Christians use devotionals to improve their relationship with God. Prayers For Prodigals is a simple devotional guide that offers a basic prayer template but little else.

Devotional guides typically follow a structure to encourage the reader to develop a habit. Black’s guide is targeted toward faithful parents whose children are not religious. My teen sons are agnostic, so I was pleased that I could develop a practice of prayer for them.

This devotional guide is undated, my preferred format. Dated devotional guides are a challenge if you don’t start using it on the first day in the book. It doesn’t feel right to me to start in the middle, and I wonder if there will be a flow issue because I didn’t start at the beginning. Another benefit of undated guides is that you can miss a day (or two) and just pick up where you left off. If a guide is dated, then I feel guilty if I don’t use it everyday and am more likely to abandon it.

Most of the devotionals follow a consistent pattern. They start with a Bible quote, add a prayer based on Bible verses, and end with a call to action for the reader. Other devotionals were a few pages longer and focused on a specific Bible story or passage. Short entries made it easier to find time to read one each day. The call to action was a good way to keep the lesson in mind throughout the day.

Unfortunately, Prayers For Prodigals' flaws outweigh its strengths. The devotionals had a sameness to them because of the format’s rigidity. Too many of the prayers turn into word soup, where snippets of scripture are extracted and thrown together. These days short bits of scripture carry additional suspicion, with the reader speculating on what parts of the passage His banal quotes - “you have said”, “trust in your word” - offered little insight and opportunities for growth. Using so many short quotes diluted the message. His insight for quoting “you have said” was “you promised.” While the call to action may have provided a good takeaway, the devotion itself was easily forgettable.

Prayer For Prodigals chose an underserved audience - parents whose child don’t believe - and offered guidance on praying for them. The devotional guide failed to provide substantial support for those seeking spiritual growth.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book. ( )

Parents who pray for prodigals go through seasons. Sometimes the prayers come from their guts, and are heartbreakingly real. Other times they rise from Scripture given for just such a season. Then at other times they feel so repetitious, like they have been praying these same prayers for so long, and just don't know what else to say. This book will be such a wonderful resource for just such times. Parents will be given a fresh way of speaking to God not only for their child(ren), but for themselves as well. The book is divided into thirteen weeks, each beginning with a devotion which is followed by seven prayers. The subjects are real and relevant. The book is heavily Scripture based. There is much hope to be found in the pages of this book.

I am grateful to have received a copy of Prayers for Prodigals from Discovery House an affiliate of RBC Ministries via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review, and received no monetary compensation. ( )