Do you ever fear for the future of our kids? Do you ever ask yourself what you can do to help them? Over 12 weeks I’ll be sharing one thing you can do to help the kids in your life grow closer to God.

May God give you strength, wisdom, and joy as you reach tomorrow’s hero!

#8 of 12 Things 

“Do the Devos!”

I haven’t met a parent who said doing daily devotions with their child was easy.  But, when they’ve made it a discipline, it gets easier. If you keep trying to find time to do daily devotions with your kids (or for yourself), you’ll rarely ever find it.  What you need to do is make time for it. Decide on a time that you think will work best for your family and commit to it. Helping your child learn to spend time with God every day is one of the greatest disciplines you could ever teach him. The length of the devotion time is not as important as the quality of it.  Don’t put pressure on yourself to do a twenty-minute devotional, start with five and see where that goes. And if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up, just try again the next day. There’s a lot of fantastic devotions you can do with your child.  Here’s a few of our favourite kids’ Bibles:

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

I can’t think of a better kids’ Bible that tells the story of God’s redemption plan than this one.  I know parents who have been moved to tears while reading this Bible to their kids. Read More

The Action Bible: God’s Redemptive Story by Sergio Cariello

If your child loves comics, they’ll love this Bible.  The illustrations are extremely well done and the Bible stories are told well.  It will keep your child’s attention and help them get familiar with many Bible stories.  My middle son, Jonathan, has read this one through several times. Read More

My First Message: A Devotional Bible for Kids by Eugene Peterson

The unique devotional format in this book will encourage your child to think about what they’ve read, offer suggestions of things to pray about, and fun ways they can live out what they’ve just learned.  Our copy of this book is all taped up because we’ve gone through it so many times. Read More

In case you’re wondering how we go through these storybook Bibles with our kids, we basically read one story before.  Once we’re done with the Bible we go on to the next one.  Eventually we cycle through all of them. What we love about this process is the kids get to see different illusions and hear different perspectives on the stories in the Bible. If you’re looking for devotional books, here are a few we highly recommend:

How Great is Our God by Louie Giglio

In the devotional Louie helps kids draw connections between the natural world and God. It’s full of fun facts that will help keep kids engaged. There are three more books in the series: Indescribable, Indescribable for the Little Ones, and the Wonder of Our Creation. Read More

Our family enjoys this series so much, the only one we don’t have is the “Little Ones” one.

I AM Devotional: 100 Devotions About the Names of God by Diane M. Stortz

Each devotion highlights a Name of God with a Bible story to go with it. It’s a great way to help kids learn more about the Names of God. There are so many names of God to remember that we haven’t got bored going through it again. Read More

The 60 Day Wonder Devotional by CEF

The unique devotional format in this book will encourage your child to think about what they’ve read, offer suggestions of things to pray about, and fun ways they can live out what they’ve just learned.  Our copy of this book is all taped up because we’ve gone through it so many times. Read More

Other devotions we haven’t read but would be comfortable recommending:

The Case for Christ Devotions for Kids: 365 Days with Jesus by Lee Strobel

The tough questions kids 8-12 ask about faith, Jesus, and Christianity are investigated and answered in this 365-day devotional that uses the historical facts and theological truths found in The Case for Christ to help young readers develop their faith and understand what it means to be a Christian. Each day’s reading also includes reflection questions, helping kids think through what their faith personally means to them. Read More

The Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids by Rick Warren

Help your child understand and live out God’s purpose in their life with The Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids by Pastor Rick Warren. Based upon the themes and ideas found in his bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life, this 365-day devotional for children 8 to 12, shows how to authentically live out God’s plan and trust Him along the way. Read More

90 Devotions for Kids in Matthew: Life-Changing Values from the Book of Matthew by Adventures in Odyssey Team

The second in a series of four “90 Devotions” books from the writers of Adventures in Odyssey, these devotionals provide a fun way to teach children about God’s Word and make the truths of the Bible accessible at a young age. Read More

There are other great devotional books out there, you just have to look for them. Don’t be afraid to go digital. The YouVersion Bible app has a lot of fantastic devotions for adults and kids. You can choose devotions by number of days or theme. If you start a devotion and don’t enjoy it, start another one. And it’s free! Bonus: The Bible App for kids is a great app for younger kids. *Miss one of the 12 Things? Visit our blog page for more CEFOntario.org

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