What do you think?
Rate this book
Teach Us to Pray: Scripture-Centered Family Worship through the Year
Teach Us to Pray: Scripture-Centered Family Worship through the Year is a daily prayer book that guides families in both listening to and speaking to God through songs, Scripture readings, guided action, and quiet contemplation, organized to follow the life of Jesus through each season of the Christian calendar.
855 pages, Paperback
Published October 15, 2016
2 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 17, 2024
This is a great book to use to help start a rhythm of family devotions centered around the church calendar. The authors accounted for multiple styles of learning, there are guided prayers each day, and bible readings. Can not recommend highly enough.
April 18, 2024
Great family devotional to use. Things we loved:
- “inviting” and “blessing” portions had the kids memorizing scripture without really even realizing it.
- the prayer prompts
- the scripture passages
- the way it follows the liturgical church calendar
- relatively short and easy to use daily
Docking a star because we didn’t love the questions following the Bible reading. A lot of “I wonder how so and so felt?” Instead of “what does this tell us about Jesus?” or “how does this point us to the gospel?” So we had to use our own questions.
- “inviting” and “blessing” portions had the kids memorizing scripture without really even realizing it.
- the prayer prompts
- the scripture passages
- the way it follows the liturgical church calendar
- relatively short and easy to use daily
Docking a star because we didn’t love the questions following the Bible reading. A lot of “I wonder how so and so felt?” Instead of “what does this tell us about Jesus?” or “how does this point us to the gospel?” So we had to use our own questions.
January 8, 2018
Teaching Children to Worship at Home
When the year is fresh and the calendar pages are crisp and spacious, our commitments and resolutions seem like adventures. “We can do this!” we declare as we gather the family around and open our Bibles to Genesis. Unfortunately, by Epiphany, the luster has worn off our resolve, and family devotions have begun to feel like a chore. And then there’s Leviticus . . .
Lora A. Copley and Elizabeth Vander Haagen have prepared a guide that does the heavy lifting of plotting a course for family worship. Teach Us to Pray is organized into seasons based on the church calendar: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. The readings are dated for long-term use through 2027. An introduction to each section provides background and front loads a challenge to the parents along with a heads up about materials and recommended activities for planning purposes.
In the process of teaching the small people in our lives to worship, our own hearts learn the practice anew, and as I perused each day’s lesson for Advent, the eight-part pattern began a drumbeat in my thinking about exactly what worship entails:
Preparing – What environmental conditions will enhance the experience?
Inviting – God is there already. Invite Him into the center of your worship.
Stilling – In the silence, ask the Spirit to help you pay attention to God.
Singing – Music and lyrics for thematic songs are provided.
Reading – When we read Scripture together, we hear the voice of God.
Dwelling – What questions come to mind in relation to the text?
Praying – Thank God and praise Him for the day’s wonderful truth!
Blessing – Words from Scripture invite you to pray a blessing over your family.
How would my personal, grown-up variety of worship be enhanced if it was continually being shaped by these action verbs?
Encouragement for Worship at Home
Family worship took on many forms during the growing up years of our four rowdy sons. Often we gathered at meal time, but there were seasons when we occasionally claimed a Saturday night for a more intensive teaching session — followed by popcorn or some other treat. Three principles come to mind that guided us through those important years:
1. Persevere. Don’t give up!
If you forget, remember next time.
If you fail, do better next time. Just be sure there IS a next time.
2. Take grace.
Conversations about spiritual things with my kids never go as smoothly as I plan them. Sometimes my words sound brittle or awkward even to my own ears, and now that they are older, even if they are gracious enough not to roll their eyes, I wouldn’t blame them if they did! However, the Word of God is living and powerful. He keeps His promises, and He is able to incline our children’s hearts toward truth, even if we are unhappy with our own skill in delivering it to them.
3. Maintain a long view.
Even the most serious of cross hymns sung during Holy Week lose their solemnity when there is a St. Bernard in the dining room throwing his head back and howling a descant in accompaniment.
Advent candles set a worshipful tone and help us to focus. They have also been known to ignite a paper napkin that somehow went airborne during family worship.
I can laugh at these aberrations now because they are part of our family’s story. They remind me that worship is part of life, and as we guide our children’s faith-formation, daily times of family worship will set up a rhythm of faithfulness that will enable our children to envision a life in which God and His Word are part of every season and every day.
This book was provided by Calvin College Press via Westra Events and Media in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
When the year is fresh and the calendar pages are crisp and spacious, our commitments and resolutions seem like adventures. “We can do this!” we declare as we gather the family around and open our Bibles to Genesis. Unfortunately, by Epiphany, the luster has worn off our resolve, and family devotions have begun to feel like a chore. And then there’s Leviticus . . .
Lora A. Copley and Elizabeth Vander Haagen have prepared a guide that does the heavy lifting of plotting a course for family worship. Teach Us to Pray is organized into seasons based on the church calendar: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. The readings are dated for long-term use through 2027. An introduction to each section provides background and front loads a challenge to the parents along with a heads up about materials and recommended activities for planning purposes.
In the process of teaching the small people in our lives to worship, our own hearts learn the practice anew, and as I perused each day’s lesson for Advent, the eight-part pattern began a drumbeat in my thinking about exactly what worship entails:
Preparing – What environmental conditions will enhance the experience?
Inviting – God is there already. Invite Him into the center of your worship.
Stilling – In the silence, ask the Spirit to help you pay attention to God.
Singing – Music and lyrics for thematic songs are provided.
Reading – When we read Scripture together, we hear the voice of God.
Dwelling – What questions come to mind in relation to the text?
Praying – Thank God and praise Him for the day’s wonderful truth!
Blessing – Words from Scripture invite you to pray a blessing over your family.
How would my personal, grown-up variety of worship be enhanced if it was continually being shaped by these action verbs?
Encouragement for Worship at Home
Family worship took on many forms during the growing up years of our four rowdy sons. Often we gathered at meal time, but there were seasons when we occasionally claimed a Saturday night for a more intensive teaching session — followed by popcorn or some other treat. Three principles come to mind that guided us through those important years:
1. Persevere. Don’t give up!
If you forget, remember next time.
If you fail, do better next time. Just be sure there IS a next time.
2. Take grace.
Conversations about spiritual things with my kids never go as smoothly as I plan them. Sometimes my words sound brittle or awkward even to my own ears, and now that they are older, even if they are gracious enough not to roll their eyes, I wouldn’t blame them if they did! However, the Word of God is living and powerful. He keeps His promises, and He is able to incline our children’s hearts toward truth, even if we are unhappy with our own skill in delivering it to them.
3. Maintain a long view.
Even the most serious of cross hymns sung during Holy Week lose their solemnity when there is a St. Bernard in the dining room throwing his head back and howling a descant in accompaniment.
Advent candles set a worshipful tone and help us to focus. They have also been known to ignite a paper napkin that somehow went airborne during family worship.
I can laugh at these aberrations now because they are part of our family’s story. They remind me that worship is part of life, and as we guide our children’s faith-formation, daily times of family worship will set up a rhythm of faithfulness that will enable our children to envision a life in which God and His Word are part of every season and every day.
This book was provided by Calvin College Press via Westra Events and Media in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
December 3, 2020
We used this book during family worship every night all year and it's a keeper! Beautiful scripture memory built into it, hymns, and daily scripture reading that incorporate the church calendar seasons.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews