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Jeff

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Jeff’s currently-reading shelf

My Utmost for His Highest Journal by Oswald Chambers

The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics by C.S. Lewis

When I'm on My Knees by Anita Corrine Donihue

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Jeff’s Bookshelves

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justread2022readingchallenge‎ (43)
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Jeff is Currently Reading

Jeff is currently reading

The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence

bookshelves: currently-reading, justread2026, kindle, devotional, spiritual-formation

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5 hours, 27 min ago

Jeff is currently reading

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

by C.S. Lewis

bookshelves: currently-reading, biography, justread2026, nonfiction

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Apr 18, 2026 05:41PM

Jeff is currently reading

Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms (An Illustrated Devotional Prayer Book with 75 Daily Free-Verse Poetic Prayer Responses - One for Each of the 1st 75 Psalms)

by Ryan Whitaker Smith

bookshelves: devotional, justread2025readingchallenge, nonfiction, prayer, psalms, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in June 2025

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Jeff said: " I ran across this book one day, when I was perusing the Rabbit Room store. IYKYK. It sounded interesting, so I ordered it, and it wound up being the final addition to my Lent season reading list. It's quite a bit past Lent, but I finally finished it. I ran across this book one day, when I was perusing the Rabbit Room store. IYKYK. It sounded interesting, so I ordered it, and it wound up being the final addition to my Lent season reading list. It's quite a bit past Lent, but I finally finished it. The reason it took so long was this: I started out trying to read it straight through, like I would a "normal" book, but quickly surmised that that wouldn't work.

Let me just say that this is a beautiful book. It is almost overwhelming, and in some cases, goes beyond "almost." This is, as the subtitle states, a book of prayers "inspired" by the Psalms. Since Psalms is my favorite book of the Bible, I was definitely intrigued. And I was not disappointed. My only disappointment was that this book only covers half of them, 1-75. And more than just prayers, these are poems. But that makes sense, doesn't it, because the Psalms are poems. Songs, in fact, probably originally the Hebrew songbook and prayerbook. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls them the "prayerbook of the Bible."

I have very possibly prayed more psalms in my life than I have original prayers. Especially in the last decade or two. But this isn't a personal testimony, this is a book review. I have nothing negative whatsoever to say about this book. Except that thing I said earlier about it only covering the first 75 psalms.

The prayers are beautifully, poetically written, with great grace and exquisiteness. Is that a word? I guess so, there's not a red squiggly line under it. And they are definitely prayers. I found myself verbalizing quite a few of them during my morning and evening Jesus Times. There is one in particular, inspired by Psalm 72, that is called "A Prayer for Those in Power," which I have started praying every morning, verbatim, when I reach that part of my daily prayer focus.

As an added bonus, there are footnotes on every single one of them that give the various Scripture references that are alluded to in the prayers. But one doesn't have to look all of those up unless one just wants to. The prayers are just as meaningful without doing that.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves prayer and loves the Psalms. Buy it. Devour it. And then devour it again. That's what I'm doing. Because I am who I am, I read it straight through the first time, cover to cover, just so I can add it to my reading log. But it remains on my Jesus Time shelf, because I will be using it over and over and over.

Further bonus! I discovered a few nights ago that the author has written the second book of prayers to cover the rest of the Psalms, called Endless Grace. It should be arriving in a couple days. My pastor already has it, and has shown me the prayer inspired by Psalm 139. Stunning. As expected.

Even further bonus!! He is releasing a book on Proverbs in September of this year. I have already preordered it! It is called Abiding Wisdom: Prayers Inspired by the Book of Proverbs.

I have now read this book twice this year, as I have been reading one Psalm per day, along with its corresponding prayer from this book. It continues to move me greatly. 💜💜 ...more "

Oct 14, 2025 11:49AM · see review

See all 13 books that Jeff is reading…

Jeff’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

1 note & 57 highlights

But then it flashed upon me that these were very improper thoughts for a place of worship, and that my behaviour, on the present occasion, was anything but what it ought to be.

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Jeff’s Quotes

“If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”
― Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

tags: annoyance, writing

1349 likes

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.”
― Annie Dillard, The Living

tags: books, literature, reading, words

3799 likes

“What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.”
― Cynthia Ozick

1428 likes

“She thought of the library, so shining white and new; the rows and rows of unread books; the bliss of unhurried sojourns there and of going out to a restaurant, alone, to eat.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

1205 likes