Prayers and devotions book series in reading order

by Warren W. Wiersbe

Melody Carlson, born March 2, 1956 in San Francisco, is an American author of more than 250 books for women, teens and children, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. The catalogue lists 298 books from 1995, when Contemplative Bible Reading and How to Start a Quality Childcare Business in Your Home appeared, to All Booked Up (2026). Series include Carter House Girls, On The Runway, TrueColors, 86 Bloomberg Place, Secret Life of Samantha McGregor, Beary Patch Bears and Fruit Troops. Subjects include Christian life, high schools, friendship, Bible stories and stories in rhyme. Carlson grew up in Springfield, Oregon, attended Lane Community College and lives in Sisters, Oregon.

Max Lucado

278 books• 6 series

Max Lucado has 278 books in the catalogue, published between 1985 and 2026, and subject headings centre on Christian life, the Bible, Jesus Christ, meditations and biblical teaching. Lucado, born January 11, 1955, is an American author and minister at Oak Hills Church, formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ, in San Antonio, Texas. The earliest titles are No Wonder They Call Him the Savior and On the Anvil (both 1985), then God Came Near (1986), The Applause of Heaven (1990) and He Still Moves Stones (1992). Series include Life Lessons, Hermie & Friends, Max Lucado's Wemmicks and Just in Case, and children's fiction is also among the subjects. The newest listed title is Unbreakable Courage Bible Study Guide (2026).

Christian devotional writing defines the catalogue of Marjorie Holmes (1910-2002), an American columnist whose output reached 134 books, 32 of them best sellers. The 25 catalogued titles run from I've Got to Talk to Somebody, God (1969) to Lord, Let Me Love (2006). Holmes is known above all for a biblical trilogy that opened with Two from Galilee, a novel about the love of Mary and Joseph, from the publisher Fleming H. Revell. Subjects list prayers, meditations and the lives of women, wives and mothers.

Eugene H. Peterson

105 books• 14 series

Eugene H. Peterson (November 6, 1932 to October 22, 2018) was an American Mainline Protestant minister, Presbyterian theologian, scholar, poet and author. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (NavPress, 2002), a paraphrase and translation of the Bible into modern American English, won a Gold Medallion Book Award. The catalogue holds 105 books from Foundations for Faith (1973) to Lights a Lovely Mile: Collected Sermons of the Church Year (2023), including A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (1980) and Run with the Horses (1983). Subjects include the Bible, prayer, meditations, devotional calendars, spiritual life and pastoral theology.

Lysa TerKeurst writes Christian non-fiction for women. Thirty-five titles are catalogued from Capture His Heart (2002) through 2026, among them What Happens When Women Walk in Faith (2005), Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl (2009) and the Made to Crave Devotional (2011). Religious life, prayers and devotions, decision making and the emotions of Christian women fill the subject tags.

Madeleine L'Engle (November 29, 1918 to September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. A Wrinkle in Time (1962) earned L'Engle the Newbery Medal, and the American Library Association gave L'Engle its Margaret A. Edwards Award in 1998. The catalogue lists 70 books, beginning with The Small Rain (1945). Series include the Austin Family Chronicles, the Crosswicks Journals, the O'Keefe Family and the Time Quintet. Subjects run from science fiction and space and time to Christian life and meditations.

John C. Maxwell

208 books• 10 series

Leadership is the main subject of John C. Maxwell, an American author, speaker and pastor. Maxwell's leadership books include The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and some have reached the New York Times Best Seller list. The catalogue lists 208 titles from Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders (1979) to The Resilient Leader (2026). The Winning Attitude (1984), Be a People Person (1989), Developing the Leader Within You (1993) and The Power Of Attitude (1995) are earlier entries. Series include Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Leadership Gold, John C. Maxwell's 101 and Lunch & Learn. Success, attitude and Christian life run through the subject tags.

The books published under Mother Teresa's name collect meditations, prayers and spiritual counsel. Thirty-eight titles are catalogued between 1975 and 2019, from Gift for God to Do Something Beautiful for God, at a median of 144 pages. Subjects centre on Christian life, the Catholic Church, the Missionaries of Charity and church work with the poor. The Love of Christ: Spiritual Counsels (1982), My Life for the Poor (1985) and Meditations On The Way Of The Cross (1986) come from the earlier part of the run. Mother Teresa lived from 1910 to 1997.

Steven James, born in 1969, writes psychological suspense alongside Christian education material. The Bowers Files, an eleven-book thriller sequence built around the criminologist Patrick Bowers, has taken four Christy Awards. The catalogue holds 57 books from Worship Sketches 2 Perform (2000) to Portal (2025), and subject tags span criminologists, suspense, Bible stories, American Christian drama and the teaching of storytelling in Christian ministry. Synapse, a standalone science fiction thriller, arrived on 8 October 2019 with starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Other headings include the Blur Trilogy, the Rift Trilogy, the Jevin Banks Experience and Travis Brock.

Matthew Kelly, born 12 July 1973 in Sydney, is an Australian motivational speaker, business consultant and founding partner of the management consulting firm Floyd Consulting. The catalogue lists 48 Kelly books from Our Father (1995) to Nothing Is Random (2025). Subjects include the Catholic Church, spirituality, self-help, happiness, parenting and business. Titles include The Rhythm of Life (1999), Rediscover Catholicism (2002) and The Dream Manager (2007).

Jocelyn Green writes fiction and devotional books, and Christian romance and history appear in the subject tags. The catalogue records 18 books from Faith Deployed (2008) to The Manhattan Confessions (2026). Heroines Behind the Lines: Civil War, Windy City Saga and On Central Park are the series, and Wedded to War (2012), Widow of Gettysburg (2013) and Spy of Richmond (2015) are among the titles. Military spouses, nursing and the American Civil War appear in the subjects.

Lisa T Bergren writes Christian fiction and children's books, with Christian romance, historical fiction and picture books all in the subject tags. The catalogue lists 71 titles from Romantic Notions (1993) to Heaven on Earth (2026). Love 'n' Romance, Once Upon a Caribbean Summer, Refuge and Torchlight all date from 1994, and The Captain's Bride from 1998. Series include God Gave Us, River of Time, River of Time: California, Oceans of Time, Once Upon a Summer, Homeward Trilogy and Sugar Baron's Daughters. Bears, polar bears, God and love appear among the tags.

Cynthia Rylant, born Cynthia Smith on June 6, 1954, is an American author and librarian who has written more than 100 children's books across picture books, short stories, novels, nonfiction and poetry. Missing May took the 1993 Newbery Medal, A Fine White Dust was a 1987 Newbery Honor book, and two further titles are Caldecott Honor Books. The catalogue records 229 books from When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982) onward, with series including Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter & Tabby, Poppleton and the Lighthouse Family.

Bill Myers is an American Christian author, film director and film producer, born in Seattle, Washington on September 9, 1953. The animated series McGee and Me! is the work Myers is most noted for. Myers writes across comedy, horror, thriller, fiction and nonfiction. The catalogue holds 132 books, from My Friend William Moved Away (1979) to Commune (2023), with the 1990s as the busiest decade. Series include Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle, Forbidden Doors, Bloodhounds Inc., TJ and the Time Stumblers and Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog, SPLAT. Catalogue subjects cover Christian life, children's fiction, humorous stories, time travel and spies.

Warren W. Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an American clergyman and Bible teacher whose writing covers commentary, sermons and Christian living. The Be Commentary titles, including Be Real, Be Joyful, Be Free and Be Rich, form the core of a catalogue of 282 books. Publication spans Thoughts for Men on the Move (1970) to Becoming New: 100 Days of Transformation through God's Word (2024). Wiersbe pastored Moody Church in Chicago from 1971 to 1978 and later directed the Back to the Bible radio ministry.

Kenneth N. Taylor (1917-2005) created The Living Bible and founded the Christian publisher Tyndale House, along with Living Bibles International. Taylor's own catalogue runs to 36 titles between Is Christianity Credible? (1948) and The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes (2002), most of them Bible stories and devotions written for children: Stories for the Children's Hour (1953), The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes (1956), Living Letters for the Children's Hour (1962) and Living Gospels (1966).

Delia Smith is an English cook and television presenter who teaches basic cookery skills in a direct style. Her 32 catalogued books start with Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking (1971) and include the How to Cook series and the Delia Collection, covering cakes, baking, puddings, soups, fish and Italian cooking. Smith is Honorary Life President of Norwich City with her husband Michael Wynn-Jones, and the two were joint majority shareholders of the club from 1998 to 2024. You Matter: The Human Solution (2022) is the most recent catalogued title.

Marie Chapian is an American writer and radio ministry host who also publishes as Marie Giordano and Marie Jordan. Christian devotional writing fills most of her catalogue, alongside Christian diet books such as Free To Be Slim (1985) and co-authored biographies including The Emancipation Of Robert Sadler (1975). Telling Yourself the Truth (1980), Staying Happy In An Unhappy World (1984) and Why Do I Do What I Don't Want To Do? (1984) sit on the self-help side. Her 29 catalogued books run from City Psalms (1972) to Quiet Prayer (2019), and the Alula-Belle Adventures are written for children.