This is another gem by Parker for families looking to pray together, starting at a young age. We love our The King is Coming (Advent) book, too.

If you have young kids at home or otherwise in your life, I highly recommend [ordering] Prayers of the People.

Prayers of the People is an incredible addition to our bookshelf—both at home and in our church children's ministry! In addition to introducing a beautiful corporate practice to kids, it’s a helpful framework for holding together the joy and suffering we experience and see in God's world, in ways that are age and stage appropriate. Prayers of the People helps us all bring our thoughts, feelings, and experiences to God. It gives kids words for what they carry and gives parents permission to lead without needing to have answers. The repeated call-and-response refrain and questions on each page are great ways to engage the whole family in prayer. 

This is a timely resource for families with children …. They are the questions to live in for a lifetime….they are the clear invitation. to practice noticing movement towards God and movements away from God that are not sin management oriented…the questions welcome all that is and allow God space to be present in all. That is a grace.

I love this book so much! Everything they are wanting to achieve in this book is accomplished. A God given dream realized and shared with families.

The art, the music, the voices, the ancient tradition of this prayer forming us, it all adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

I hope this project sparks joy, trust and hope in your heart as it does mine!

Overall, [for Prayers of the People], the word that comes to mind is honor. I think it honors the “source material.” I think it honors parents by giving them something so sturdy to use as a tool to introduce their children to a rooted life. And I think it honors kids! I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but many of the questions written into some of the prayers were phrased as if they were being asked by children and not adults. I thought that was beautiful. I think it reflects a child’s view of the world in a way that dignifies children’s experiences.

Thank you, Parker, for producing such beautiful books -- inviting in design, and offering the riches of our theological and liturgical and formational traditions in ways that children (and their adult companions!) can access and in which we may be shaped. I’m grateful!