As we prepare to welcome in a new year, this is the perfect time to consider a plan for family disciple times with your family this coming year. Discipleship is intentional and will not happen by accident. Therefore if you don’t have a plan, it will likely not happen.
Discipling your children can feel like an overwhelming task for many parents. I encourage you to not overcomplicate it. Don’t get lost in the abundance of resources and trying to figure out the how of discipleship. I believe that more important than the how is the fact that you even do it at all. The goal of family devotions is to set a rhythm in your home of regularly opening God’s word and reading it and praying as a family. Your children will learn this pattern of studying scripture and know that this is a priority in your home. Our prayer is that one day, it will become a pattern in our children’s lives as they grow up and go out on their own.
During this final week of the year, make two decisions. First, pick a time that you want to try to gather your family together and study God’s word. It can be any time of day that works for your family and as often as you’d like during the week. Next, choose a devotional book to read through or a scripture reading plan or book of the Bible to study.
Keep this family time simple. Especially for younger children, reading a quick passage of scripture or through a short devotion and praying is enough. The older your children are, the more you can dive into discussions and questions and an even more meaningful prayer time. It’s also important to remember that this family devotion time is a small part of the overall discipleship of your children. Anytime you are with your children is an opportunity to point them to Jesus. Pour in the truths of God’s word during intentional family meeting times and then be ready to show your children how those truths work themselves out in everyday situations in their lives.
Discipleship is not going to always be easy or exciting. Busy schedules, uncooperative little ones, bad attitudes and feelings of inadequacy can easily deter us and steal our joy. Keep your eyes on Jesus and the long game of what you’re hoping to instill in your children. Prayerfully commit to making family discipleship a priority for your family this year and persevere through rough patches. I’m cheering for you! I hope 2022 is a wonderful year for you and your family!
Here are some resources that I recommend if you need some ideas to get started: (some of the links below are affiliated links)
Bible Reading Plans:
Foundations: A 260-day Bible reading plan. There is a book for adults and kids! There is also a New Testament reading plan. Kids who are able to read can do their daily reading and book activity on their own and then you can come together as a family to discuss the passage and pray.
The Jesus Storybook Bible [ad] – Every family of young kids should have this Bible. I’d recommend it for preschool age up through early elementary. It contains 44 stories from the Bible and helps kids understand the big story of scripture as each story points to Jesus.
Devotionals:
Marty Machowski writes some really fantastic books for families to use. Here are some options from him:
WonderFull: Ancient Psalms Ever New [ad]- read, worship and pray through the Psalms with your kids!
Long Story Short [ad]- ten minute devotionals to draw your family to God. Suitable for kids preschool to high school. There is also an “Old Testament New” ten minute devotional book if you like this one!
Listen Up [ad] 10 Minutes Family Devotions on Parables and Wise Up [ad] 10 Minute Family Devotions in Proverbs is a two-part series geared toward 1st-6th grade kids.
Other devotional books I like:
Indescribable [ad] – 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science – Louie Giglio has written three of these books. I like them because I have kids who love science and I love being able to point them to Jesus as we learn about how amazing our Creator is. Also check out “How Great is Our God” and “The Wonder of Creation.” Recommended for kids ages 6-10 but I used them for slightly younger kids as well.
Epic Devotions [ad] – 52 Weeks in the Story that Changed the World – this is a great devotional for older kids. Recommended for ages 8-12. My 9 year old boy enjoyed these devotions from Aaron Armstrong.
I AM: 40 Reasons to Trust God [ad] – study with your children some of the names of God or descriptive titles of God. This is recommended for kids ages 4-8. We also worked through the “Attributes of God” cards from Tiny Theologians. My kids memorized all 26 of them!
Lindsey Fescoe blog 