I was so excited to have an opportunity to review Upside Down Prayers for Parents: Thirty-One Daring Devotions for Entrusting Your Child--and Yourself -- to God by Lisa Tawn Bergren. I had seen snippets of info about it on several websites I follow and was very interested in reading more!
Upside Down Prayers for Parents is a unique devotional book unlike any other I've seen. Each chapter focuses in on one specific prayer for your children. Bergren shares a short devotional from her personal life and parenting experiences, provides a theme scripture, and a written prayer. One of the hidden gems in this devotional is the discussion questions Bergren includes with each chapter. She provides a question to discuss with a younger child as well as an older child. This makes this devotional easy to apply whether you have young kids, older kids, or both!
My favorite part of this devotional book is that Bergren forces you to go outside of the traditional prayer mindset we can develop for our children. If you are looking for a book that focuses on superficial hopes and prayers for your kids such as - "keep them happy" and "never let them experience hurt" - then this is not the book for you. The emphasis on "daring" prayers in the book's subtitle is appropriate. I think another possible title could've been 31 Dangerous Prayers for Parents. Lisa Bergren takes a typical prayer we as parents often find ourselves praying and turns it upside down. I have to admit - I had to think twice and check my heart before actually praying some of these over my kids! Some examples of the prayers in this devotional are:
I pray you'll encounter battles - and find God is your greatest ally
I pray you'll know what it is to be lonely - and find intimacy with the One who is always beside you
I pray you'll be shattered - and allow God to build you up again
I pray you'll be farsighted - able to see where our God is leading us
See what I mean? Just rereading all these amazing prayers makes me want to reread the devotional all over again!
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Upside Down Prayers for Parents by Lisa Bergren. It will grow and challenge you personally as well as edify you as a parent. If you are searching for some deep meaningful ways to take your children before the Father, this is the perfect tool to help you!
**I received this book free as a part of the Blogging for Books program by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers. The opinions stated above are 100% my own!
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