AP

Book Review: Cloud of Witnesses, A Treasury of Prayers & Petitions through the Ages

By Hollie Zimmermann

Edited by: Jonathon W. Arnold & Zachariah M. Carter  

Publisher: Crossway

Year: 2024

In Luke 11:1, the disciples make a simple request of Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray”.  Arnold and Carter have gathered a selection of prayers from the history of Christendom, into one volume which fits neatly into your hand.  It is attractively bound and has a ribbon bookmark.  The anthology of prayers is set out from the early Church of the years 100 to 800, the Medieval Church, the Reformation Church and the Modern Church to the 1900s.

If you have every wondered what the great names of the Church prayed, you may find their words here.  Beginning with Jesus of Nazareth and Paul the Apostle, Clement of Rome, and the Liturgy of Chrysostom and Augustine follow.  Names recognisable to many, such as Samuel Johnson and Charles Spurgeon are contained on the pages.  Of interest to historical scholars, each prayer is in the original script at the back half of the volume.

Helpfully, the prayers are listed both by date and then by subject area.  The editors have chosen to make the prayers as accessible to as many as possible and placed the prayers in contemporary language, in the first half of the book.  They wished to show how God carries believers through their lives, through the ups and downs, sorrows and joys.  It is the editors’ aim to comfort and encourage readers with the knowledge that God walked these real people through the valleys and mountains of life, through to the very end.

The one hundred prayers in the book may be used to focus the mind as an aid to a daily devotional.  They may be read in chronological order and meditated upon, tried and tested words of faith spanning time.  Samuel Johnson wrote words of comfort while grieving the death of his wife, “Almighty and merciful father”. The English monk Bede (c. 700) prayed “Be near to me, my only hope”.  The editors’ desire that these prayers also bring hope to those who read and pray them.

The editors also wish that this work might lead people to develop their prayer life towards a greater depth, piety and devotion.  Even the disciples, surrounded by rabbis and devoted family members, requested further training from Jesus.  Thus, further training, coaching and mentoring is contained within these pages for everyone seeking to understand how to pray, wishing to develop an increasingly satisfactory prayer life, and grow in devotion to God.

Further, these prayers are an accessible collection of prayers which may be used in the public sphere.  They may be read as part of public worship or a gathering of people at school or an event, or family time.  If anyone lacks confidence in prayer, this is a very good place to begin, and everyone must begin somewhere. 

The collection would make a fine Christmas gift for a friend or loved one, or as a thank you for a teacher for a year of tuition, as the end of the teaching year nears.  It is both useful and interesting, beautifully presented and thoughtfully collated.  It is a very fine collection of Christian prayers through the ages.