Recently I shared suggestions on how to start family devotions. You can listen to the podcast here or read the blog post here . It was a very popular episode so I thought I would share some of our favorite devotional resources to help you get started or give you new ideas.
I’ve tried to only list the resources we’ve used together as a family. (As my boys have grown we’ve found some great resources for their own private devotion times. I’ll share those in a later post.) These aren’t the latest and greatest for sure. I’m a bit old-school and I’m drawn toward older books and authors. But at the time I’m writing this, all the books I’ve listed are still in print.
I’ve tried to keep our family devotionals fun and enjoyable, not too heavy or theology-focused. My goal has been to make talking to God and about Him a natural part of our family life, just part of the atmosphere of our home, not awkward or forced. I want my kids to look forward to devotions, not dread them.
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The Bible
The most important resource for our family devotions has been the Bible. I try to keep things simple. Reading and discussing one of the Psalms or a short passage of scripture is a great way to do that. Over the years my husband and I have grown to love the ESV translation so that’s the one I’ve used most when reading with my children, but we’ve also used the NIV and NKJV. It’s really whatever resonates with you and your family. This is the Bible I use:
ESV Large Print Value Thinline Bible
Devotional Guides
I like devotional guides because they helped me get started when I had no idea what to read or say. As my confidence grew, I depended on them less, but they were still helpful for sparking ideas and starting conversations.
This was the first devotional guide we ever used. The illustrations are lovely and the short stories are great for short attention spans. The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers (Little Blessings) by Crystal Bowman (Author), Elena Kucharik (Illustrator)
My favorite devotional guide is Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide by Clay Clarkson. I love this guide so much that I’ve used it three times over the years! Each time we went a little deeper into the lessons, as my children were able to understand more. This guide gave me the words to teach my kids what it looks like to love and obey God.
Kenneth Taylor, author of The Living Bible, wrote many books for children. I love his books because his love for Jesus and children shines through, he was a great writer, and his books don’t talk down to children. Devotions for the Children’s Hour was one of our favorite books by Kenneth Taylor.
Another book by Kenneth Taylor, Right Choices, was a favorite in our home when our children were younger.
Grandpa’s Box: Retelling the Biblical Story of Redemption by Starr Meade. This book isn’t a devotional guide, but I used it as one, reading one chapter a day during our devotional time. This book tells the gospel story by showing the thread of salvation weaved throughout the entire Bible. This book captured my boys’ imaginations. We enjoyed it very much.
Because we enjoyed Grandps’s Box, I decided to try Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism, also written by Starr Meade. I didn’t use it the way I thought I would. I liked the topics it covered and the systematic way it covered them, but reading straight from the book didn’t flow for us. I ended up pulling topics and ideas from this book and just discussing them with the scriptures she provided. It was still a helpful resource and I thought you may want to check it out.
Children’s Bibles
There are so many good children’s Bibles to choose from. We’ve used several over the years.
The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos is my favorite children’s Bible. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t have beautiful illustrations. But I love the way she writes. The stories in this book brought the Bible to life for me and my boys. We were into it. I actually learned things about the Old Testament I didn’t know. It’s not watered down for a younger audience.
This was also a very good children’s Bible. The Children’s Bible in 365 Stories by Mary Batchelor (Author), John Hayson (Illustrator) It took us almost two years to finish it! But my children didn’t lose interest. It was a fun read and broke the entire Bible down into bite-size pieces. This book is also ideal for new readers who want to read the Bible for themselves.
Just for Fun
Bird Life in Wington by John C. Reid doesn’t fit any of these categories, but it was such a fun read I couldn’t leave it off the list. We laughed at these bird characters from the imaginary town of Wington during our breakfast devotional time. John C. Reid, a Presbyterian pastor, sprinkles Christian wisdom throughout his humorous tales. We loved it.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it includes some of our favorites. I hope you find something here that helps you share Jesus with your tribe.
If you have any favorite devotional resources that have been a blessing to your family, please share them in the comments below so others can check them out. God Bless!
© Audrey McCracken, 2023
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