"ESV Prayer Bible", by Crossway (book review)

I truly appreciate the intent Crossway had in putting this Bible together.  Sadly, however, I think it kinda missed the mark.  Rather than providing a host of insightful prayers inspired by following the text of scripture that teach people how to pray scripture, it mostly contained numerous prayers that simply seemed to fit a particular text of scripture.  That said, there are still good things to take away from this Bible.

First and foremost of helpfulness is the short section in the introduction that discuss “The Problem with Prayer”, “The Solution”, “How to Pray the Bible”, and “Who Has Prayed the Bible?”  I learned years ago from Dr. Charles Swindoll how to pray the Bible and make it personal, and that’s what the short section, “How to Pray the Bible”, addresses.

Next in helpfulness is the “Author Index”.  If you have a particular theologian you’re looking for, or a favorite perhaps, this is a helpful section that directs the reader to the prayers written/spoken by those persons.

Another helpful section is the “Prayer Index”.  Basically, this is the converse of the Author Index in that if you’re looking for a prayer for a particular passage of scripture, not concerned who the author of the prayer is, then this section will fly you right in.

Finally, the prayers contained within this Bible are truly rich in depth, and many believers would do well to learn how great leaders of the faith have prayed in ages past.  It seems too often prayer times are saturated with requests for Aunt Betty’s big toe or Uncle Joe’s persistent cough.  I’m being facetious, but I think you get the point 😉.  These great leaders of the faith have prayed prayers than span the ages.

Overall, I guess I expected more from this Bible.  I fully hope to use it in developing liturgies and prayers for our Sunday morning worship gatherings, but I can still say I was slightly disappointed with it.

Rating: I give the Prayer Bible just 3 stars out of 5.

Disclaimer:  I received this Bible free of charge from Crossway in exchange for my unbiased review of it.  All opinions are mine, and I was not required to provide a positive review of it.