Today is a very exciting day! One of the books I’ve been wanting YOU to read is being released today and I have all sorts of fun stuff to share with you to go along with its launch!

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents: Thirty-One Daring Devotions for Entrusting Your Child–and Yourself–to God is the newest release from one of the loveliest, most personable authors on the planet, Lisa T. Bergren. I love her children’s books. I love her novels. But this is my favorite book by her and I think it will grab you as well.

It’s all about praying brave prayers for your children – prayers that put them in God’s hands and not tightly in your own. It will take guts to pray through this book for your children, but as Jen Hatmaker says, “Brave moms raise brave kids.” That’s exactly why this book changed my prayers for the boys in a very good way.

I feel extremely honored {and super giddy, to tell you the truth} to have my endorsement included in the front of the book. Yep, right there along with Tricia Goyer and Karen Ehman and Barbara Rainey…totally out of my league, but thankful to be able to share how important this book is to me!

Also included in the endorsements is one of my dear blogging best friends, Amanda, and we have lots of fun and community planned to go along with this book. We want YOU to join us in praying through this book for your kids!

First of all, we’re having a little shindig over on Twitter this Thursday night, February 21st to celebrate the launch! Join us on Twitter from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. CST by tweeting with the hashtag #UDPrayers and be entered to win one of ten copies of the book being given away that night! Make sure you are following Lisa {@LisaTBergren}, Amanda {@oohamanda}, and myself {@homewiththeboys} to catch all of the questions and giveaways!

Secondly, Amanda and I are hosting a Facebook book club of sorts so we can all pray through the book together in the month of March!

It will be super easy to join in! Just make sure you do the following…

1. Buy the book! WaterBrook is offering the book to you for 30% off and free shipping – snag this deal now so you’re ready when March 1st rolls around! Click here to order and use the code LEADER30 when you check out! It should be even cheaper than buying from Amazon!

2. Start reading! You’ll obviously want to read Amanda and I’s endorsements, right?! Oh, and maybe check out the introduction from Lisa before March 1st as well 🙂

3. Join the conversation on Facebook March 1st! Upside-Down Prayers has 31 chapters – one for each day of March! Read Chapter 1 on March 1st, then hop over to my Facebook page and Amanda’s to chime in on our discussion and find other goodies, such as Scripture to share and the occasional comment from Lisa herself!

4. Lather, rinse, repeat #3 for the rest of the month!

Oh, we so hope you will join us on this journey of laying bold prayer requests for our children at the feet of Jesus!

And lastly today, as special treat, I have a little interview with Lisa herself about praying for our kids! I was so blessed by her answers and hope you are as well!

Q: How have your prayers for your children changed over the years?

Lisa: When they were small, I think my prayers were more centered on basic physical and emotionalwell being–let them thrive, get over this illness, etc. And on me too–show me how to be patient when I’m at the end of my rope, Lord…Mold me into a better example for these little ones…

But now that they’re older (17, 14, and 9) I find myself more focused on that spiritual well being that this book, Upside-Down Prayers for Parents, really goes after. I want them to truly be brave and courageous for Christ, fully submitted and trusting in the One who loves them most. And part of that is my own journey of submission to our Savior…I’ve finally gotten far enough that I’m willing to relinquish any pseudo-control I have over my kids’ lives, and trust them to God. I want them to be rich, deep disciples, rich in the faith, and that means trusting that God will sustain them even through the tough stuff of life. Just as I trust him to hold me.

Q: What kinds of things do you pray for WITH your kids?

Lisa: We’re getting better about going right to God about things we’re wrestling with. It was awkward at first, but now I’m better at saying, “Let’s pray about that right now,” and then doing it with them. It’s tempting to say, “we should pray about that,” and then move on, but it’s really important to model for our kids how to pray “about that.” So we’ve prayed about kids that are causing problems for them, kids struggling with something, my own child’s struggle, direction, healing, peace, even the need for sleep when faced with insomnia. It’s all fair game!

Sometimes the older one will say, “not now,” and I honor that space she needs. But it’s a good example of starting early. As they get older, they might get less and less open to this idea. But if it’s always been a part of their experience (which it wasn’t in my eldest’s), it’s harder to introduce. My Middlest and Youngest will be less adverse to it, I think, because it feels more natural. We’ll see!

Q: What is your best advice for parents of little ones overwhelmed with where to start in praying for their kids?

Lisa: Start small. Prayers they memorize are a good start. But each night, add in one special sentence that tackles something that happened that day, someone that touched both your lives. You can show them how to make God relevant and present in the real conversation of prayer, in the space of 30 seconds!

Good stuff right there, isn’t it?!

A HUGE thank you to Lisa for bringing me along for this journey of prayer discovery! I can’t wait for all of you to join the adventure as well! We’ll see you at the Twitter party THIS Thursday, February 21st, and on Facebook starting March 1st!