The Most Holy Place, Jeremy D. Vogan. Staunton, VA: LightPath Publishing, 2023.

Summary: Day-by-day prayers based on a verse by verse reflection on the Book of Hebrews.

I’ve followed Jeremy Vogan’s blog, God, Life, and Beauty for several years and deeply appreciated his poetic reflections on life and faith. So I was intrigued to receive a copy of his new book The Most Holy Place.

It is an ambitious piece of work. it consists of 312 prayers that are reflections on the text of Hebrews. That works out to 52 weeks of six prayers per week. Each prayer takes a verse or part of a verse and does what C.S. Lewis once suggested we do with the Lord’s prayer–to festoon the prayer with our own petitions around the theme of each clause.

Vogan does this, often beginning by addressing the Lord, meditating on his character, contrasting that with our own failings, and expressing trust in the Lord’s sufficiency. Each statement or “verse” in the prayers is set off from the next. Many of the verses either are direct quotes or allusions to other scriptures. This is so fitting of Hebrews itself which either quotes or alludes to so much Old Testament material as well as the gospel of Jesus. It reflected a life deeply soaked in scripture that recognizes so many thematic connections.

Here is one example from Hebrews 11:21 (copied from the author’s page on Goodreads):

Hebrews 11:21  “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.”

Faith sees, Lord

Faith knows

But most importantly, faith obeys

Long did Jacob walk with You and see Your wonders, until his heart learned Your ways

He saw the ladder that stretched from earth to Heaven, and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it

He was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place!” And he named it Bethel

Laban dealt shrewdly with him, and Jacob learned the value of truth

But he accepted the yoke of servitude, and you made him many through Rachel and Leah

You made him rich and increased his wealth on the earth

Your Spirit kept Laban from doing him harm, and protected him from Esau

You wrestled with him until the breaking of the day, and he prevailed

And You appeared to him again, and said, “Israel shall be your name; be fruitful and multiply”

So at the end of Israel’s life, they brought his grandsons to him, the older one Manasseh on the right and the younger one Ephraim on his left

But Israel obeyed Your Spirit, and crossed his hands to bless the younger as the greater

In faith he obeyed, because it is God alone who raises up and who sets down

For one day You would reject the tent of Joseph, and not choose the tribe of Ephraim

And You would choose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which You love

You would choose David your servant to shepherd the tribe of Jacob with upright heart

For the salvation of all who would trust in You

Amen

I noted several themes running through the prayers. One is the arc between old covenant and new, of anticipation anf fulfillment, one inadequate to transform but pointing to the great high priest and king who would. There is recognition of our insufficiency, the ways we self-deceive, and sin and the utter sufficiency of Christ. And there is the bracing call to faith-obedience, to press on and not drift away.

A scripture index might have been helpful to see the breadth of scripture cited or drawn from. The layout of the prayers on a single page per day in the verse format required a smaller point size for fonts than some readers might find comfortable. There is a Kindle version that circumvents this problem.

These daily prayers are rich and give one so much to think about, so much biblical truth to turn over. The content varies with the verse. This makes for a rich, year-long devotional, simultaneously praying through Hebrews and reflecting on the whole of scripture. If you are looking for a good devotional resource for next year, this is one worth taking a look at!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author.