Natia R.D.230 15 Seed-Grains of Prayer A Manual for Evangelical By WILLIAM LOHE Lutheran Pastor ५.९. Translated from the Original German 36th Edition With an Introduction By Henry Eyster Jacobs, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D. CHICAGO 36 INTRODUCTION. THERE can be no doubt as to the great desirability of a handbook of brief and condensed prayers, in the English language, truly expressive of the faith and life of the Christian religion, as the Lutheran Church understands and confesses it. An attempt is herewith made to supply this want. The prayers are gems of devotion gathered throughout all ages of the Christian Church, which have been brought together, arranged for use, and supplemented by one of the most devout and practical pastors and theologians whom our Church has produced. His exquisite liturgical taste was not confined to the work of providing for public, services; but, in various ways, to the cherishing and cultivation of the personal, religious life. These brief prayers, many of which have stood the test of ages of use, like the collects in the service, are seeds of thought, suggestive of more than they directly express, and form a great con trast to the tedious, diffuse and intensely subjective prayers of another type of religious and theological thought. The Rev. H. A. Weller has done well in giving them a proper English form. Their wide circulation in families and for individuals ought to be earnestly promoted. The pastor will find this volume a most important aid for his own devotion and for leading the devotions of others. HENRY EYSTER JACOBS. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. IN many devout hearts a desire has asserted itself that we might have in the American Church also a book of devotion, for private and family use, in the tongue in which our children are being educated. Conscious of this desire, the translator has undertaken to set into the English language this precious compilation of the prayers of many saints in the ages past. He has recognized that, however conscientiously and faithfully his love for these long tested prayers of Christendom constrained him to reproduce the thought and expression of the sainted author, no one who has ever seriously undertaken sach a work can comprehend how in every translation of devotional thought and expression, there is something elusive which needs to be fused, moulded, and worn into the daily life-language of the people; and, to translate the language of the heart of one people into the heart-language of |