Imaginative Prayer - by Jared Patrick Boyd (Paperback)

About the Book

How do we help our kids connect with God and experience his presence? Jared Patrick Boyd has discovered that children's spiritual formation is rooted in the imagination. This unique resource helps us guide our children through weekly sessions of imaginative prayer, providing a yearlong experience of spiritual formation.

Book Synopsis

How do we help our kids connect with God?

Most parents want their kids to learn to love God. But most of us struggle to facilitate real spiritual experiences. It's hard enough to have a meaningful conversation with our kids about spiritual things, let alone help them experience true transformation in the presence of God.

Jared Patrick Boyd discovered that children's spiritual formation is rooted in the imagination. When we lead our children through guided times of imaginative prayer, they can experience a connection with God that transcends mere Bible knowledge or doctrinal content. This unique resource provides six units of weekly guided imaginative prayer, themed around core topics: God's love, loving others, forgiveness, God as king, the good news of God, and the mission of God. Each unit has six sessions, providing a yearlong experience of spiritual formation for children ages five to thirteen.

Through imaginative prayer, you can help your child connect with God. As you do so, you may find yourself connecting more closely with your child, and your own formation as a parent will deepen into greater awareness of God's work in your lives.

Review Quotes

"In the age of social media, so many of us struggle to be present to those closest to us and to God, who is an ever-abiding presence with us. Jared Boyd's extraordinary book Imaginative Prayer introduces us to a way of learning to be present to those closest to us--our children--and together with them to learn to use our imaginations to become more attentive to God's presence with us. Read this book slowly and carefully, and experiment with it: you, your family, and your church will undoubtedly be transformed!"

"While imaginative prayer is powerfully transformative for adults, we have to work through our culturally conditioned tendency to equate imagination with fantasy in order to engage in it. But I've often wondered how much more powerful this sort ofprayer would be if taught to children before they had learned to distrust their imaginations. Imaginative Prayer is the book I've been waiting for! With clarity, spiritual insight, practical wisdom, and powerful examples, Jared Boyd walks us step by step through the process of helping children experience the love of God in tangible ways that will form their characters for the rest of their lives. Everyone who has the privilege of influencing the spiritual formation of children, from parents to Sunday school teachers, needs to read and utilize this invaluable book!"

About the Author

Jared Patrick Boyd is a pastor (Vineyard USA), spiritual director, and founding director of the Order of the Common Life, a missional monastic order reimagining religious vocations for the 21st century. In local pastoral ministry he works to bringtogether the contemplative, charismatic, and sacramental streams of the church. Jared and his wife have four daughters and live in the west-side neighborhood of Franklinton in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of Imaginative Prayer.