Prayers and Promises for Men is a compact devotional from BroadStreet Publishing. Before anything else, one detail that an earlier version of this review got wrong: the “(PB)” in the listing means paperback. If you were picturing the faux leather gift edition, that is a different product with a different ISBN. This one is a 144 page trade paperback, published in 2022.
There is no author, and that is not a criticism
BroadStreet Publishing Group is credited as the author because this is a compiled book, not one man’s writing. That is standard for this kind of devotional and it sets your expectations correctly. You are not getting a sustained argument or a personal voice. You are getting an organized collection.
Some men want a teacher. If that is you, this is the wrong book, and you should buy something written by a person instead.
How it is built
The book runs on more than 70 themes, arranged alphabetically by topic. Courage, patience, provision, temptation, and so on. Each theme gives you a short reflection, a handful of Scripture passages on that subject, and a written prayer.
The structure is the real feature. When you are in the middle of something specific and cannot think straight, being able to turn to the entry on anxiety or on anger and find the relevant verses already gathered is genuinely useful. That is a lower bar than “transformative,” and it is the honest one.
Entries are short. Two or three minutes each. This is designed for a man who has not been reading anything and needs a place to start, or for the end of a long day when the tank is empty.
One thing to watch
Books built around God’s promises can drift into treating every promise in Scripture as a personal guarantee to you, regardless of who it was originally spoken to or why. That is a real hazard in this whole category of book.
Read the Scripture passages in their own context rather than only as they are presented here, and you will get the benefit without the drift. The verses are cited, so checking them is easy. Do that.
Worth your time?
Yes, if your devotional life has stalled and you need something with almost no friction to restart it. It is cheap, it is short, and you can use it the same day it arrives.
No, if you already have a consistent time in the Word. This will feel thin next to what you are already doing, and your money is better spent on a commentary or a book with an actual argument in it.
Prayers and Promises for Men on Amazon