I have a new standard in my heart for parenting books. Quite frankly, nothing is ever going to touch my life the way that Desperate has…I’m sorry future book reviews, it’s a tough battle you face.
But, like any good book lover and mama, I’m willing to give anything a shot, especially when it’s short. And pocket sized. It’s just so cute! Plus, it came with a box of chalk. So you can literally pray a circle around your child. Because..you know..toddlers stand still for that kind of thing.
I’ve never read any of Betterson’s books before, but when Zondervan graciously offered the opportunity, it seemed like a good fit. I have a child. I pray. I want to learn how to pray more effectively for my family. See? It all comes together!
All joking aside, I really did enjoy reading Praying Circles Around Your Children. It was a little too heavy on the formulas for me, too many “if you just do these 5 steps you will be a better praying mom,” but overall the message was full of Scripture and encouragement. It was an easy read and one that I’ll be passing along to some of the other mamas I know. It’s a great reminder that we can’t do this parenting thing alone, that it takes work, and that God answers prayers.
Here were some of my favorite quotes:
- You don’t becoming a praying parent by default. You do it by design, by desire, by discipline.
- God honors bold prayer because bold prayer honors God
- One of the greatest responsibilities of parenthood is praying for your kids, but an even greater responsibility is teaching your kids to pray
- We need people who will fight for us on their knees. We all need a prayer circle!
And that formula of 5 Steps? I can actually get behind some of these:
1.Know your child and what they need, find scripture to pray over them
Yep … I like this one. I’ll be doing this for Madi 🙂
2. Document your prayers so you can pray intentionally and leave a legacy of answered prayers
2. Document your prayers so you can pray intentionally and leave a legacy of answered prayers
Again, this is totally something I would do.
3. Create Prayer Mantras
3. Create Prayer Mantras
Uh. I honestly didn’t really understand this one.
4. Form Prayer Circles
4. Form Prayer Circles
I like the idea of actually laying hands on someone as you pray. This one sticks.
5. Choose a Bible specifically for your child & pray through it. Circle verses specifically for them, write notes, prayer requests, answered prayers, and leave it to them as a legacy
5. Choose a Bible specifically for your child & pray through it. Circle verses specifically for them, write notes, prayer requests, answered prayers, and leave it to them as a legacy
How awesome would this be? Not sure I’ll do it, but it’s a great idea!
In the end, we can’t know which prayers will be answered, when, or how, but we can know that “100% of the prayers we don’t pray will never be answered.” So let’s pray for our kids today!
Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.