by Stormie Omartian

As Children’s Day falls in October, we at Treasure Trove wanted to feature a relevant book. Here is one from the perspective of a parent, The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. This review is by Cynthia Loh, an SJC member who worships at E3.

A group of women came together late in 2014, bonded by a common desire to be more intentional in their roles as parents to young children. They were wholehearted in wanting to be orientated by God as they embarked on the beginnings of a journey known as parenting.

I was invited to join this group of praying mums, and I eagerly agreed. Coming from a wide range of family backgrounds who were at various stages of our own walks with God, our goal was to seek God and pray for our children’s well-being in the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual spheres so that we would positively impact their lives and their futures.

We used this book, Power of a Praying Parent, as our guide in our subsequent prayer meetings for the next three years. In that time, I have benefited richly  from the author’s own parenting experience. The prayers that she shared in the book also provided a template and a starting point for us to to pray over our children.

Our group went through and discussed the insights provided, beginning with how to pray for our children and the concerns we can bring to God as we pray for them. The book addresses parenting topics that are presently in my line of sight, such as protecting my children from harm, learning to handle peer pressure, forming good habits, and making godly friends. I also appreciated that it looks forward into the later years of teenage and adulthood, recognizing we never stop praying for our children.

Finally, I liked that the author shares scripture which we can use to pray specifically for our children at the end of every chapter, in words that echo the cries of our mothers’ hearts. It gave us a starting point to begin praying for our children, and share our challenges and triumphs along the way.