Frank Hasel is dean of the theological department of Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen, Austria. After the untimely death of his wife—she passed away at age 44— he started working on this book “Longing for God: A Journal for Bible Study and Prayer.” It helped him cope with the tremendous loss. This is a very practical work, written in remembrance of his wife and dedicated to his three sons. It attempts to strengthen Christians’ spiritual lives, protect them against spiritual forgetfulness, and lead people to study Scripture daily and have a meaningful prayer life.

After an introduction and a chapter on how to read Scripture with personal gain the main part follows. It contains many pages that can be filled with personal notes. The book functions as a journal for personal Bible study as well as a prayer journal. At the end of each month a short essay dealing mostly with prayer follows. These sections deal, for instance, with prayers that God likes, thanking God, praising God, reasons to pray for others, prayer and fasting, waiting for an answer to prayer, getting rid of bitterness, etc. The book ends with a weekly prayer emphasis. Here the author suggests to pray on certain days of the week for certain persons, e.g., Mondays for one’s family.

Tuesdays for neighbors and the city, etc. The respective pages contain columns for dates, prayer requests, and answers to these prayers with empty space to be filled with personal requests. Throughout the book many interesting quotations, including some by E. G. White, serve as encouragement to the reader.

This book can be a reminder of how God helps the readers to grow spiritually and experience Him in a practical way. Translations of the book into various languages are on their way. This is a very helpful tool that supports the renewal of one’s prayer life and the study of Scripture.