The further we go as a church toward becoming a "house of prayer", the more we understand that praying churches stand on the foundation of praying families - and praying families stand on the foundation of praying individuals.
It's easy to find resources for praying churches and it's easier to find resources for praying individuals. But it's hard to find a resource to help families become praying families. Books have been written to encourage families - and moms, and dads, and kids - to pray, but few prayer guides have been written with the family in mind. Few books are written to help a dad know what to say and do when it comes to gathering the family for an interactive prayer time.
As a church, we gathered together on most Sunday evenings throughout the year for a congregational prayer gathering. On the Sunday nights when we didn't gather (like Mother's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc.) we wanted to develop a tool that families could use at home to facilitate a family prayer gathering. So, we began creating a variety of short prayer guides a dad (or other head of household) could use to help lead his (her) family in prayer.
Recently, we compiled forty prayer guides together into a book entitled Your Home A House of Prayer: A Scripture-Fed, Spirit-Led Prayer Guide for Your Family. The guides are to help dad know what to say to lead a 10 minute scripture-based prayer time that is fun and interactive. The book includes guides for special family days (birthdays and most major holidays), guides for special family issues (times of loss, illness and the sanctity of life), and general guides for any occassion. Each guide is based on a passage of scripture and follows a pattern of praying from that passage focusing on God, on yourself, and on others.
If you would like to get a book, just shoot me an email and let me know. Attached is a sample - Philippians 2.5-11.doc
