Selected from the prayers which accompanied Calvin's weekday expositions of the Old Testament, this little collection is worth having on one's shelf. Like the collects found in the Book of Common Prayer, each prayer manages to combine eloquence with economy of language in a way that's rarely heard these days. The petitions are typically framed by a remembrance of God's character and/or actions on our behalf along with a confident appeal to Christ's intercession, with expectation of the ultimate fulfillment of his promises in eternity. If the book were used devotionally on a regular basis (the prayers are thematically arranged, accompanied by the relevant OT passages), it would be surprising if one's own prayers were not shaped accordingly. ( )