I am so pleased to see that my wife Melissa’s new book on prayer is nearing release: 5 Things to Pray for Your Kids: Prayers that Change Things for the Next Generation (The Good Book Company, 2019).
We have already received some copies, but the book will not be formally released until March 1st.
This will be Melissa’s fifth book. Her others are The Envy of Eve, Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood, Identity Theft, and In All Things.
Several things I like about it:
1. It actually helps make your prayers concrete. Rather than saying to someone, “Just pray for your kids,” this books provides a clear and helpful guide.
2. It breaks out of the standard, worldly paradigm where our highest hopes for our kids are centered on sports and school. Instead, Melissa focuses on the fruits of the spirit, Christian character, love for Christ, standing for truth, and more.
3. It covers a variety of situations your children might find themselves in (disappointment, failure, fear, loneliness), as well as different age/stages of your children’s life.
4. My own daughter, Emma (18), wrote the foreword! She describes her own sense of prayer, having grown up in a Christian home.
Below is the description of the book and the many great endorsements. Pre-order today!
Whatever their age, the most important thing we can do for our children is to pray for them. But where do we start?
This little guide is both deep and do-able. Melissa Kruger helps us step out of the busyness of family life and pray for our children’s spiritual growth and character development in 21 key areas. For each chapter, there are five short prayer prompts drawn straight from the Bible. Because when we pray in line with God’s priorities as found in his word, our prayers are powerful and effective (James 5 v 16)and that’s a truly thrilling prospect.
Use this book in any number of ways: work through it as part of your daily quiet time, or pick it up whenever a particular need arises. It will help you to pray meaningfully for your child, grandchild, godchild, or kids in your church from tots to teens, and every age in between.
Endorsements:
“I can easily fall into a rut when praying for my children. I am so thankful, therefore, for Melissa Kruger’s fresh new book, 5 Things to Pray for Your Kids: Prayers that Change Things for the Next Generation. This is not an abstract lecture about prayer; it’s a practical guide to prayer. The layout is clear, the framing is biblical, the prayer prompts are brief, and the value—for us, for our kids, and for the glory of Christ—is eternal.” –Matt Smethurst
“Praying with and for our children is our great privilege and important duty. Like the parents from the pages of Scripture who brought their little ones to Jesus in faith and despite opposition, we have a daily opportunity to carry our precious children to the feet of Christ in prayer. As we do, Melissa Kruger’s book serves as a helpful guide. Using the riches of Scripture, Kruger provides daily prompts to encourage and direct our prayers for our kids. This is a book that you will want to use yourself and give to other parents in your church and community. I highly recommend it.”–Megan Hill
“In an age of helicopter parenting, it’s easy for parents to think that our children’s future rests in our hands. Even as Christians, we spend more time trying to manage the world around them than crying out to the God who holds the world—and our children—in his. But with 5 Things to Pray for Your Kids, Melissa Kruger gives us the practical steps we need to take all we can’t control to the One whose goodness reigns supreme. Because in the end, the very best thing parents can do with our hands is fold them… in prayer.”–Hannah Anderson
“What a biblical and handy tool Melissa has given us to use as we pray for our children! I look forward to giving this resource to parents and grandparents in our church and family.” –Christine Hoover