Prayer is such an important subject to teach our children about. Here at Thinking Kids, we’ve discussed prayer quite a bit.
After all, prayer is the means by which we bring to God our praise, our thanksgiving, our sorrows, and our needs. It’s vital our kids know how to pray, why they should pray, and who they’re praying to. We also want to help our kids learn to pray for the world.
Following are the best books on prayer I can recommend for families. You’ll find prayer books here that range from preschool to high school.
Best Books about Prayer for Young Children
For young children, I recommend starting with these two excellent books on prayer. Both can be used from preschool through elementary school.
Prayer Is An Adventure
My First Book of Bible Prayers (My First Books)
- Prayer is an Adventure – This 64-page book by Patricia St. John is not your standard picture book. It’s a beautiful hardcover teaching book filled with prayers from the Bible and discussion about important subjects like what prayer is, who we are talking to when we pray, how to pray and when, and what to do when God says no. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to read two pages from before bed and discuss.
- My First Book of Bible Prayers – My First Book of Bible Prayers is a wonderful catechism resource for preschool and kindergartners that introduces the Scriptural view of prayer through Bible readings, devotions, and memory verses. You may want to just go ahead and purchase My First Books and More, which includes My First Book of Bible Prayers, the rest of the My First Book series, and a new section on the Psalms.
Best Books on Prayer for Middle Grades
For children in the 8-12 year old range, there are a number of great prayer resources. Each is very different than the others, and while all are great read aloud books, they are also perfect for individual reading.
The Bottomless Dinner Basket: The Truth about Prayer, God’s Good Gifts and Eternity (Big Bible Answers)Window on the World: An Operation World Prayer Resource (Operation World Resources)The American Indian Prayer GuideGod’s Promises Kept: Devotions Inspired by Charles SpurgeonMore of God’s Promises Kept: Devotions Inspired by Charles Spurgeon
- The Bottomless Dinner Basket – Part of the Bible Bible Answers series, the book combines catechism questions, Bible stories, and discussion to teach. This volume covers prayer, God’s good gifts (Bible, baptism, and Communion), and eternity. The series is perfect for 8-12 year olds.
- Window on the World: When We Pray God Works – Window on the World is a fabulous book for introducing children to the world around them for the purpose of prayer. Each two page spread begins with a story of the country or people group introduced, before explaining the prayer needs of the people focused upon. This is a wonderful resource for families with children through grade 6. It’s also the recommended prayer resource for the first three levels of Bible Road Trip™.
- The American Indian Prayer Guide – The American Indian Prayer Guide is a 36-week prayer book for kids covering the Native American tribes of North, South, and Central America. It’s a great way to help kids learn about other people groups and to get into the habit of praying for those outside their immediate sphere. Note: The one-star reviews on Amazon are the result of purchasers who were looking for Native American chants.
- God’s Promises Kept – Designed to be a part of the Christian Focus 4 Kids pocket devotional series, this 96-page volume by prolific author Catherine Mackenzie takes works by Charles Spurgeon and modernizes them for daily devotions, including a thought on personal application, and a prayer. I love Spurgeon, but his work is not written in a contemporary way kids can understand–modernizing his work, making it accessible and applicable to children, and putting it into bitesized pieces is a great idea!
- More of God’s Promises Kept – This second volume goes along with the first. Though these volumes are not specifically about prayer, I think kids can learn a lot about how to pray through example. These volumes have plenty of prayers included to help kids get into the practice of praying to the Lord.
Best Books about Prayer for Middle School
In middle school, kids still enjoy read alouds, but they may also be itching to read books themselves. These volumes are consumable and perfect for kids to ponder, or they can be read together a little at a time over dinner.
Input-output: Getting to the Heart of Personal Prayer and Bible StudyPray for the World: A New Prayer Resource from Operation World (Operation World Resources)Prayers That Changed History: From Christopher Columbus to Helen Keller, how God used 25 people to change the world
- Input-Output: Getting to the Heart of Personal Prayer and Bible Study – Prayer is a conversation with God, and like any other conversation, we can’t be doing all the talking. We must get input from the Lord through his written Word, the Bible. This is an engaging volume on reading the Bible and praying, and why being connected to God is vital to our well-being.
- Pray for the World: A New Prayer Resource from Operation World – Pray for the World is a wonderful book covering the prayer needs, demographics, and geographical information of every country or region (for those countries that are small and can be grouped, like islands) in the world. This is a scaled-down version of the comprehensive Operation World (recommended for high school use). Pray for the World is a fabulous resource for families to use for both geography and for prayer. The book is also the recommended prayer resource for the Dialectic (grades 7-9) level of Bible Road Trip™.
- Prayers That Changed History: From Christopher Columbus to Helen Keller, how God used 25 people to change the world – Tricia Goyer has written the accounts of twenty-five people and the prayers they prayed–prayers that changed history. This looks like an excellent choice to incorporate historically significant prayers (outside of those recounted in Scripture).
Best Books on Prayer for High School
By high school, our kids are really taking on faith as their own and developing their own relationship with God. Both of these are volumes that I recommend strongly for high school students.
Praying the BibleOperation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation (Operation World Resources)
- Praying the Bible – This short book on praying the Bible has been really transformation for me and for our kids in the way that we pray. Everyone in our household has read it, and I’ve talked many friends into reading it as well. In fact, I write a little bit about how we work on incorporating the things we’ve learned about praying the Bible–and how you can do it, too–in my book Teach Your Kids to Learn and Love the Bible (Bethany House, 2021).
- Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation – Operation World is an incredibly comprehensive prayer resource covering every country in the world. The book has demographic, religious, and cultural information, with a large section on the prayer needs of each country. Operation World is the recommended prayer resource for the Rhetoric (grades 10-12) level of Bible Road Trip™. This is a wonderful book for families with teens, and it’s perfect for use in your own prayer time as well!
Books about Prayer for Parents
We parents can benefit from books about prayer as well. These easy-to-read, important volumes will get you started!
Praying the BiblePraying for Boys: Asking God For The Things They Need MostPraying for Girls: Asking God For The Things They Need Most
- Praying the Bible – I know this book is in the high school section, but it’s a wonderful and important read for parents, too! It truly has been one of the most impactful books I’ve read about prayer. In fact, I write a little bit about how we work on incorporating the things we’ve learned about praying the Bible–and how you can do it, too–in my book Teach Your Kids to Learn and Love the Bible (Bethany House, 2021).
- Praying for Boys – Do you struggle with what to pray over your boys? This book give you five areas to pray over, and prayers based in Scripture.
- Praying for Girls – This great volume covers five areas to pray over your girls in, with thoughts and suggestions in each area and over 200 Scripture-based prayers.
Grab your FREE Bible Study Tool Kit–over 130 pages of Bible resources for your family!
Best Books about Prayer for Family Devotions
Family Time: 82 Devotional Life Lessons and Simple Prayers40 Days 40 Bites: A Family Guide to Pray for the World40 Days 40 More Bites: A Family Guide to Pray for the World40 Days 40 Extra Bites: A Family Guide to Pray for the WorldWindow on the World: An Operation World Prayer Resource (Operation World Resources)The American Indian Prayer Guide
- Family Time: 82 Devotional Life Lessons and Simple Prayers – Family Time is a fun devotional prayer book for families with younger children. The book has 82 topical activity-based lessons that include a memory verse and a short prayer.
- 40 Days 40 Bites: A Family Guide to Pray for the World – 40 Days 40 Bites is a delightful family devotional focusing on various world concerns. It has glossy pages, an accessible format, lovely photos–it’s just beautiful. It’s a wonderful choice for your family worship time!
- 40 Days 40 More Bites – This follow up to 40 Days 40 Bites promises to be another great choice for your family.
- 40 Days 40 Extra Bites – Trudi Parkes’ third book in her series is published by her mission, WEC International.
- Window on the World: When We Pray God Works – Window on the World is a fabulous book for introducing children to the world around them for the purpose of prayer. Each two page spread begins with a story of the country or people group introduced, before explaining the prayer needs of the people focused upon. This is a wonderful resource for families with children through grade 6. It’s also the recommended prayer resource for the first three levels of Bible Road Trip™.
- The American Indian Prayer Guide – The American Indian Prayer Guide is a 36-week prayer book for kids covering the Native American tribes of North, South, and Central America. It’s a great way for your kids to learn to pray for their neighbors. Note: The one-star reviews on Amazon are the result of purchasers who were looking for Native American chants.
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible
You want your kids to learn and love the Bible.
You want to teach the Bible…
As parents, we deeply desire the best for our kids. We look for the right schools, we make them eat right and exercise, and we get them involved in extracurricular activities. We take our job as parents seriously.
But are we also putting our time and energy into
teaching them the Bible? Giving them the life-changing, soul-nourishing words of Scripture is not only doable, it’s an essential part of parenting kids for Jesus. And the good news is, studying God’s Word as a family doesn’t have to be difficult!
2 Timothy 2:15, ESV, says:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Our job, as parents who love Jesus, is to help our kids become approved workers, unashamed and rightly handling the word of truth.
The good news? Teaching the Bible isn’t hard. Your family can learn the Bible together.
…and you can!
A Crash Course in Teaching the Bible to Your Kids
Danika Cooley’s book, Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible, will give you the tools and confidence to study the Bible as a family. It will help you identify and overcome your objections and fears, give you a crash course in what the Bible is all about and how to teach it, and provide the guidance you need to set up a family Bible study habit.
You will finish this book feeling encouraged and empowered to initiate and strengthen your child’s relationship with the Lord through His Word.
Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible will equip you with everything you need to know to teach the Bible to your kids!
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