Are you a new parent wondering how to raise your child in the Christian faith? Does the idea of teaching the Bible to your child feel like a daunting task? You are not alone. I have been there, and I know the feeling. It is one thing to have faith and another to bring others into it. But here’s the thing – Jesus left us with the Great Commission, and we are called to preach the gospel to those who have not heard it. Let us start with raising believers at home so they can bless others along the way. Many Christian parents are intimidated to teach the Bible because we feel unequipped. But there is no biblical scholar or preacher who knows it all either. It is a lifelong journey that we take in learning the word of God and walking in his footsteps, and it is ok to take your kids on that journey with you.
The good news is that many resources are available, and I am here to share a few with you. It may be a long post, but bare with me till the end, and I promise that you will find encouragement and inspiration as you share Christ with your kiddos.
1. Reading the Bible:
You likely already have a Children’s Bible in your home. If not, refer to my blog post for a list of Bibles we use. The Bible is a storybook. So many good children’s Bibles’ are designed to share these stories in child-friendly ways and offer resources for discussion with your children.
No parent is a scholar of this book. Do not ever feel inadequate. Read stories, and talk to your kids. If you don’t know the answer, research it together. The work of the holy spirit can do beautiful things when you bond over the word of God. My 8-year-old always has questions that I don’t have answers to, so we look them up together. The bottom line is – you do not have to know it all. But you need to be consistent in reading the Bible with your kids so they also build discipline in spending time with it.
2. Teaching your child to pray
Make prayer time a priority and a habit with your children. Right before bed is a great place to teach intentional praying. In our home, we pray with our kids for many personal needs, and the kids get to lead prayer sometimes. Our children need help with what to pray, and we can model it in many ways.
- We can have them repeat a prayer after us.
- Teach them the ‘thank you prayer.’ Ask them to thank God for any five things they feel grateful for that day. (It is ok if they thank God for their special softie, frog, or duckie).
- If you need more help, this book, ‘What every child should know about prayer,‘ teaches your child what prayer is and what we can include in our prayer.
- For older kids, I highly encourage teaching them to make prayer lists. It teaches them to be intentional about praying for others and themselves. All you need is a notebook and a pen. But if you are looking for something to guide you in this, I found this prayer journal from Daily Grace Co, and it teaches your child to pray for 30 different things over 30 days.
3. Family Devotion Time
Don’t we all love an excellent devotional? I love using them with the kids because they give structure to prayer time as a family. I love Indescribable, a devotional by Louie Giglio. He has written a couple of others, such as, ‘How great is our God,’ and ‘The wonder of creation.’ His devotions bring God and Science to one place. As Christians, we believe God designed our world intricately, but we overlook the fact that science can give us a view into God’s intentionality. Your curious child will be fascinated by his content.
4. Studying the Bible
Last Christmas, I introduced a Christmas Bible study to my oldest, and I thought what an excellent way it was to teach the word of God. We then followed that up with an Easter study, and now, we are working our way through a study on Exodus. Reading and studying the Bible are two different things. Studying the Bible gives you a deep understanding of God and his divine purpose and plan. I wish I had this opportunity as a child, and I am so grateful that I can do this with my children so they may know God.
I highly recommend checking out Lindsey’s website at Driven By Grace. She creates many fantastic resources with lots of intent and deep study for kids and grownups. You can get them as digital or printed copies.
Another excellent resource for learning the Bible is ‘God’s Bible Timeline‘ by Linda Findlayson It is a visual map of the books of the Bible and the events that occurred on a timeline. I highly recommend this to your slightly older (elementary-age kids) who desire to study the word of God.
5. Memorizing Bible Verses
Memorizing scripture allows us to recall them in our time of need. Children have a greater capacity to memorize, so let’s encourage some Bible verse memory work. In doing this, we hope they will remember them in their time of need and use it to comfort, strengthen, humble, praise, build courage, and walk with Christ.
If you are interested in intentional memory work with your kids, I recommend checking out these two resources. One I got from The Daily Grace Co called ‘The Scripture Workbook.’ This company has so many excellent Christian resources for the entire family. The other is from Driven By Grace called ‘The Bible Verse Memory Journal.’ She has a different level for children and adults for those interested in learning along with their children. This book covers one verse from each book of the Bible which captures the book’s purpose.
I have to mention Tiny Theologians for memory work because they have some really neat resources that can help you teach not only memory verses but just support the study of the Bible in many different ways. I am listing some of the resources I use, including some from Daily Grace Co.
- Gospel Conversation from The Daily Grace Co (These have questions you can discuss with your kids)
- Attributes of God – Tiny Theologians
- Lunchbox Truths (Bible verses for your kid’s lunchbox. I use them for memory verse memorization as well) from Tiny Theologians
- ABC of God’s attributes from Tiny Theologians
- Scripture Memory (There are three levels of memorization) from Tiny Theologians
- Christ at the Center cards (on the Books of the Bible) from Tiny Theologians
6. Children’s Books – Bible Stories
This is a great way for kids to learn Bible stories and fall in love with them. There are many books with Christian content or Bible stories out there, and while we (in our home) mostly use the Bible for Bible stories, I own a few, and the kids love reading them.
I have listed a few that we own and love. You can find a wide selection of Christian books on christianbooks.com or thegoodbooks.com.
Conclusion
While it would be great to have all these resources, I’m here to tell you that you don’t need them. The Bible and a willing heart are all your children need to start this journey with you.
I hope you feel encouraged and equipped to share the word of God and embark on this beautiful lifelong journey with them.
