The Treasury of Daily Prayer - My Pre-release Review

Concordia Publishing House has produced a new resource called the Treasury of Daily Prayer and it will be made available in late October. The editor of the volume (Rev. Scot Kinnaman) set up a Facebook page for this resource and I joined. After a while I noticed that some others had been given pre-release PDF versions of the Treasury and were publishing their reviews on their blogs etc (e.g. Rev. Wil Weedon). I sent a message on the Treasury Facebook page (jokingly) that I would be more than happy to give a Canadian perspective and review. Well, Rev. Kinnaman took me up on my offer! I have reviewed a massive PDF file of the Treasury in its draft form. The review was to be rather short - it is below.



The Treasury of Daily Prayer has the potential to radically improve the daily prayer lives of any who make use of it. With helpful material that introduces the purpose and procedure of daily prayer the Treasury will prove to be a great resource to introduce the practice into the lives of many. I can see the Treasury serving as something like a "virus" infecting the Lutheran church and beyond with the result of spreading the practice of daily prayer far more broadly than it is practiced at the present time. The Treasury will have a unifying effect as many will be reading the same lections each day - something Hermann Sasse once wished for among the Lutheran clergy. This may lead to discussion groups forming around the daily lections as well as conferences and conventions that will include praying the Offices as part of the schedule.

Finally, one more important point regarding the Treasury. As many have found, the practice of daily prayer and of praying the daily Offices is a blessing, but also a challenge at times. The challenge lies mainly in our flesh. We often allow any excuse to interfere. Often we find it too burdensome to go through several resources. The Treasury does a fine job of providing all the resources in one volume. I have made use of the materials for the last week and it is very simple to use. The "old Adam" will have far less to complain about if one makes the Treasury a regular part of their daily prayer life. I recommend The Treasury of Daily Prayer highly and I look forward to seeing how this resource will positively impact both clergy and laity alike.