Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Book Club: Book Review of Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen

A Mom's Quest to Teach: Book Club: Book Review; book cover of Praying with Jane



Disclaimer: I received access to the e-book on NetGalley for free from the publisher in return for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy. Thank you.

As devotionals are quite popular, I thought it would be lovely to review one with a twist. Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen by Rachel Dodge from Bethany House Publishers is an interesting change of pace from ordinary devotionals. The book is designed to help one “savor Jane’s prayers” and fully appreciate the “treasure trove of biblical and practical applications found in each line” of the three prayers.

I learned so much from this short devotional from Bethany House Publishers. The beautifully written introduction shares a wealth of information about her life and her family (as does the rest of the book). There are glimpses into the books of Austen, biographies of the author, the Old and New Testaments, and more in Praying with Jane. We see that our lives are not so very different from Jane’s life. She had a very busy life – two brothers in the navy, illness and death in her family, travelling, working, and more – so she sought out God for refreshment and to refocus.  

Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (background photo of a heart from canva.com)

drawing of Jane Austen from wpclipart.comAt the heart of the book are the three prayers that Jane wrote that were saved by her sister, Cassandra, and kept safe for future generations. The book is divided into three sections, one for each prayer, and with 10 devotions for each prayer. Each of the 10 devotions includes part of the prayer, a look into Jane’s life, an invitation to pray, things you could journal, prayers, and a bible quote.


One comforting reminder of Praying with Jane is that “we can come close to God in prayer, whenever and wherever.” I think we too often forget that we can call upon God at any time and any moment in our lives and I found this to be a pleasant and needed reminder.

Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen was a good and easy-to-read devotional. Even though I have not read a lot of Austen’s works, I still found the book to be valuable and enjoyable. I would recommend Praying with Jane for fans of Austen, those needing a good devotional for themselves or as a gift. I believe there is much that we can learn from Jane.

Do you have a favorite devotional? 


Looking for more book reviews? Please check out my following reviews. 

Book Club: Shelter of the Most High; A Moving adventure in which we join Sofea and Eitan in the Promised Land as they seek to rebuild their lives - maybe together. cover of Shelter of the Most High; background image of beach

Day by Day through the Gospel of John from Bethany House; Read through the Gospel of John over the course of the year with classic Christian writers and preachers; book cover of Day by Day; clipart of book

Book Club: Book Review of Mark of the Raven; book cover of Mark of the Raven; clipart of raven; "Lady Selene Has Come into her Family's Power"


Image of Jane Austen from wpclipart.com


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