A book liturgy gives you the opportunity to linger on key ideas or themes from a devotional book that God has been using in your life. Like a personal liturgy, you can use it in connection with your quiet time, a time of meditation or prayer, when you wake up in the morning, before going to bed, etc.
Composing the liturgy
- Gather the quotations or passages from the book that were most helpful/impactful to you (this is much easier if you highlight passages as you read).
- What passages of Scripture has God used along similar lines in your life?
- Is there a prayer or a verse from a song that strongly relates to the theme(s) from the book?
- Is there anything else that God has recently used in your life along these lines?
From the above, select the items that fit together and those you most want to continue dwelling on. Write them down in an order that helps you meditate on the key themes. If helpful, you can put quotes from the book into your own words or rewrite them as personal prayers.
Try to keep the liturgy relatively short (less than 3-5 minutes). This makes it easier to use and dwell on.
Book Liturgy Example
Based on The End for Which God Created the World
by Jonathan Edwards
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
(Psalm 103:1)
It appears that when the Bible speaks of the ultimate end of God’s work, it can always be summarized by the one phrase — the glory of God. (102)
When God created the world, he had in mind as an ultimate end the communication of his own infinite fullness. He brought things into existence as a way to show forth his own goodness, glory, and holiness. (52)
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
In God there is an infinite fullness of all possible good. He has the fullness of every perfect attribute. He has as his very nature all excellence and beauty. Thus he is infinitely happy… It is right and proper for the infinite fountain of good to pour out into abundant streams! (51)
It is good and valuable in itself when created beings delight in God’s glory and find their satisfaction in it. After all, this knowledge and joy in God comes about as an overflow of God himself. His own knowledge, holiness, and joy all shine forth to be known and loved. (52)
One of God’s ultimate ends in creating the world was to express goodness to the creatures he has made, in order to make them truly happy. In other words, it was good and valuable in itself for God to communicate his goodness to them, which leads to their joy. (172)
When God’s creatures know his excellent qualities, love him for possessing these qualities, and rejoice in him, they are expressing honor and praise to him. (205)
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
(1 Chronicles 16:28-29)
Father, we love you,
We worship and adore you.
Glorify your name in all the earth!
Glorify your name, glorify your name,
Glorify your name in all the earth!
Jesus…
Spirit…
All things are from God as their first cause and fountain. So all things tend towards him and progressively draw nearer and nearer to him for all of eternity. So God, who is their first cause, is also their last end. (65)
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)