Praises For

You're talking about favorable advance reviews. You get them by writing a riveting, well-edited book (don't EVER send unedited copies to anyone--really, that's like walking around in your underwear). Then you send it ONLY to people who have told you in advance that they want to read it. And only about a third of those will actually follow through. In your case, I'd contact clergy/leaders from similar faith backgrounds as your own.

Don't send unsolicited copies. That's spam, and you really don't want to build a reputation for doing that.

Other than that, you join the rest of us who scratch and grovel for reviews. They're hard to get, especially with Amazon's tightened regulations. It's a constant problem until you develop a large enough readership that it's not. 'Fraid there's no magic solution here.

ETA: It's okay to send unedited copies to beta readers. That's kinda the whole point of that exercise. I was speaking of a review situation.

mecoreyg said:

How do you guys get “Praises for” to include in your book? .

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Your publisher will no doubt have some suggestions on how to approach this. I would not recommend sending copies of the book or manuscript to anyone you don't know. And not to your friends, either, unless your friends are well known in their own right.

Well in my case, this is what my agent is for. Am I wrong in assuming that is usually their job? Your agent and your publisher should be getting a handle on this.

I have had a dream list of people I want to review my book and I gave it my agent. We aren't there yet and that's so far the last I have heard of it.

What mrsmig said--getting blurbs is more your publisher's job, though they might ask if you have any contacts that might blurb you. And they don't always want them--my first publisher did not (though they used pull quotes from Booklist and Kirkus on my covers.) Though they look pretty, the consensus seems to be they don't accomplish much.

Where your agent comes in handy is when you're at the receiving end of blurb requests--they can serve as a go-between.

ChibiUsagi said:

Well in my case, this is what my agent is for. Am I wrong in assuming that is usually their job? Your agent and your publisher should be getting a handle on this.

I have had a dream list of people I want to review my book and I gave it my agent. We aren't there yet and that's so far the last I have heard of it.

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As others have already said, agents don't get involved in sending out review copies. That's the job of a publisher. It should happen after signing, but well before publication, to ensure reviews are synchronised to appear at publication.