Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen by Rachel Dodge (Review and Giveaway)

It’s no secret that Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors.  What many casual fans may not know is that Jane Austen was the daughter of an Anglican clergyman, Reverend George Austen, and two her brothers followed him in his vocation.  Faith was an important part of Austen’s life that was filled with prayer and reflection. Three works of Austen’s that I have never read, are three prayers that she wrote.  Praying with Jane takes a contemplative look through these three prayers.  The book is broken up into three sections with 10 days for each prayer, and then a final day on the Lord’s prayer.

Each section starts with a printing of the entire prayer, and then each day takes a line or a few lines and breaks them down.  In each day you get a look into how the line applied to Jane’s life or to the lives of her characters in her novels.  For instance, the book discusses Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot when it discusses devotion and Emma Woodhouse when discussing the need for repentance. It then relates these moments to our everyday life.  A few related Bible quotes are included. An invitation for prayer at the end is followed by a closing prayer for the day’s use.

I enjoyed reading through Praying with Jane and will keep it by my bed for a more leisurely read through by day as it was intended.  I really enjoyed the tidbits about Jane’s life or thoughts about the morality of the characters in her novels.  There was a great correlation on how this relates to our everyday lives and it gave me a lot of great points to ponder.  Rachel Dodge not only found a way to really analyze and think about Jane’s prayers and how they relate to her life or characters and our lives, but she also found perfect Bible quotes to go with everything.  Out of different daily prayer books I’ve read over the years and as a fan of Jane Austen, I thought Praying with Jane was a perfect book of prayer.

Favorite Quotes:

“Reading Jane’s prayers is a bit like looking into her heart.”

“We’ve all had a Box Hill moment, when we said or did something we later regretted.”

Overall, if you are a Christian fan of Jane Austen, Praying with Jane is a not to miss book that will enhance not only your prayer life, but your understanding of Jane Austen as a Christian woman.  I also really liked the message that our lives in modern times are busy, but we should take the time to pray and put our faith first as they practiced during Austen’s day.

Book Source:  Review Copy as a part of the Blogging tour put on by Vic of Jane Austen’s World.  For more stops on this tour check out the schedule:

Blog Tour Dates:

October 31 – Praying with Jane, My changed Relationship with Jane, Jane Austen’s World, Vic Sanborn

November 1 – Praying With Jane by Rachel Dodge,  So Little Time, So Much to Read!, Candy Morton

November 2 – Laura’s Reviews, Laura Gerold

November 3 – Burton Reviews, Marie Burton

November 4 – BLOGLOVIN‘, Sophia Rose

November 5 – Jane Austen in Vermont, Deborah Barnum

November 6 – Calico Critic, Laura Hartness

November 7 – A Bookish Way of Life, Nadia Anguiano

November 8 – Diary of an Eccentric,  Anna Horner

November 9 – Becoming, Nichole Parks

November 10 – My Jane Austen Book Club, Maria Grazia

November 11 – My Love for Jane Austen, Sylvia Chan

November 13 – Faith, Science, Joy … and Jane Austen,  Brenda Cox

 

GIVEAWAY

I received an extra copy of Praying with Jane in the mail and would love to give it away to one lucky blog reader.  If you would like to win this book, please leave a comment on what interests you about this book. What is your favorite Jane Austen novel?  Do you have a favorite book of prayers?

 
As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.

I will be using random.org (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to addresses in the United States.

The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday November 16th!

Please make sure to check the week of November 19th to see if you are a winner. I send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail" folder instead of their inbox.

Good luck!