Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Book Review: Creative Family Prayer Times

Creative Family Prayer Times
(52 Fun Ways to Pray Together)
By: Mike and Amy Nappa


Best For:  Families that want to have fun praying together, moms who would like to include it in their devotions or Bible time, Sunday School teachers who would appreciate a lesson or theme on prayer for their class

Overview: Mike and Amy Nappa do a wonderful job organizing and presenting a handful of  ideas for praying with your family and/or kids. The book covers an extensive list of daily prayer activities, as well as weekly, monthly, yearly and special occasion ideas. There's even a monthly prayer calendar at the back of the book with something to pray for each day of the month.

Application: We have done a few of the activities described in this book as a family, after dinner on different nights.

M&M Prayer Time
This is a treat! 
  • After dinner we put the M&Ms in a bowl and passed it around without telling the kids what they were for, except NOT TO EAT the small handful they were allowed to take!  
  •  We laid out the cards on the kitchen table and explained each color represented a group of people we were going to pray for. 
  • They could pray for whoever came to their mind in that category. 
  • We prayed through one color at a time. 
  • At the end of their prayers for that color, then they could eat them.
  • We continued until we were all done. 
*Sidenote: start out with a "small" handful...could take a very long time if you don't!


Ever played 4 corners in school?
The object of this activity is to learn the four areas we should include in our personal prayer time. 
  • We set up four different pieces of paper that are properly labeled in each corner of a room. 
  • We explained to everyone what each corner represents and what we were doing in each corner. 
  • We divided up and went to the different corners. 
  • We set the timer for how long we wanted to pray in that corner (I suggest keeping it the same for them all). 
  • We hit the start button and began praying!
  • We rotated until we had all gone to each corner.
  •  We talked about what they experienced in each of the corners and which one they liked best.
 
Thoughts: We all had a fun time with these activities. My husband and kids really liked them. I believe this book helps me pray with my children. Prayer is a blessing and privilege. My goal is to make it special with my kids and at their level. Hopefully my kids will remember the 4 areas of prayer when they play four corners at church or with their friends. Hopefully my kids will remember there are other people to pray for besides our family and themselves each time they see a pack of M&Ms. I love to hear my children pray-that really blesses me as their mom!


I want more practical reminders to pray with my kids. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them.


18 comments:

  1. Kathy - what an answer to prayer- just today I prayed for some practical way to pray with my kids - then I found my way here and look at that! thanks!

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    1. Hi Marissa, I am so blessed and encouraged to hear that! Thank you for telling me. I would love to hear which activities you like from the book :)

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  2. This is such a great review....Really inspiring! I need to get back into our regular pray times. I so miss them, thanks for the encouragement. These ideas are Awesome.

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  3. Thanks Tesha! This book definitely made our prayer times special. So glad the ideas are helpful!

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  4. Sounds like an intersting book. Your post reminds me of the quote: "Families who pray together, stay together!" Like yourself, I love to read Christian books. Before I became a Child of God, I hated reading with a capital 'H'. However, after I trusted the Lord, He gave me such a desire to read His Word. I also love Christian literature and read a range from testimonies to study books. There weren't many young Christians where I lived and the older Christians weren't very on fire for God sadly. I believe with all my heart, the Lord gave me a desire to read to help me grow as His child. I too have learnt much via Christian books and so desire to pass it on... As much as I love Christian literature however, it doesn't replace the Word of God and sometimes I admit that I have to be careful to get the balance right. Thank you for sharing your heart!

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    1. Thanks so much for comment Wendy! I love reading a wide range of books, as well. I must admit I have to find a balance between reading the Bible and books, too. Good point :)I would love to know the books that have helped shape your life and walk with God. It's such a blessing for me to learn from others!

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  5. How neat! Thank you so much for sharing and for linking up with us at Raising Mighty Arrows. :)

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  6. Thanks so much for sharing about this book! I haven't heard about it before but will definitely check it out!

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    1. I'm so glad-it's really great! I think you'll enjoy the different activities.

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  7. I've been looking for a book like this! Thank you for linking up and sharing it!!! Headed to amazon....

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    1. Happy to share it with people. Such a valuable book for me and my family!

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  8. Kathy...what fabulous ideas to encourage prayer in the family. The book sounds like a great tool. Thanks for sharing and for posting at What Joy Is Mine. Blessings to you.

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment! I like to share helpful resources.

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  9. I will definitely be looking into this book

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    1. That's wonderful...thanks for sharing your interest :)

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  10. My husband and I teach bible school on Wednesday nights at church! I will incorporate these little projects.They are wonderful ideas. Especially being we have ages between 4-12, gets kind of hard finding things that will keep everyone's attention and have them go away with something they will remember.God Bless

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  11. My husband and I recently created a family prayer box. Inside, cards are separated into four categories: Immediate Family, Friends/Extended Family, Church Family, and Global/Other. After dinner, we pray for the people listed on one card from each category. The plan is to pray for immediate family members at least once per week and people in the other categories at least once per month. See more here: http://davysdelights.blogspot.com/2013/11/craft-prayer-box.html

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