Impress Your Kids » Blog Archive » Raising Your Kids To Love the Lord

May 23, 2012 | Filed in: Books, Movies & Music | by Amanda

raising your kids to love the lord

I collect parenting books. It doesn’t mean I read them all. But I do collect them. Maybe it makes me feel like a better parent just owning them? Maybe I’ll learn by osmosis?

Anywhoo.

I got an email from Tommy Nelson a few weeks ago about a new parenting book. I wasn’t going to review it because I knew it would join stacks of parenting books waiting for me to finish. But the title got me: Raising Your Kids To Love the Lord. I mean, that’s it. That’s all I want to do. I don’t care about my kids’ GPA, if they make the Varsity team or have a bunch of friends. I just want them to love the Lord.

It came in the mail and has been sitting on my kitchen table for several days (weeks?). I finally cracked it open on Monday and Chapter One was good so I kept reading. Chapter Two was good enough for me to read part of it to my husband. Chapter Three made me cry.

The chapter is simply about prayer. I’ve written about prayer on my blog before. I update our Facebook page with prayers every morning (well, at least as often as I can. And have you seen my photo prayers this week?!). I am all for praying for our kids. This book, however, got me thinking more about teaching our kids to pray for themselves!

The author, Dave Stone tells a story about his 8th grade daughter wanting to transfer to a different school. They discuss it and finally decide to pray about it–and let their daughter pray about it. And ultimately do whatever their daughter thought the Lord was telling her.

Whoa.

Letting an 8th grader decide on her school?! It seems insane! Their daughter took this assignment seriously and came back to her parents saying that God told her to stay at her original school. She ended up being the Class President and very influential in her school!

Stone says, “If that sounds mystical…think about Samuel…he answered God’s call, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’” That was a sucker-punch to me (and where I started crying). We JUST read that story (in our The Story Bible) last night and the kids thought it was awesome that God was calling Samuel. I even prayed during bedtime prayers that Lydia and Asa would respond to God’s voice just as Samuel had.

So for me to read, the very next morning, about a real 8th grade example of this? To see a child actually seek the Lord, hear Him and act on it is so encouraging! Stone finished with this, “Maybe your children need to practice self-control or show kindness to a sibling. Perhaps they need courage to make wise and God-honoring choices. Teach them to pray. Trust them. Trust God. Give it a try. You’ll be amazed.”

That last paragraph put tears streaming down my cheeks. These last few days (our first week of summer vacation!) I have been so excited about just chilling with my kids–relaxing, reading, cleaning the house, going on adventures and more. Instead, these last 3 days have been FULL of whining, complaining and disobedience. I sent Lydia to her room the other day simply because I could not, for the life of me, think of the right way to discipline. I felt like she didn’t even recognize that what she had done was sin.

I had never thought to ask my kids to pray about their behavior. When Lydia needs to have self-control? When Asa needs to stop whining? When they need to stop arguing? Maybe I should stop and pray with them? Maybe lead them in a prayer to ask Jesus to help and lead them away from sinful behavior?

I’m really intrigued by this idea. I think it would help them confront their sin issues head on with prayer. I want their first response to sin (or any problem) to be to turn to the Lord anyway. Maybe this is good for those things that I just can’t seem to get through to them? The issues that I know are sin and could take over if we don’t stop them?

What do you think? Do you help your kids pray for repentance and guidance even at a young age?

ps: Wanna win a copy of this book, Raising Your Kids To Love the Lord by Dave Stone? (It’s the first in a series, by the way!) Just leave me a comment about this post or your experience with prayer and kids. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

bible craft

linked to Raising Might Arrows’ Proverbs 31 Thursdays

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***

Sounds like a parenting book that I would actually read! I would love to teach my kids to pray for themselves about everything and anything!!

Since our oldest is 3 we’ve been praying “thankful” prayers for a while. However, now that he’s starting to pray on his own I’ve realized that he’s doing the same thing…thank you for x, y, z. It’s definitely time to being praying more biblical prayers so I would love to read this book! Thanks for the great recap!

I’m intrigued as well! In our home we talk about prayer and model it, but my kids don’t seem that interested in doing it for themselves. I ask them if they want to pray, and most often they say no. But my oldest, who is 7, will say things that indicate she does pray on her own, when no one else is around to hear her. But I want to be more intentional about encouraging her to pray!

And I love the idea you quoted from the book about kids listening to God and hearing from Him. I believe they are fully capable of it, but for some reason we adults don’t always recognize that. This book sounds really good and something I would love to read right now.

I love to hear my 3 year-old pray to Jesus! For example, whenever she can’t find a toy I encourage her to pray and ask Jesus to help her find it! He knows everything, even where lost/misplaced toys are I can’t wait to hear how her prayers change as she grows closer to God!

This sounds like a great book because this too is my main purpose as a mother and what I am passionate about!

Wow this book sounds great

I love the idea. Jack is 3 and he says pirates at meals and becomes and we’ve just started learning bible verses. If he can do that he can pray for himself. Sometimes we need to dream big for Gods possibilities in the life of our children as big as we do for our own walk with God.

You might also like “A Praying Life.”

I have prayed consistently for my boys that God would reveal himself to them at an early age.

I pray with my oldest when he’s struggling with a particular sin.

The other day, he said to me (he’s 5), “Mommy, the other night, I asked God to forgive me when I was lying in my bed, and a few minutes later, He told me that He did. He really did, Mom!” Gave me chills….

This is so timely. I just started having my littles, ages 2 and 4, repeat prayers of repentence. I would love to win this as I really desire to disciple their hearts toward the Lord.

We are always mentoring.

Thank you for this post! This is a new way of thinking for me. I feel like we’re teaching our son to pray for others, but why have we not thought to impress upon him the importance of praying about his sin?! So basic! Thanks for the “awakener”!

This morning my daughter told me about a prayer she prays for herself with her chronic illness…she’s 6. I was so glad she is learning to trust God for herself and think this book sounds like a great read.

I pray with my kids every night but mostly they pray thanking God for things, not really requesting things. If they do have a request, it is almost never about themselves but about someone else. This is a great post for me to think about.

This sounds like a great book! I wasn’t raised with a focus on Christ, but am desiring that for our children, now 8 months & 22 months. I need all the help, direction & ideas I can get! Thanks for you’re review of this book.

Would like to win!

We’ve had our four year old pray a for God to help him make wise choices and to obey Him. All about learning how to do this more effectively!

I am a bit of a parenting book collector as well, and think this would be a great book to add to my collection.
One thing that works really well (when I remember to encourage it) is to have our children “run to me to pray”. When they are angry and about to hit… they run to me, and I help them pray. When they are sad… they run to me, and I help them pray. This teaches them that in all these different circumstances, their first reaction should be to run to God!
Blessings,
Jessica

We just got our 2 year old asking blessings over people he chooses.

I have struggled to pray with my daughter but I have found it most rewarding when at night she prays for her mommy and daddy. A couple of weeks ago she prayed that God would come and live in her heart and make her love him. It brought tears to my eyes to see my daughter pray in such a way.

I love to listen to my girls pray… It gives such a sweet glimpse into their little souls!

I would love to win this book…I definitely need some help in this area. I think it sounds like a wonderful idea to teach kids at a young age to pray for themselves. Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the post! I cannot wait to read this book! I do not have kiddos of my own yet but am currently working in children’s ministry at a church. This sounds like a perfect resource to pass on to parents! Thanks!

Last school year ended in complete disaster. The much anticipated family togetherness time turned the kids into bickering heathens and me into mom-zilla. Ashamed at my own behavior I leapt at the opportunity to take a parenting class at a local church. It gave me a few new tools for my arsenal as household referee and peacekeeper. However, I am almost convinced that the end of the school year may be marked with an adjustment period.
This past Friday my son had just 2 hours of school and then summer break officially began. To celebrate I took him and my 4 year old daughter to a children’s museum to celebrate. The summertime adjustment period started almost immediately with grumbling and antagonistic behavior. What is a mom to do besides pray?
Like you, I have a slew of parenting books. Maybe it’s my OCD but I have a desire to do this thing called motherhood perfectly. To lay in bed at night and review the day with as few regrets as possible. I know that I will never be perfect but I will always be prayerful. Thank you for the review and an opportunity to win this book. It may add yet another tool to my cache but more importantly help encourage my children’s personal relationships with the Lord and to equip them to pray for themselves and others.

What a great thing to think about. It’s hard to pray for myself and I can see how my daughter can learn the same bad habit from me. I would live to win.

I need this book:) I read your post while I was in the middle of figuring out how to keep my daughter in er room for her break time. I think she came out almost 20 times! It was good to read this as I awaited her next time coming out of her room:) I would LOVE to read this…as that is all I hope for my kiddos too!!

My daughter taught me a huge lesson about prayer when she was 5 years old. We had been visiting my sister and were just about to leave for the 300 mile drive home. We couldn’t find my daughter’s beloved Lambie (her stuffed animal) anywhere. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, all searched the house, and we didn’t know what to do (to leave Lambie behind wasn’t an option). We searched for about 1/2 hour. Then my sister gestured for me to come and see; and right there in the middle of the hallway, oblivious to all of the activity around her, was my precious daughter, eyes closed and lips silently forming words, praying that Jesus would show us where Lambie was. And at that moment, my other sister found Lambie. This was a huge faith-building experience for all of us, and I still cry just thinking about it.

This book sounds amazing. I’m going to definitely read it. My daughter is only 15 months, but most of the time when she gets whiny I do one of those quick “dear Lord help me be patient” prayers. Maybe I need to pray with/for her when she starts melting down even when she’s young.

Wow, I love how God speaks to me through the blogs I read. The material usually seems right on cue to what I’m dealing with in my life. I’ve recently returned to church…after an entire lifetime, so my relationship with Jesus is new and quite awkward. I’ve brought my 6 year old daughter on the journey cause I know how much was missing from my life not having known God from an early age. She’s so dismissive and often mean spirited when asked to pray, to give thanks and praise Him for all that we have. I feel I’m forcing her and she’s doing it out of obligation, lest she have privileges removed… I’d love to learn how to bring her closer to God and teach her how to talk with Him and depend on Him so that the relationship will be firmly rooted into adulthood. Thanks for sharing such needed knowledge!

I just discovered your blog last week. I LOVE it. I am a director at our church preschool and my husband was just called to serve as the Children’s Pastor last month. We would LOVE love love to win this book!!! I imagine we would be sharing it often with others!
Sabrina

Wow, I could really use this book. We have been struggling greatly with the behaviors in our home. I find myself losing hope at times, forgetting to pray- & certainly not remembering to lead my children to pray!

This was a interesting idea for me. I just tried this with my 4 year old (tried a bunch of other things to help him deal with his anger – why not try praying)

Donovan has quite an issue with anger – and a negative spirit at times, too – so we have been working on “throwing up” prayers to God in the moment. When he get s so mad he can’t see straight, I ask him to cry out to God just a “Help me, Lord!” and let the Lord work in him… it’s giving him an immediate way to ask for help instead of giving way to his anger.

I think it is very important to encourage kids to turn to prayer and God’s Word, even from a young age.

Our children praying for themselves and their own behavior makes perfect sense. Think I can teach my almost-16-month-old to pray not to tantrum? I’d love to get into the habit of leading him in prayer about his behavior and choices.

I would love to read this. Our daughters are 5 and 18 months. Our oldest daughter’s prayers are beautiful. Even our 18 month old wants her turn where she murmors a few things and says “maymean.” I want to see them grow spiritually with all my heart.

This sounds like a great book. Enjoyed reading your review about it. Thanks

Why have I never thought to pray with my daughter when she is being disobedient? I pray about it, but not with her about it. I want her to turn to the Lord for everything and I think this would be a wonderful way to start. I would like to read this entire book! It sounds inspirational! Thanks for posting.

Yep. Certainly could use this at our funny farm. : )

Wow. That sounds like a wonderful resource. I like you have a collection of parenting books that are not all read! It sounds like I wouldn’t be able to put this one down. Thanks for letting us know about it! Love your blog.

oh I want this book!
I had a similar experience with my daughter and homeschooling. She did not want to and I did. I told her we would both pray for 2 weeks to see if God would change her mind or mine. (But I did tell her ultimately Dad and I would decide. . .)
After the 2 weeks (or before??) she came to me to say that she realized God wanted her to homeschool longer.
Wow. And yes – you can teach your children to pray about everything!

Oh that is the desire of my heart too. That title draws me in.

This sounds like a great book that we could really use. We pray with our kids but could really use something to help with behavior. Sure makes sense that it would be pray!

So excited! Just put this book on my to-read list a few weeks ago. We are pretty open about popcorn prayers in our house – pray when you need to… but we also have a prayer pail that we draw from for our meal prayer time. I love when the kids think to add someone to it. Thanks for the opportunity!

Yes!! That’s my hearts desire and so many times I fail to represent Jesus. Would love to read this

I have 3 boys under 4. I am very controlling. Just reading your summary made be think about the areas where I really need to let go and trust the Lord when it comes to parenting! Such a hard thing to do!

I have so many great stories about prayer from my now 6 year old. Today we talked about the Disney movie Mulan and how Mulan was praying to her ancestors. It was a great teachable moment because we talked about what that means and who we pray to… the ONLY one we pray to. She was concerned that if Mulan didn’t know Jesus would she go to heaven?

When we pray together at night, I try to talk with her first about what she might want to pray for and I make suggestions based on the ACTS model (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). So I ask her what she wants to thank God for, if there is anything she wants to tell God she is sorry for, and if there is anyone (herself included) that might need God’s help with something. I want to make prayer a more integral part of our day instead of only at night, and I love the thought of praying when we need self control, patience, etc. Great post! Thank you and thanks for the book recommendation!

This book sounds awesome!

My girls are still young (3 and 5 months) but, we always add prayer time with our nightly routine and to watch my 3 year old as she names all the people in her life that she wants to pray for always warms my heart. Raising the girls to love the Lord is something that I thrive to do as they grow up.

What an interesting read this would be. We’ve prayed with our kids and taught them to pray to be better – but not intentional prayers of exact behavior. Or their own words. Wow. Thank you for opening my eyes to this and for allowing us the opportunity to win this book!

My 5 year old and I are working on stopping in the moment and asking God for help. Sometimes he says, “mom, I prayed and just caught myself!” Would love to read the book!

Sounds like a great book. I also have a collection of parenting books.

Prayer was always an important part of our family life. Teaching Biblical principals & prayers about all decisions were far more effective in helping them become responsible adults than rules and demands ever would have.

I’d like to win or borrow your copy when you finish.

Really took your thoughts about having the kids pray about their sin (whining, selfishness, etc) to heart. It is so true to show them how to apply pray in their lives. Thank you!!

I feel like I beat my head against the wall when disciplining my 3 y.o. son. We constantly deal with the same issues every day, all day. I’ve just begun to pray with him after discipline to ask God to help him have self-control and make decisions to love others and be kind to others. With speech delays, I tend to pass on letting him do much. I would really like to explore the concept of allowing God to work in His little heart and trusting God to understand his words and heart even when I can’t.

My 2 year olds prayers are so simple and true, they remind me to have faith like a child. Yesterday she stopped me and said ” mommy I want to talk to God” so I paused from getting ready and said “ok, what do you want to talk to God about”. Her response was simple, but one that I pray for everyday without her knowing. She replied ” I want to ask Him to keep me safe”. How sweet is that! Then my little one prayed a simple but trusting prayer:)

Sounds like a great book and one I should definitely read for my boys! Hope I win!

The first of the year we decided to have a devotional time each night with our 3 sons. They LOVED it and we loved seeing how they reacted to the devotion and watching each of them grow in prayer. Unfortunately, live got busy and we stopped doing it. I am planning on starting again once school lets out (tomorrow) and would love to have a copy of the book. It sounds like it’s full of encouraging and creative ideas to keep you on the right track.

I would LOVE to read this book. My sweet little boy is only 7 months old, but I think it’s never too early to start learning! I can’t wait to teach him about Jesus.

Looks good for my grands!

I have added the book on my must read list! I have been challenged at teaching my kids how to pray. The other day my 2 yr old was in time out and she kept saying, “Dear God..Amen”. It brought a smile to my face that she knew she could go to her Heavenly Father when in trouble!

I would love to have a copy of this book! I feel so immature in my ability to pray with my boys, that I would love some more encouragement.

The book sounds wonderful! I make every effort to have prayer be my first response in stressful situations, to model that for my boys. It’s so tough sometimes though! My seven year old is just starting to pause and have prayer be his first response at times. It is so rewarding to see him practice what we have modeled!

I would love to have this book! I will definitely be buying it – but I hope I win first! :0) I strive to “live out” my Faith for my kids and know that it is hard to explain and show them the truths in everyday life all the time. I’m excited to get some insight and encouragement from this book!! Thank you!

It sounds like a great book. I would love to share this book with my daughter who has an almost 2 year old and is expecting her second daughter in June.

I love good parenting books too. My daughter has a tender heart for prayer. My son on the other hand.. not so much there yet. I’m striving to raise them in the Lord. Appreciate all the help we can get.

First let me say that I LOVE YOUR BLOG!! you have such a heart for Jesus and it is so encouraging! I so want mynkids to turn to the Lord and pray for help when they sin…. but my 5 year old refuses to pray! She doesn’t want me to pray for her either- any suggestions? Does the book mention this? Thank you a million times over for how you serve the Lord through this blog- it is honey to this mama’s heart:)

Would love this book!

Your blog has been such a huge blessing to my family, thank you for all the hard work you put into it! I have a collection of parenting books too, this ideas seem so simple and could make a remarkable change in your child’s and family’s life.

Hey, I love it. For the last year or so I have felt strongly to teach the kids how to pray, so at night that is part of what we are really practicing. If I pray about something in my private time and i Feel strongly about how I prayed then, I teach them that night and use the scripture to show then how to pray and pray the scripture. It is exciting!
would love to read the book…. even if i borrow your copy

Ms. Amanda~

How timely is this.,I was just in B&N this am and actually considered many of the books pictured in your blog post. Needless to say, I left empty handed and disappointed. The limited selection left me feeling defeated. However, as you so eloquently stated, “that’s all I want to do.” As a first time mom to a 16 month old, African American male, I am desperate to get it right.

We taught about praying for japan in our home the day before the earthquake. My 6 year old still prays for them daily, no matter how many other countries we explore.

When my daughter, who is now 8 1/2, was about 2 years old, she taught me something about prayer. We were in the car and about 3 minutes away from our house coming back from a trip to the grocery store. She suddenly announced that she had to go to the bathroom “right now!” I told her that we were almost home, but she was sure she wasn’t going to make it to the bathroom. She panicked then started praying. “Jesus please help me hold it! I can’t do it without You!” As a mom of 4 who has cleaned up many accidents, I knew that if she didn’t make it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. While it may not have been that important to me, right then it was very important to my daughter. She took that need that was fairly unimportant to me to Someone who cared about the little things that made a difference to her. We made it home in time and got her to the bathroom where I listened to her shout a very sincere “thank you Jesus!”

Our oldest is three years old, and is really starting to understand the foundations of prayer. I would love to read this book, as I need all of the advice and help I can get! Thank you so much for this blog and all of your resources. My husband and children still talk about our devotions and activities from The Truth in the Tinsel! You are a blessing to us!

That is my heart’s desire as well… just that they love the Lord and follow Him! What more could a mother want. I am truly intrigued by this book. What a great tool to add to “the box”~ Thanks for the opportunity and info. I will certainly be looking for this one!

When my second son reached puberty, he began struggling with depression and extremely low self esteem. He was crying every day, and it became obvious that Satan was attacking him. I prayed over his room daily and I taught him how to pray scriptures. We wrote them down on note cards and he prayed them every morning and every night. It made such a huge difference in his life!! Prayer is very powerful!! Thanks for your post. I can’t wait to read this book!!

I relate to having stacks of parenting books waiting to be read, but this one sounds great! I’d love to read it.

wow. Sounds like a book every parent should have.

I love to pray with my kids, especially on our drive to school

Sounds like an interesting book! Would love to win it!

Sounds amazing!!! Would love to win!!!

I also collect parenting books and teach parenting in a secular high school . . . and incorporate as much godly parenting as I can. I love a good title too, and this sounds like a good read! If I do not win it, I will no doubt buy and read it! Thanks for introducing it to us.

I am a professional children’s minister, which means I pretty much have this stuff figured out. Right? Ha! When w suit down to eat, my teri year old son starts singing “Gods Our Father”. Depending on how excited he is about a meal he will sometimes sing in double time. But one of the best decisions I’ve made about prayer is diving the mic to the kids for our opening prayer on Sunday mornings before kid’s church. Hearing the sweet, honest, heartfelt prayers of these youngsters has been an amazing investment in giving up control and asking God to do something special. Thanks for the great blog and another incredible resource!

I would love to read this book! The truth about God changing the actions of our kids and not US, as parents, is one that really makes sense and one that I want to learn more about and implement in our home. I would love to win a copy.

I model prayers to my four-year-old. Don’t know if it’s a valid technique or anything, but I see it as teaching her HOW to pray. I pray first and she repeats, “Dear Jesus – she repeats “dear jesus” – You see that I am having a hard time obeying right now – she repeats it – please help me obey – she repeats, etc”. Sometimes she’s simply repeating, but other times I can hear that she actually prays it. I think it helps her now how to pray and what one can pray about.

I love this post…just put that book and his other book into my cart on Amazon. I am always striving to better myself in this area. Your words about praying with your child reminded me of a Bible I just got. Have you seen this? http://www.childtrainingbible.com/ I recently ordered mine and am anxious to get it put together to use.
Just a couple more recommendations on books that I’ve been enjoying on parenting (I’m looking over your list and seeing if I can get my hands on them.)
Intentional Parenting: Family Discipleship by Design by Tad Thompson
Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God by Voddie Baucham
Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship by Robbie F. Castleman and Ruth Bell Graham
These are wonderful quick, easy reads that are so hard for me to put down.

What an awesome sounding book! I would love to read this!

I am so completely humbled by this “evolutionary” idea!!! When my oldest 2 girls were little, I had them pray for forgiveness whenever they were having a hard time getting along…fast forward 2 more children, and I just let life get in the way!!! There was a time that bedtime prayers were a daily occurence…not as of late. Thank you for this post. It is encouraging to know that I am not alone!

Pray for my son each day when will leaving for school. If I put him to bed at night I ask him to pray for his friends and what he’s thankful for.
Sounds like a good book!

this sounds like a good book to read. I have “Praying the Scriptures for your children” by Jodie Berndt. It’s good too. I sometimes try to talk to my kids about praying but it’s usually a talk that goes kind of bland. I could use some good words of wisdom regarding this topic.

I have prayed with my kids on occasion in this way. It can often be difficult in the heat of the moment. Which makes it so great because you have to stop and think first for the appropriate words.

Nikki

I LOVE parenting books. This sounds amazing. I have tried this with my kidos at times with only so so results….I think maybe I should model this verbally to them. We all pray to get through our day…..but I don’t think our kids know we are doing it except for the obvious times like meals and bedtime. Just thinking out loud.

I was nodding throughout your whole post — I’m a collecter of parenting books and want my children to love the Lord more than anything else. This book looks great!

This is simply amazing. Everyday I struggle to find a way to teach my children about the Lord…. but just maybe I should leave it in God’s hand and have my kids pray for guidance just as I pray to the Lord for guidance. This seems so simple to do, but it makes complete sense… I love the 8th grade example…definitely moved me.

After some unacceptable behaviour at nursery, we now pray on the way so that God can help him to be nice to his friends and my son always finishes the prayer ‘Holy Spirit fill me’ as I’ve taught him that God is with him in all situations. It’s great to hear him pray and we’ve seen the results! I asked him to pray to ask God to help him the other day and he said he didn’t need to because Jesus lives inside him all the time. Still some work to do but we’re on the right lines! Sounds like a great book and you’re right – teaching them to love the Lord is the most important thing. It’s the prayer of my heart.

We’re doing prayer at night with our 2 year old and it’s amazing the things she thinks of to thank God for! The other day she thanked Him for the book, 4 Pups and a Worm. Sounds like a Great book!!

I LOVE this! Just yesterday my friend and I (our daughters are best friends, and so are we) were talking about how, don’t you just feel sometimes like you are saying too much, always “telling” them what to do and think in God’s way? This is good, and necessary, but we both felt God calling us to let our 8 year olds “go” a little. We decided to do a Bible study with them, and help them learn to help encourage each other toward Christ and making decisions that point them His way, too. Like me and my friend do! Go Holy Spirit for that idea! We are excited to start, and see what God has in store for all of us!

This book sounds SO good!
I’ve realized lately that its so much more peaceful for my children and I to deal with issues when I’m in the Spirit. (Not rocket science, I know…)
Then it’s not my flesh vs. their flesh, but my (God’s) spirit engaging with their hearts and speaking to their spirits and dealing with their flesh.
Thanks for sharing this book, I hadn’t heard of it!

My almost 4 yo has started coming to us throughout the day telling us things she was praying for. Humbles me! I wish I was better at praying all day and telling them that!

a new visitor and fellow proverbs linky …book looks worth reading….I totally agree grades don’t matter most, it’s what’s inside! God bless,
Michy

I am so happy to read your post. I am a fellow collector of books and I am currently fumbling through to find a new read. I’d love to add this to my collection to read! Thank you for your inspiration!

Wow – we used to pray a lot with the kids – we have gotten away from that – think that need to be a priority again- thanks

My little one is only 15 months old, but I try to remember to stop and pray with him when he has trouble obeying. It’s usually just one little sentence: “God, please help Thomas to obey Mommy by putting his toy in the basket”. Right now, I think the practice is more to discipline myself to do it than for him, but I know the Lord will use it as he gets older.

Thanks,
Mary Beth
newlifesteward.com

Love my books – but especially love hearing my children pray – then seeing the very REAL & BIG ways that God answers their faith filled prayers. When my daughter was 7 she came to me and told me that God said she was suppose to go to India with me. I was heading out alone this time, I told her that God was certainly speaking to her, keep listening and maybe on my next trip God would inform her daddy No doubt she kept praying…at age 12 she is on her way to South Africa with her dad now. Since that first encounter of hearing God speak to her heart she has been to India, Haiti 2 times, and Costa Rica twice. She is determined to go when she hears her Father speak!

My oldest is almost 3 and I’ve been trying to figure out ways to continue teaching her about prayer – this book seems like a great tool!

The book sounds very helpful. One of our recent learn to pray tactics with our 3 yr old is to make a photo album of pictures of people to pray for. She absolutely loves and gets it. She’s always asking to pray for just one more person. That’s the heart I love!

Sounds like a great book! Our kids have definitely learned about the power of prayer after the miraculous healing of our nephew after he was already in palliative care. But I love the idea of teaching them to pray for the everyday needs they all have.

I would really like to learn more!

This is a brilliant post. I would love to see my daughter grow some love towards the lord. I’l try and follow some of these books for that.

Glad you shared.

-Jessica

Amanda,
I was just talking about this same thing with my 5.5 yo….listening to God when you pray. Need this one!
Thanks for being open to God’s calling you!
julie

I collect parenting books too! I find that I need bits and pieces from different perspectives depending on what I’m going through. My last influential parenting book wasn’t so much spiritually focused as intensively practical from purely a training perspective. I’d love to read something from a spiritual perspective and the title certainly describes our hearts desire for our children, doesn’t it???

I would love to read this.

Prayer is powerful, what a great thing to instill in our kids. Looking forward to reading this book.

Hi Amanda,

I don’t know if I can win this book – I’m all the way over in South Africa, but nevertheless, I thought I would comment.

I love this idea of encouraging my children to pray about things. It got me thinking that I would pray as a child all the time to solve problems and that my oldest son (10 yrs) does too. I have never taught him to do it – or I don’t think I have – but he is doing it! Perhaps I’ve modeled it. Either way, I absolutely love that this author has highlighted this point. I’m going to go find out more about this book!

Take care,
Georgia

Oh, wow! I would love to read this book! Having my children learn to love the Lord…my daily prayer and greatest hope for their lives. Thanks so much for the suggestion. I enjoy your blog very much. It’s so encouraging to know that there are other mothers out there who have the same goals and values and also the same struggles! Thank you for your honest portrayal of the joys and struggles of raising up children in the name of the King.

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