When I was little, I learned many rote prayers: Now I lay me down to sleep...; God is great, God is good...; Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub (well, maybe that last wasn't so great, but it worked at camp). Even now, my kids are learning to pray for meals the same way: God we thank you, God we thank you, For our food...etc. It's a great way to learn about prayer. In his book This Little Prayer of Mine, Anthony DeStefano goes a little deeper. The prayer he writes rhymes and could probably be sung with the right melody, but it moves past just being rote. In it, the narrator makes requests of God in all situations, gives thanks to God for multiple things, and presents hopes and dreams for the future. It shows a great next step for kids, beyond just looking at God as a giver of gifts or magic genie. Thanking God, confessing fears, and sharing goals add to the relational aspect of God, and should be encouraged as children learn to pray. The prayer is accompanied by some beautiful artwork, more photo-realistic than cartoony (Mark Elliott is the illustrator). Additionally, the book is endorsed by The National Day of Prayer. This is well worth reading for children.
I received this book as part of WaterBrook Mulnomah's Blogging for Books program.
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