Christmas Gift Ideas: Part 2 of 4 - Prayer Ideas for Children
Friends! This week you’ll get to learn about TWO excellent books on prayer. These books would be STELLAR gifts for friends and family as well as boosters for your own prayer life in praying for children—whether they’re your own children, or your grandchildren, or kiddos you know and love.
The books? They’re both by one of my favorite authors, Nancy Guthrie:
I stumbled upon these books from researching another book by Nancy recently. I excitedly ordered BOTH of them. Honest to goodness, any book by Nancy is worthy of your time, each book resulting in the growth of your faith.
Nancy says,
“To me, God’s Word is a treasure to be mined...The deeper I go, the more I see its wisdom, the more it authenticates itself, the more it reveals to me the beauty of God’s plan to redeem all things thru’ Christ.”
Let’s begin by talking about What Every Child Should Know About Prayer. Jenny Brake is the illustrator. Her illustrations are adorable and they truly enhance Nancy’s writing, bringing home the messages of each of the six sections:
“God Wants Us to Talk to Him
Prayer is More Than Asking God for Things
God’s People Have Always Prayed
The Psalms Give Us Words to Pray
Jesus Teaches Us to Pray
Let’s Pray!”
Each entry in these sections has a central thought, i.e. “We talk to God Through Prayer,” several sentences to explain the thought, a Scripture verse, and a prayer which always begins with, “I can pray...”There are also occasional questions for discussions about certain prayer points.
Personally, I’m going thru’ this book first, and will later use it with our grandchildren. I wanted to digest it ahead of time, so I’ll feel better equipped to relay these prayer points to our grands. And full confession: because it’s written for children, my little brain can grasp its’ points better! What a relief!
Pastor Allistair Begg says, “This is a beautiful book that teaches wonderful truths about the privilege of prayer. Nancy Guthrie writes in such a way that complex ideas are accessible even to young readers. This book is going to be treasured by parents who are eager to help their children talk with their Heavenly Father. I’m excited to use it with my grandchildren!”
Next up, let’s talk about The One Year Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids. The Lord has a colossal sense of humor in “helping” me land on this book. You may recall the major fight I had within myself to be sure not to attempt to read the Bible thru’ in a year a couple of years ago. Too many God-incidents, coupled with some peer pressure later, I wound up starting a one-year Bible one summer with some friends. (See full story in this link)
When I finished the following summer, I declared, “Well, yes, once is enough!”
Au contraire...Here we go again! But this time, I’m tickled to be reading it not just for myself, but to be able to pray for our children and grandchildren every day.
Nancy tells us she put this book together largely because she needed it herself. She adds,
“I also need a
Daily dose of perspective, a
Daily infusion of hope, and a
Daily reminder of grace in regard to my parenting.”
Do not miss the very first part of the book called “A Word from Nancy before you begin...”. She gives us readers multiple reasons why this book is for us, admitting her own needs as well. One of her points is my favorite: “I know I need to pray for my child more than worry about my child.” Amen!
One very frank sentence stopped me in my tracks: “Praying through the Bible for Your Kids is not written for parents of children of a particular age range. From the day our children are born until the day they watch as we are put into our graves, we will always be in need of Godly wisdom for guiding and encouraging them.” Yikes! Alrighty then...may it be so...
Each day’s entry is an interpretation of four different passages from the Bible. The entries begin with a Bible verse, a thought surrounding the passages listed at the top of each page, closing with a prayer based on the Scripture as well as a specific point to pray for your children, grandchildren, and other children in your life.
Sinclair B. Ferguson wrote the Foreword for this book, reminding us its counsel is simple:
So, for this week’s Christmas gift idea, I couldn’t just pick one of Nancy’s book, so I’m choosing these two. You can thank me later. Smile.
Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and snag these books for yourselves and your friends! They will indeed have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2021.
‘Til next time!
P.S. Another reason Nancy Guthrie is so amazing, is she and her husband lost two children soon after they were born because they had Zellweger’s syndrome. I wrote about a book she wrote shortly after their experiences as it’s an excellent book for those going thru’ a season of grief. Here’s the link where I talk about several books on grief.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”