On Bended Knee

So if you know me, I love to review a good bible study and I love being on launch teams!

And this spring I got to do that TWICE.

The first was on Crickett Keeth's On Bended Knee. 

This is one of the very few bible studies I've come across that tackles prayer like this. She doesn't focus on one specific prayer or one specific person but she covers many prayers across both the Old and New Testament. 

So above you'll see the Table of Contents where each week the author takes on a new prayer and guides us through that prayer. 

She starts off with THE prayer by Jesus (you know the one: Our Father....). 

Then we go into intercessory prayer by Paul in Ephesians (and even get to cover one in Colossians). Next is Job's prayer in his despair and Hannah's prayer as she was longing to have children (the prayer that brought forth Samuel). 

By week 5 we get to David's prayer in the Psalms of Lament where we find how to be sad & hurting and yet still trust God to be God. 

Then there's Asa's prayer who was seeking God and trying to turn the people towards God. 

Then Jehoshaphat, Asa's son and the monarch after him, who is depending on God for his decision making.

And we end the study with Nehemiah whose prayer was very bold, especially for someone still in captivity in Persia. 

Then at the end, there's this section with MORE prayers found in the bible that we can study and replicate in our own prayer time: Jacob, Moses, Solomon, Elijah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, as well as others by David and Paul.

And if you choose to do this study in a group there's also a leader's guide in the back.

I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this book when I read over it during the launch and even more so now that I am taking my time going through it, studying the prayers and praying them over friends and family. I highly recommend as a good study on prayer that's not warfare praying (which is not covered in this study).

{FYI: I did receive this book for FREE as a member of the launch team.}

Earth Psalms

Earth Psalms is a collection of devotions paired with beautiful photographs of nature. The devotions are meant to spark reflection and application. There are 52 devotions for weekly reading. This devotional is a collaboration between Francine Rivers and Karin Buursma. Francine knew she wanted to write a devotional with added photos of nature so we can see the beauty and work of God in the nature around us but she wanted the devotional to have a bit more depth so that's where Karin Buursma comes in at adding in the hymns, quotes, reflections, and applications throughout the devotional. 

The book is very well put together with hardback and nice thick pages with full vibrant color photos. Each devotion is themed with a color as can be seen below the second devotions pages all have deep teal color coordination. Don't get me wrong this is a beautiful devotional and is very good on content but also because of its beauty it can be put on a coffee table of sorts to spark interest and conversation with visitors. Because they'll see the beautiful photos then possibly read the devotional or at least skim the devotional that goes with the photos. 

I think this would make a great gift for the believer, new or old, who enjoys nature.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher, Tyndale, in exchange for my HONEST review.}