Resource for Those Wanting to Learn to Pray

Prayer Resource - Parenting Like HannahAfter you have been a Christian for several years or decades, it is easy to forget things you see as common sense are actually things you had to learn how to do at some point in your life. This is especially important to remember when raising your children. Kids aren’t born knowing how to pray. They learn how from watching you and other Christians pray, from scripture (if they read their Bibles) and from what they are told by the people in their lives.

For various reasons, you may not feel equipped to teach your kids about prayer. You may still have a lot of questions about prayer yourself. The new book Talking With God: What to Say When You Don’t Know How to Pray by Adam Weber may give you some help on the topic.

The book is divided into four sections with several chapters under each. The first more or less defines what prayer was designed for and how God views us and our prayers. The second section is really more of a basic primer on prayer, explaining the various forms a prayer can take and helps remove the misconception prayer must be lofty and flowery to be heard by God.

The third section is probably the most valuable to young Christians. It breaks down the various times in life when you might feel like you aren’t exactly sure how to pray or even what to pray. It covers everything from praying during the storms of life to praying when you are exhausted and everything in between. The final section is really more of a short postscript encouragement than anything.

A book like this could become very dry reading very quickly. Fortunately, the unique typesetting helps break up the text in ways that can keep the reader more engaged. Weber does include personal examples and some stories from scripture. There are numerous practical tips for those who still aren’t quite sure what they can do in prayer regarding a particular topic.

My biggest complaint with this book is that like many other Christian authors, he makes it clear how important scripture is and then ignores the scriptures about baptism and salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit in favor of the modern invention of the “believer’s prayer”. Also, some readers might find the unique typesetting more distracting than engaging – it’s really a personal preference sort of thing.

With the exception of the conversion information, the rest of the book should be helpful to Christians who still struggle with understanding prayer. The information is also simple to understand. It can easily be shared with your children. I’m not sure it is a book they would enjoy reading, but you can tell them the information in bits and pieces to help them learn about prayer, too. If you are a prayer warrior, there probably isn’t anything new in this book for you, although it may serve as a reminder for things you have forgotten if your prayer life has become more routine over time. In short, it isn’t my favorite book on prayer, but many will probably find it helpful.

 

 

 

This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

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Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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