Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links--thanks for your support!
So I requested the book Praying for Boys by Brooke McGlothlin, one of the moms of The MOB Society. Ever since I gave birth to our first boy in June, I’ve been following them. When I requested this book, though, I had no idea they were related. In fact, I almost didn’t request it.
I’m so glad I did.
In Praying for Boys, Brooke mentions that she never wanted to write a “parenting” book because she still has much to learn. I’m so glad she did! Because honestly? He’s 7 months old. His sisters, however, are 6 and 3 and the struggles are so similar!
The first 3 or 4 chapters are kind of a how and why. Of prayer in general, how to use the book, of why boys (all children, really) need prayer. The rest of the book is divided into 21 areas of prayer. Very short, each chapter has a story to make a point about each virtue/gift of the spirit that she talks about. Many times, these stories include how they try to teach their sons about these topic. Frankly, this is my favorite part of the book right now. I gained SO many nuggets for struggles my girls have from these sections.
The stories are followed by 10 scripture verses & a few a questions for reflection (or discussion, if you are using it as a book study). I LOVE the scriptures. She gives several ideas for how to use the book and I loved her idea to pray a verse for your son hourly…kind of like a Liturgy of the Hours for Protestants :). Having Praying for Boys in Kindle format would make that super easy.
The scriptures are one-liners–they aren’t long like The Power of a Praying Parent ones. Since my boy is still an infant, the reflection questions aren’t super useful right now, but I’m looking forward to praying these verses for my son (and his sisters as appropriate) now and re-reading every year or two. You know, depending on how “easy” he is. Ha!
Anyway, I recommend Praying for Boys to mothers of boys of all ages. You can pray for them even if they are grown & gone. If you are just having your first boy, it’s good to have an idea of where you are going. And if you are in the middle or even have only girls, there are some great parenting ideas and many verses apply to both. So really? You have no excuse. It’s really that good a book. I plan on reading it again–with a highlighter–and have already started using a few of her ideas. Very well done!
