I was a bit disappointed to open the book and find that the prayers themselves actually form a small part of the book. Most of the content are actually stories of the author's own experiences or that of people that she interviewed. I wish there were more biblical prayers.

However, the stories are well written and interesting and give lots of insights as to how we should pray for our adult children. Sometimes we just have to change our attitudes and even our prayers! The stories are also very encouraging.

Thank you, Netgalley and Zondervan for the ecopy. This is my honest review and sorry it is so late in coming!

A predictable format was here. This is not a bad thing but not a fantastic thing either. I would share and recommend with certain audiences.

This is a really good book for those with adult children who may be going through tough times. This book will give insight on how to pray for them when they can not or do not know how to pray for themselves. I would use this book as part of ministry.

I worry about my children and their relationship with God. Though I taught them His ways,when they hit late teen years they seemed to want to rebel against everything they were taught. This taught me to pray God's word over them.

Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children

by Jodie Berndt

What better way to start off the new year than with a book on prayer? Parenting doesn’t end where the empty nest begins, but the whole approach changes when our children become adults.

Jodie Berndt has written several books on “praying the Scriptures.” What she means by that is the very simple concept of taking scriptural promises and turning them into requests inserting a name. For example, in praying for a child who has a job loss or financial difficulty, Berndt turns II Chronicles 15:7 (“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”) into a petition: “Help _______ be strong and not give up. Reward her for her work.” Praying the Scriptures is certainly a powerful way of approaching the throne of God with the pleadings of our hearts.

The format of the book is equally simple. The reader is encouraged to study the whole book, but can also go directly to sections that are of particular concern. Each chapter has an appropriate title and starts with a summary Bible verse. For example, “Praying for Protection from Harm” opens with Psalm 34:7: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him.” Next the author shares a real life story from her own family or from parents she has interviewed who have had this particular struggle. She inserts “prayer principles” in the story to add focus and for easy reference. One in this example chapter is “Asking God to put his angels in charge of your child’s safety encompasses more than just physical protection. We can trust Him to stand guard over their hearts and minds too.” The next section, “Poised for Prayer,” expands more on the parental attitude to prayer in this specific case. Most importantly, the chapter ends with “Prayers You Can Use” which holds two sections. The first holds a few Scriptures turned into prayers for parents to use for themselves as they turn to God by supporting their child through prayer asking for wisdom and understanding while releasing the adult child to God’s care. The second is a longer section containing about a dozen prayers asking God to intercede in their child’s life.

Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children acknowledges that parents are just people searching for answers and help. It does not play a guilt game over past parenting faults (real or imagined). It just leads the parent to find appropriate ways to pray without interfering. The book does not claim cookie cutter solutions to the many very difficult issues we all encounter as God works differently in each person’s life.

The challenge and help of this book can easily be extended to anyone praying for any other adult and even for oneself as you seek God’s will and help through a tough season. The personal accounts show how differently God works in each situation and are comforting as they show that you are not alone in your struggles. The verses that are aptly chosen give a quick and focused path to prayer, but certainly, anyone could use the same approach on their own in searching out Scriptures that apply to their situations.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Zondervan for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Christian

Notes: This book can be a bit overwhelming when read in one fell swoop, but having done that and with the bigger picture in mind, the reader can then zoom in on a particular chapter and apply its principles.

Publication: December 5, 2017—Zondervan

Memorable Lines:

The things you give to God in prayer—your worries, concerns, and needs—are the ties that bind your heart to his. Our struggles are his entry points.

The more we allow the Bible to shape our prayers, the more our requests will line up with God’s plans.

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” I realized that it didn’t matter whose plan we were following; the outcome was up to the Lord. My job was to get out of his way.

God is not just interested in results; he wants relationship.

Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children is an awesome book. It touches the heart of a parent whether you have an adult or not. You can learn a great deal from the author, they are never too young to start praying for them. The author starts off with a parental Scripture in each chapter. Then gives very personal stories about not so perfect children. What really got me was when the author wrote,"the things you give to GOD In Prayer - your worries, concerns and needs - are the ties That Bind your heart to HIS our struggles are HIS entry points." Isn't that awesome? This is a great book.

Now that I’m the parent of a child who’s dating, I need to shift into overdrive when praying for my son and Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children by Jodie Berndt is a fabulous way to do this.

The big joke when becoming a parent is that there is no handbook to raising a child but we’ve been given the best handbook in the Word of God – the Bible. There is some wise word, song, or prayer for every situation.

The book is laid out in sections, each with subsections for more specific topics. For example, there’s a section on praying for your child’s relationships. The subsections are prayers for friends and fellowship, their future spouse, their young marriage, and praying through a troubled marriage or divorce. There are tons of scripture for each one of the subsections. Tons!

And the scripture isn’t just prayers but actual stories of the those who have gone before us. Some of the Biblical greats who have gone through the exact same thing. I find that to be very comforting to know that I’m not the only one dealing with a particular situation or that my child isn’t the only one to deal with that problem.

I find myself praying now for my son and his girlfriend for things like wisdom in their relationship, for a closer relationship to God, for purity in their interactions. Praying for those things (as well as talking to your child about those things) is a great way to help build up their armor.

Other sections of the Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children discuss praying for your grandchildren, for employment, for good health (physically, mentally, and financially), and prayers for helping your child resist temptation. There are even prayers for infertility and job loss. No topic is too insignificant.

This is a great book to get a parent as their child grows up, for someone whose child is struggling, and for someone’s whose child isn’t having any problems. Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children should be just as much required reading for parents as parenting books for new parents.

You children aren’t adults yet? Jodie Berndt has thought about you as well. Check out Praying the Scriptures for Your Children or Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenagers: Discover How to Pray God’s Purpose for Their Lives.