallen into my hands recently, such as this book.

Well, this book was almost exactly the thing I was looking for. A Morning and Evening Prayerbook — which hasn’t changed much from its original 2012 edition, which was then titled Yours is the Day, Lord, Yours is the Night — is a book that has two prayers for each day of the year: one to be prayed over in the morning, and the other to be prayed over in the evening. The devotional covers every century of Christian history, which makes it interesting as the original English or English translation hasn’t been doctored for current readers, yielding an old-timey feel to this hardcover book (which comes complete with a sturdy black ribbon and is printed as a deckle-edge tome). The book also culls from Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox sources, making for a fascinating and completely Christian prayerbook that doesn’t subscribe to one point of view when it comes to the faith. I normally don’t peek at other reviews online when reviewing a work, but I accidentally saw one that called out this aspect of the book, citing that it was dangerous (probably particularly for new Christians) and it didn’t adhere to one type of Christianity, and the right kind at that.

Read the rest of the review (including my take on this criticism) at this link: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been enjoying my copy to review of “A Morning and Evening Prayerbook”. I love starting the day by reading a prayer and ending the day with reading a prayer, before taking my petitions before our Heavenly Father.

This book is a perpetual book of two prayers a day for an entire year. It is not to replace your prayers to God, but to provide inspiration, hope and reflection.

It is a hard cover book. It is compiled of prayers from all sources ranging from Protestant, Catholic to Eastern Orthodox. Other sources are from the Old Testament and from Christian history.

The one thing I didn’t care for is the unevenness of the pages of the book. It makes it very difficult to turn the pages.

Disclaimer: I received this Book from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for free to read and review through the BookLook Bloggers blogger review program. I was not required to give a favorable review only an honest review, nor was I compensated for my review. All thoughts and comments in this review are my own.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy.

I love that you can open to a random page and immerse yourself in a shorter prayer, you control the amount of time spent with each piece and when you believe in the power of prayer, great things can happen for you in a positive way. I would recommend this to teens and older ages that need a bit of God in life.

[Marlin King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meditative, thoughtful, substantial prayers, some dating back centuries and others only a few years old. A nice blend of the modern and traditional, nothing cheesy or cringe inducing.

[Lovely Loveday]

Morning and Evening Prayerbook by Jeanie and David Gushee is a daily devotional that gives you a prayer for both the morning and evening. This lovely hardback prayerbook is the perfect addition to start and end your day. The prayers are drawn from the treasury of Christian prayer throughout the ages. A lovely collection of inspiring contributions from Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox sources; from all continents; from the Old Testament; and from each century of Christian history. Morning and Evening Prayerbook would make a lovely gift or a nice addition to your own library.