The ESV Prayer Bible Review
Prayer changes things. Namely, prayer has a profound and supernatural way of changing us. Prayer can be incredibly simple, but given the nature of it, can be hard to understand or master. That’s why I’m so excited about The ESV Prayer Bible from Crossway…
If you feel as though you just don’t understand prayer or you need a boost in your prayer life, this is an excellent resource. You’ll find a an introductory essay by Donald Whitney who wrote the book, Praying the Bible, that explains the how and why to pray the Bible. Throughout the Bible, you will discover over 400 prayers from the likes of the early church fathers, Puritans, Protestant Reformers, and more. Each book has a prayer-related introduction that explains how to use each specific book in prayer. At the end you’ll find an author index featuring short bios of historic contributors and the page numbers of where to find their prayers. You’ll also find a comprehensive index of every time prayer is mentioned in the entire Bible. This truly is an incredible resource.
I’m reviewing the hardcover version of this Bible and I really like the design of it. It looks a lot like a pew Bible that you’d find in your church. The blue cover with the simple design is really aesthetically pleasing. It features one ribbon bookmark. It’s single column (which is my preference) and the font is an incredibly readable 9.25 while the prayers are a bit smaller coming in at 7.5. I personally don’t find this smaller font too small. It sets the prayers apart and keeps the Bible at a very affordable price, but I know some will find it pretty small and might argue that instead of a smaller font, a different color could’ve been used to distinguish the prayers. I could certainly see the merit of this argument for those who may struggle to see smaller fonts—and I prefer a larger font myself (however, you can purchase it for Kindle and magnify the font).
I’ve mentioned Peter Voth in relation to artwork before in my review of The Story of Redemption Bible and he is again featured in this Bible. You’ll notice his art on the cover with the praying hands as well as on the slip cover, dust jacket like wrap that comes on the outside of this Bible. If you appreciate his art, you’ll also notice that it’s featured in the author biographies where he has contributed his work to the likenesses of those whose prayers are featured in the Bible.
In using this Bible, I really enjoy getting to read the prayers of those who have gone before us in the Christian faith. Reading their prayers inspire my own and at times I even use their prayers as my own. I also love the fact that this Bible teaches you how to pray in each book of the Bible. I believe that praying Scripture is incredibly powerful and can really revolutionize our prayer lives and this Bible is such a great tool to further us in knowing and understanding how to use Scripture powerfully in our lives.
You can pick up the hardcover version of this Bible for about $20.00 on Amazon. At that price, it’s a steal. I don’t think you will regret the purchase and I truly believe it will benefit you as you enjoy the grace of talking with God.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from Crossway in exchange for a fair and honest review.
