InterVarsity Press Little Prayers for Ordinary Days

I am always looking for ways to help my children learn to pray, and this book does not disappoint. While it's so easy to fall into a "pray before mealtime and bed" rut, this book gives words to prayers for moments when a child surely wants to know s/he is not alone, but may not know what to say. I put this by the table and my 7-year-old climbed into my lap after breakfast (ahhh, summer!) and we read it together all the way through. My 10-year-old was having some big feelings, and I shared one with her and asked if she wanted to write a prayer like that, or make a piece of artwork. Both of my kids' first favorite was the prayer for petting an animal. My deep hope is that they find new prayers to be their favorites as the days go by.

Our 5 year old is just learning about how to talk to God on her own, and she has been nervous about it, not knowing what to say. It’s hard to teach a child they can just talk to a big God that they cannot see. When we gave her this book and told her all about it, she got SO excited to have words to put around her talking to God!! She took it straight to bed with a flashlight and said, “these are perfect words for me to read!!!” We’re so thankful for such an incredible resource to give our girl prayers of her very own that she is excited to offer to a God she doesn’t quite yet know how to talk to.

As a pastor, mother, and aunt, I am delighted with this gem of a prayer book: Little Prayers for Ordinary Days (I was provided access to an advance copy)! As a child, I was taught that prayer was simply talking to God. The prayers in this book are designed to help children (and adults!) talk with God about all kinds of things they may experience throughout the day. There are prayers for when you wake up, and for bedtime and for every time in between—for meal time and for when I have to eat something I don’t like; for doing chores, for being outside, for petting an animal, and for seeing a friend; for hard days (one of my favorites!) and for an everyday day. In addition to the prayers themselves, the illustrations are delightful. I cannot wait to share this with the children I know!

As expected, these deeply thoughtful women have put on the page what every kiddo—and their grown ups, frankly—need for learning how to talk to God AND accept his unfailing love in the highs and lows of our days. It’s short and sweet and accessible; just today I reached for it in a moment to help my 7-year-old recover from a hard interaction and pursue restoration. I’ll definitely be purchasing more for gifts.

I love, love, love everything about this little book! It’s small and light with adorable illustrations on every page. The prayers are totally accessible to kids. Written in language that grabs their attention, igniting the imagination about children’s everyday experience and recognizing God’s closeness in that experience. My nine year old said these are prayers about things she didn’t even know she could pray about. So pleased to incorporate this book into our home.