Written by Evelyn Christenson
Illustrated by Joy Dunn Keenan
Found at an unlikely place, the public library, this book is set up with very simple stories about children praying. Each page has related scripture. Prayers of praise, repentance, thanksgiving, and supplication are covered throughout the book teaching that prayer involves more than making requests of God. The book ends with a longer story presenting the gospel and reflecting on prayer as communication directly with God available to us because of Christ's death and resurrection. The setup of the book is easy and adaptable to use. It can be read straight through or taken page by page. I could see myself using the prayers in the book as examples that might springboard into brainstorming situations in our family needing prayer. To take it a step farther I would pursue discussion about what God thinks about the situations and how we can best pray, following up of course by putting prayer into action.
One thing that I really like about this book is the presentation of prayer in so many situations in life. Personally prayer is often a last resort. Instead of praying first I often resort to prayer after I have exhausted all of my other resources forgetting that He is the giver of everything. This is a great teaching tool not only for children but also a good reminder for adults that we need to come before God with everything. Nothing is too big or little to lay at our Father's feet.
Another aspect of the book that I greatly appreciated was the scripture used to referance the importance God, through the Bible, puts on prayer. These scriptures would be great to commit to memory with our children. We must remember to pray with expectant hearts for He hears us and is able to do more than we can think or imagine.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
James 5:16B
No comments:
Post a Comment