Setting Their Hope in God -- and book giveaway

My friend Andrew Case has written several books, but his latest has really captured my heart. This book is called Setting Their Hope in God, and it is a book of prayers for your children. Specifically, it is a book praying scripture for your children, pleading on behalf of your child's soul, and focusing your own heart on a big and GREAT God.

Do you, like me, find yourself praying almost the same things over and over for your child? You may pray for their health, safety, happiness, obedience and security. You may even pray for their salvation, but you still find yourself praying (as Dr. Donald Whitney says) "The same old things about the same old things." When I would put Susie to bed at night, I would TRY to find the words to pray for her salvation, to pray for her future, or just to pray for her to get a good night sleep! But inevitably, I mostly found myself repeating the same thing. I didn't want to do that! I want to be a prayer warrior for my daughter, to bring her soul before the throne of grace.

So I was delighted when Andrew gave his book away to the families in our church. Just reading the introduction and recommendations, I was nearly in tears! How could I neglect the life and soul of my precious daughter by failing to pray for her earnestly? This book has become a part of my quiet time -- each page has a new passage of scripture written into a prayer. Here are some key things I appreciate about this book of prayers:

1. This book is God-centered. When reading the prayer, your heart is focused on God, causing you to delight in Him in a fresh way. It may sound funny, but it is completely possible to be child-centered in your prayers. My love for my daughter is so deep, that I can just set my heart on her, rather than setting my heart on the good God who gave her to me.

2. Each new prayer varies widely from the one before, not just in the wording, but also in the concept, making this book applicable for parents with children of all ages. But the aim is the same throughout.

3. This book enables me to meditate on God's precious Word, often throughout the day. Several times when I have read a prayer in the morning, I can "re-pray" that prayer in my own words when I put Susie to be that night. That means at least part of that passage has remained in my mind all day!

4. The author's desire and intent to bless families is crystal clear. I know Andrew Case, and he is not writing these books to make money (demonstrated by his willingness to give a copy to each family in our church!). I'm putting up a link to Andrew's website where you can download the PDF of this book for free or purchase the book for under $5 (you can also buy it on Amazon, but it costs $9.99). Additionally, I am giving away two free copies to anyone who is interested in enriching their prayers for their children. Just leave me a comment, letting me know you want to enter the drawing, and put the names of your kiddos (or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, or a friend you'd like to give this to!). I will put your comments in a hat and randomly draw 2 on Sunday, May 30th. . . which happens to be Susie's first birthday!

I am linking this post to Feed Me Books Friday over at The Adventure of Motherhood, because it is something I am reading and I could see reading some of these prayers out loud to your children when you pray for them at bedtime. So, though it's not a children's book, I think it more than applies.