Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church (Prayers of the Church)

One of the best little books for ancient prayers. I love this book and have purchased it for many people, it's filled with rich prayers from the early church.

Beautiful

great

This is not your typical prayer companion. This enriches my prayer time.

Highly recommend!

Many Christians are familiar with puritan prayers thanks to books like The Valley of Vision or Piercing Heaven. But we likely heard precious few—if any—prayers from other epochs.But, in Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church, Robert Elmer (author of Piecing Heaven) introduces us to the prayers of the earliest disciples of Jesus. Elmer compiled this collection of prayers to “open a window into the souls of the first generations of believers—real people whose hearts beat with praise in the face of troubled and persecution.”The book features prayers from the first six centuries of the church from men such as Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, Clement of Rome, Irenaeus of Lyons, Polycarp, Tertullian, Ephraim the Syrian, and Gregory Nazianzen.The prayers are arranged into 32 categories, such as Praise You for Your Attributes, We Give Thanks to the Triune God; We remember our Congregation, Help Us to Be More Like Jesus, Show Us Truth in Your Word, Morning prayers, Evening Prayers, and Prayers for Days of the Christian years. The book also has brief biographies of the authors and sources.I was initially interested in this book because I have mostly been exposed to prayers from the puritans. And I was interested in discovering prayers from Christians of other eras.Much like Piercing Heaven, the prayers in this book are beautiful, rooted in Scripture, and God-centered. The early Christians took God seriously, and their prayers in this book reflect their dedication. I love how these prayers, though written more than a thousand years ago, can still be easily prayed by Christians today. For instance, the book features the earliest prayer recorded outside Scripture and is very “prayable.” This is because it is based on the enduring Word of God.Design-wise, Fount of Heaven is very similar to Piercing heaven. It has a sturdy hardcover, ribbon marker, and the same layout and typesetting.Overall, I enjoyed reading Fount of Heaven and highly recommend it. It is an excellent resource to help you pray and deepen your fellowship with God. Get a copy, keep it on your nightstand, visit it frequently, and be blessed.*Lexham Press graciously gave a copy, and this is my honest review*

Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church is a beautifully bound volume presenting a wide selection of prayers from the first seven centuries of the Christian Church. Each prayer’s source is cited on each page, a welcome move that helps the reader locate the historical context of these prayers. This is a great feature that is missing from other otherwise good prayer books (like the Valley of Vision). There is something to be said for locating these prayers within their context in the life of the Church.The authors here represent the first seven centuries of the Christian church, with the majority sourced from the 4-5th centuries. The authors also reflect the geographic breadth of the church around the Mediterranean world. The English translations are very readable. Most are adapted from the prolific translation work of the Oxford Movement, the Anglo-Catholic revival that came out of the Church of England in the 19th century. The editor has edited the “antiquated English” of these 19th century translations and, in some cases, lightly edited them (4). Many readers will welcome this update, though there is something comforting in the older English style too.The majority of prayers are organized by themes like “We Turn to You” and “We Seek Restoration.” These contemporary categories will aid modern readers will quickly finding those ancient prayers that might best fit contemporary need. A handful of prayers at the end are organized in more traditional ecclesial categories like “Morning Prayer” and “Evening Prayer” and “Prayers for Days of the Christian Year.” But these “days” are only Sundays, Christmas, and Easter. What of the many other Feast Days of the Christian year that would have been central to those earliest Christians and remain so important to the majority of Christians today? This reviewer wishes the rest of the prayers had been organized around more traditional categories as well (ex. “Prayers for the Eucharist” and “Prayers for the Dead”), to better reflect the classical Christianity of these patristic writers.Something must be said about the beautiful design of this book. The green and gold cover is beautiful. The binding is sturdy and will stand up to years of frequent reference. With the addition of the ribbon bookmark, this volume would make an excellent gift and sturdy reference work to be enjoyed and treasured for years.Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for free from the publisher. I was not asked to provide a positive review, and this in no way affected my review.