Palmer's Collection of Family Prayers

Those interested in the important subject of family prayer may find this to be an old gem worth dusting off the shelf: Samuel Palmer (1741-1813) compiled selected prayers for use in family worship from a variety of sources, and included as well his own written prayers for particular occasions in A Collection of Family Prayers. The extracts from other authors include Matthew Henry, from his Method of Prayer; Richard Baxter, from his Poor Man's Family-Book (which is an abridgment of Arthur Dent's The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven); Isaac Watts, from his Guide to Prayer; Philip Doddridge, from his Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, and his Address to the Master of a Family; and Henry Grove, from his Discourse Concerning the Nature and Design of the Lord's Supper. Though an advocate of extemporaneous prayer, Palmer aimed to help those who stand in need of such assistance by assembling the combined wisdom of other prayer warriors for the benefit of promoting family devotions, and it is very much worthwhile in our own day to be able to consult with so many useful authors in one volume on this important topic.