One of the ways you can have a tremendous impact on your children is to be in constant prayer for them. If you are a new Christian, a new parent or just have a rather free range prayer life, you may wonder what you should pray for each of your kids and how to organize your prayer life in some way.
Obviously, you will have specific, unique prayer requests for each child. There are some things though that can be prayed for any child, and some prayers that are more suited for what boys experience, while others are for what girls experience (in general).
I was interested when offered the chance to review the new book Praying for Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood. Underwood hasn’t just written a book of prayers for you to recite – which is great – because I am not at all a fan of the “written for me” prayer. She has divided the book into five sections with four topics under each (plus a few extra chapters at the beginning and end). Each chapter discusses why the author believes this is an area of focused prayer you should have for your daughters.
I really appreciate the way the author organized each chapter. The beginning of each contains about three pages of explanation. She recounts stories – mainly from her life – and shares scriptures and her insight as to how she believes they apply to what girls experience. The prayers are great, because they aren’t stock prayers, but praying actual scriptures over your daughter.
She follows the suggested scripture prayers with a couple of paragraphs to moms, often about what to do if they are still struggling with the issue for themselves. Perhaps my favorite part is that she suggests an activity for three different age groups, which allows moms and daughters to do something together to explore the topic and God’s will for them.
Most of her insights are great. She uses lots of scripture, which for me always adds to any Christian book. Her prayers are directly tied to Bible verses, which is extremely refreshing. Even her activities tend to be stronger than many you find in similar types of books.
Which is why it broke my heart when she covered the topic of salvation. Although a bit ambiguous, she seems to promote the sinners prayer – something never mentioned in the Bible, but a relatively recent American invention. She does mention baptism, but as an afterthought, not as what washes us clean of our sins and through which we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as mentioned many times in Acts, Romans and other places in the New Testament.
Had she been more biblical in her discussion of the topic, this review would be a rave. As it is, it is still a great book – just skip the chapter on salvation – I would hate for a parent to be so focused on doing what is godly and then follow erroneous advice for converting themselves and/or their children.
Whether you use this book, or develop your own prayer plan, take the time to pray for each of your children individually. Prayer can make a huge positive difference in their lives.
This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.